Canadian True Crime - The Gakhal Family Massacre

Episode Date: February 15, 2022

In 1996, a family in Vernon, BC were preparing for a large wedding—but unbeknownst to them, a man was waiting in the sidelines to ruin it all. This is the tragic story of Canada’s third-largest mass shooting and the many lost opportunities that may have prevented it.Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening. An additional content warning. Although not the focus of the case, this episode includes a crime committed against a child.

Canada's worst mass shooting was the 2020 Nova Scotia rampage, which spanned six rural communities and left 22 people dead. The second worst mass shooting was the 1989 Ecole Polytechnic massacre in Montreal, Quebec, where 14 women engineering students were executed at their university. This is the story of the third. Located in the Okanagan region of the southern interior of British Columbia is the city of Vernon. With the population of around 50,000 people,

Vernon is around five hours drive northeast of the city of Vancouver and is known for its stunning scenery with rolling grasslands, rivers, beaches and three lakes with a mountain backdrop. And on Friday, April 5, 1996, the Garkal family were at their home in Vernon getting ready for their third big family wedding. Proud parents, Carnal and Darshan, had six children aged from 14 to 30. Their two eldest daughters were already married, and this time they would be celebrating the nuptials of their third eldest daughter,

24-year-old Belvinder. They were looking forward to being joined by about 400 guests for the wedding, which would be a multi-day celebration with several different events. There was excitement in the air. But there was a man who had other plans. He had rented a car and stayed the night at a motel just three kilometres away from the Garkal family home. The proximity was not a coincidence. And he had with him three loaded guns, a semi-automatic handgun, a revolver, and a pump-action shotgun.

He was waiting for exactly the right time. The Gakal family originated from the Indian state of Punjab, specifically the village of Gakal, which was named after the family. Parents, Carnal and Darshan, were married in the 60s, and their three eldest daughters were born in India, Jasbir, Rajwa, and bride-to-be, Belvinda. The 1960s were a notable decade for, Canadian immigration. After decades of restrictions to the South Asian population, because the

European settlers considered them a threat to what they wanted Canada to look like, the Immigration Act of 1967 was passed. This opened up the criteria for assessing potential immigrants. Carnell Garkal was watching this with interest. While he did okay in India, his family were well-regarded, they were landowners and they did have a village named after them, he heard the education opportunities were better in Canada. He regretted only having had a basic education himself, and his work experience so far was working for his father in the fields, ploughing and seating. Carnal saw a different future for his wife and three young daughters

and started putting a plan together. It seemed that the least risky way to move to Canada was for Carnal to leave his family temporarily and go first, get a job, set up a home for them, and then Darshan and the girls would follow. He set off for British Columbia in 1970, when the girls were still young. Carnell's first job in Canada was fruit picking at an orchard outside the city of Vernon. He struggled a lot in those early days,

being among the earliest group of people from South Asia to settle in the Vernon area. He soon made immigrant friends, but he missed his family. He spoke poor English and had to put up with constant racial slurs and discrimination. But Carnell was a hard worker and was determined to make the move work. And two years later, he was operating a planar machine at a sawmill, feeding raw lumber into it to smooth out the rough spots. South Asians from the Punjabi state were instrumental to the lumber industry in BC. In the 2012 book, The Punjabis in British Columbia, author Kamala E. Nea states that the European Canadians in the region weren't interested in being sawmill workers, so the industry growth stalled.

In the early 1900s, before Canada implemented those immigration restrictions, South Asian immigrants saw an opportunity in the lumber business. They opened their own Punjabi sawmills and logging camps, which became places where other new immigrants could find employment, community and gain a new skill set. And Carnal was fast, efficient and worked hard. After he'd put in a full day at the sawmill, he continued to work part-time at the orchard to save even more money, often putting six or seven more hours in picking fruit.

He was exhausted and sleep-deprived, but his family was his priority and there was no point in resting until they were able to join him. Before long, his efforts had paid off. He had managed to save enough money for a down payment on a duplex in Vernon, and his family back in India started planning to pack up and move. Carnal didn't want to move into the home until they arrived, and so he saved even more money by renting it out while he rented a basic room at a near-beyevroval. by rooming house.

