British Columbia

Gursimar Bedi guilty of accessory after the fact in murder of Maple Batalia

The 26-year-old was accused of spying on and renting a vehicle used in the slaying of Maple Batalia outside of SFU in Surrey.

Bedi rented vehicle driven by 19-year-old's killer

Maple Batalia was shot and killed in Surrey in September, 2011. (Colasi/Flickr)

Gursimar Bedi was found guilty by a B.C. Supreme Court judge on Friday of being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Surrey teen Maple Batalia.

Justice Terence Schultes found Bedi rented a vehicle which was driven by the 19-year-old's killer, and also spied on the aspiring actress and model.

Crown prosecutors also charged Bedi with manslaughter but admitted in closing arguments that they could not prove those allegations.

He is expected to be back in court on June 9 to fix a date for sentencing.

Bedi's friend Gurjinder 'Gary' Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced, March 7, to life in prison. He will not be eligible for parole for 21 years.

Dhaliwal gunned down Batalia in September 2011 in the parkade of Surrey's SFU campus.

According to Crown prosecutor Wendy Stephens, Dhaliwal killed her because she wanted to break up with him because of repeated infidelity. 

Stephens said Dhaliwal engaged in "obsessive, controlling behaviour" in the weeks before the killing. He sent her thousands of messages, threatened male friends and ultimately lay in wait to confront and kill her.

With files from Jesse Johnston