TORONTO — The family of a Toronto woman murdered by her husband has told a sentencing hearing they are heartbroken and filled with rage over her death.
Ana Fric says the death of her daughter, Elana Fric Shamji, has destroyed her entire family.
Neurosurgeon Mohammed Shamji, 43, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Fric Shamji.
Court heard Fric Shamji served her husband with divorce papers two days before he attacked her, broke her neck and ribs, and choked her to death as their three children slept nearby.
He then stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped it into the Humber River. Fric Shamji's body was found a day after she was last seen on Nov. 30, 2016, and police arrested Shamji 24 hours later.
Court heard the couple's marriage was volatile and included both physical and verbal abuse of Fric Shamji by her husband.
Fric told court she and her husband, Joe, are raising Fric Shamji's three children.
"Instead of playing with their mother, they have to lay flowers on her grave," an emotional Fric said.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years.