It had taken four years to set things up, but finally in 1974, Darshan and the girls arrived in Vernon, and the family finally moved into the duplex together. Carnale continued working hard at the sawmill, where he would remain for his entire career. Over the years, he sponsored two of his four brothers and his sister to move to Canada and helped them relocate to Vernon. The Garkal family were six, an Indian religion founded in the 15th century.

In a previous episode, I incorrectly pronounced it as Sikh, but the correct pronunciation is actually sick. After the number of South Asian families in the Vernon area had grown to a certain point, the Gakul family helped to found their own temple, the Okanagan's Sikh temple in 1979. Darshand went on to give birth to three more children, daughters Calvinda and Harvinda and a son, Jaspaul. The family bought a bigger house in the middle-class Vernon District of Mission Hill, and Karnal and Darshan gained a reputation as hardworking people who were immensely proud of their children.

Karnal always stressed the importance of education and wanted his children to take advantage of all the opportunities that Canada had to offer. Over the years, their eldest daughter, Jasbir, earned her social worker qualification. Rajwa was a dental hygienist, well-respected by her peers and considered a leader in her field locally.

Belvinda, the bride to be, was a respected pharmacist. Calvinda was in her second year of studying criminology and planned to attend Simon Fraser University, and the two youngest were still in high school. Harvinda was in her final year, a straight A student who was her school's nominee for the Premier's Award of Excellence. She hoped to study chemical engineering at the University of BC, and she also volunteered on a teenage crisis hotline.

Jazzpole, their youngest and only son, was in grade nine. He achieved good grades and loved sports and had just been awarded the coach's choice. While education was a priority for the first, family, paying for it was no small feat. So Carnal and Darshan continued to work hard and save money so the kids could get the best of post-secondary education. Carnal was still at the sawmill. Darshan worked in the orchards and they'd also started investing some savings in investment properties. Once the eldest girls finished their studies, the next expense to come would be their weddings. Traditional Indian weddings are multi-day celebrations.

often with hundreds of guests in attendance, and the family continued to live by many sick traditions, which included arranging marriages for their adult children. We might think of an arranged marriage as a couple who gets no say in who they marry, and often don't even meet each other until their wedding day. We might also think of forced child marriages which are illegal in India but still happen. But a modern arranged marriage is different. These marriages are voluntary, collaborative and much more flexible.

And while in Western culture we typically marry for love, with varying degrees of success, that's not the priority in arranged marriages, which actually account for over half of all marriages worldwide. Families do their research and come up with a suggestion of who their children should marry, based on socio-economic criteria like shared family values, class and community standing, cultural identity and financial resources. The goal is to facilitate a lasting union, with less chance of dispute between the bride and groom or their families. The issue of compatibility does come into play, though. After a match is chosen, the bride and groom and their families are encouraged to get to know each other well before the marriage,

kind of like due diligence. By setting things up with this foundation, the belief is that enduring love will grow out of it in time. The adult children are generally happy for their parents to arrange a union for them, trusting that their parents know them and who they might be compatible with, and also what they might need for a successful marriage. But ultimately, with modern arranged marriages like those in the Garkal family, it's up to the couple themselves as to whether the marriage, goes ahead. If they don't like the person they were matched with, they have the right to say no.

And while it might be tempting for us to compare divorce rates between marriages for love and arranged marriages, it's not that easy. We know that almost half of all Western marriages end in divorce, but in India, the divorce rate for arranged marriages is only about 1%. The problem, though, with comparing is that in arranged marriages, divorce is often frowning. upon or at least thought of as the very last resort. In any event, the Garckel family's first wedding was for their eldest daughter, Jasbir. She was matched with Baljeet Sarin, who went by the name Roger, and they married in the late 80s and moved to the city of Abbotsford, B.C., about four hours' drive from Vernon.

There, Jasbeah started her nine-year tenure at Abbotsford Community Services, working with women who were survivors of family violence, and Roger worked as a corrections officer at Matsui Institution. By all accounts, the match had worked out just as both families hoped. Over the next few years, Jasbier gave birth to three children, twins Justine and Brittany, and then Courtney, two years later. The family loved keeping active, with the girls enrolled in a number of extracurricular activities, and Roger played hockey. and baseball. The Sarin family also traveled quite often, driving back to Vernon to visit family. Next, it was time for the second eldest garkal daughter, Rajwa, the dental hygienist. A mutual friend

introduced her family to the Charhol family, whose son Mark, a quiet, chartered accountant, looked like a good fit. Both families assessed the potential match and agreed that Rajwa and Mark would meet with a view to marriage. It went well, and over the process of about two years of courting, both families did their due diligence, and the wedding was scheduled for April of 1994. 28-year-old Mark Vijay Chahol and 24-year-old Rajwar Gokul were joined by over 400 guests

for a lavish, colourful ceremony at the Okanagan Sikh Temple that her family had helped to found. The photos show Mark beaming, but Rajwar looks stoic, almost sad. A family friend would explain to the Vancouver son that they look like an average Punjabi couple on their wedding day, and it's common for the bride to appear sad because she's leaving her family. And not only was Rajwar leaving her family in Vernon, but her new married life would be a few hours drive away in the city of Burnaby, which is close to Vancouver. Mark owned an apartment there and Rajwa was going to be moving in.

Mark also owned an investment property which was rented out and brought about $300,000 into the marriage. Rajois bought about $100,000 of her own savings and they were both earning good incomes. So financially, the couple were off to a very good start. But a courtship where everyone is on their best behaviour is very different to the learning curve that comes with actually living together for the first time. No matter how much preparation and due diligence was done in the lead-up to the wedding,

it would be up to Mark and Rajwa to make it work, just themselves in a new city. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Rajwa to realize that the Mark Chahal she was now married to had a different side that he had been hiding. and it started immediately after they were married on their wedding night. On the first night of their new life together, Mark beat Rajwar and called her a slut. It's not known what caused this outbreak, but it doesn't really matter. Rajois would later tell a doctor that she felt a profound sense of shame after the incident. But there was a weight on her shoulders.

Their families had invested such a lot into the marriage. Rajwar felt an obligation to stay and see things through. The side of Mark Vijay Chahol that Rajwa came in contact with on their wedding night seemed to be in total contrast to what anyone else knew of him, including his family. Mark's background was similar to Rajwas. While he was born in a Punjabi village, he also grew up in Canada. His family moved to British Columbia when he was just a toddler, and his father also worked in local sawmills.

Mark was the eldest of three children, and neighbours knew him as a nice boy with a quiet disposition. They also considered him responsible and reliable, often booking him to babysit their kids and look after their pets when they went on holiday. In high school, Mark enjoyed sports, got average grades, and went on to graduate university with an accounting degree in 1985. He worked at a local accounting firm before moving to the Vancouver area a year later,

where he landed a job with West Coast Energy, a gas pipeline corporation in Vancouver. Mark was always known as a quiet person, perfectly ordinary. A cousin would later tell the Vancouver son that he did like to go to nightclubs, but he was far from a troublemaker. He would be the one breaking up the fights. Mark was actually born with a name Sukwinder, but in his 20s he decided he didn't like that name and changed it to Mark. He wasn't strict about adhering to sick traditions. For example, he didn't wear a turban, but one tradition he didn't have a problem with was arranged marriage. He was

more than happy for his family to arrange a union for him because, after all, he didn't have to go through with it if he didn't want to. For Rajwar Gokal, the wedding night beating she endured at her new husband's hands was just a taste of what was to come. According to a feature article by Lindsay Kines for the Vancouver Sun, he beat, kicked, strangled and sexually assaulted her throughout their marriage. On one occasion, he threw a kitchen chair at her. It only narrowly missed her head, but left holes in the drywall. On another occasion, he dragged her by her feet, face down across the floor, inflicting carpet burns on her face.

And after each of these events, he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Rajois had established a good career. She was well respected and actually earning more income than Mark was. Perhaps this made him insecure. In any event, he made her home life a living hell. He was so controlling and possessive that he didn't want Rajwar to talk to anyone, including on the phone. He told her that if she answered it when it rang, he would kill her, and then he would test her. He'd leave home, go somewhere else and call home just to see if she answered.

He also forbade her from simple tasks like taking the garbage out on the chance that she might talk to someone or meet someone new. This was corroborated by neighbours. One would tell the Vancouver son that the couple seemed very average, but something seemed off when she went to introduce herself to them. Mark would not let Rajwa speak or even look at the neighbour standing at the door. She just stood on the spot, looking at the floor in silence. To the neighbour, it was obvious that Rajwa was very, very unhappy and her every move was being controlled.

The neighbour observed there was little to like about Mark Chahal, describing him as a real jerk right from the beginning. Rajwar endured this treatment for a total of eight months and was left feeling extremely isolated. At one point, she filed a complaint against Mark with the Burnaby RCMP, but asked them not to do anything about it. She just wanted it on file. So, the RCMP left it at that.

But the problem was they should not have. Less than three years earlier in 1993, the Attorney General of British Columbia released a new policy for violence called Violence Against Women in Relationships, which required them to conduct a complete investigation in every case that looks like intimate family violence, even if they don't think it will lead to prosecution, and even if the survivor asks them not to or doesn't cooperate.

The policy went on to state that if the investigation uncovered evidence that an offence took place, the police are required to submit a report to Crown Counsel, recommending charges, even if no injury occurred and again regardless of the wishes of the survivor. The reason for this is that there is a unique dynamic that comes into play in family violence cases. And the policy details why the victim or survivor, quote, should not be asked if they want charges laid. The power imbalance in relationships marred by violence makes it extremely difficult for the survivor to figure out their next steps

and often leaves them feeling hopeless. They may be in denial about the abuse they endured, or they might have been led to believe that they were responsible for it. They might have feelings of fear and isolation, they might not be able to afford to leave because the perpetrator controls their money and cultural and religious values come into play as well, like in this case where two families have invested time in an arranged marriage and money in a lavish multi-day celebration.

A divorce is often frowned upon and seen as a sign of failure. And last but certainly not least, the survivor might be scared that reporting the abuse will inflame the situation, and the violence against them and potentially their children will escalate. And a combination of these and other factors often result in the survivor playing down what happened to them, or appearing reluctant to fully engage with the police or the crown. So what this policy meant for Rajwa was that when she filed a complaint against Mark to the Burnaby RCMP, they should have investigated it further, regardless of her wishes.

But they didn't. On December the 25th of 1994, Rajwa decided that enough was enough. It's not publicly known what happened to prompt this, but she gathered some things and fled to the city of Abbotsford to be with her older sister Jasbair and her family. Jasbir worked with women who were survivors of family violence, so she would have been an amazing support for her younger sister.

After three days there, Rajwar met with her parents and together they drove to Mark's apartment in Burnaby to pick up her belongings. Rajwa then returned to the family home in Vernon with her parents. Carnell and Darshan would have, of course, been disappointed at how things had worked out, but they supported Rajah in her decision to leave. On January 5, 1995, she visited Vernon R.C.

to file a complaint that Mark had threatened her, but she requested that the police take no action against him at that time, nor did she want them contacting him directly. And again, the RCMP followed her wishes against policy. Four days after Rajwar filed that complaint, she filed for divorce. And that same day, the RCMP closed her complaint file. Behind the scenes, Mark Chahol and his family were in crisis intervention mode. On January 16th, they met with the Garcal family in a last-ditch attempt to iron out the problems and perhaps save the marriage. It did not go well. Rajwa's family confronted Mark about her allegations that he had abused her mentally, physically and sexually. He flatly denied everything, which he was able to do

because the abuse happened behind closed doors with no witnesses other than Rajwa. And the confrontation made him even more angry. Afterwards, he told his family that he felt like the garcals were trying to humiliate them all. Mark continued to live alone in his Burnaby apartment, the one he had shared with Rajwa for eight months. He started to become noticeably withdrawn, even quieter than he usually was. By February, his family noticed his change in demeanor. They knew he was devastated by the breakdown of his marriage, but he wasn't the kind to talk to them about his problems.

They became so concerned that they suggested he seek out counseling with a qualified professional, and he did. The therapist noted that Mark appeared quiet, gentle and sad, as he described feeling betrayed by his wife. Mark attended two sessions with the therapist but never went back, and soon after that his doctor prescribed him with antidepressant medication. It's not known if he took it, or how long for. Meanwhile, Rajwa started receiving counselling of her own

from what was then called the Vernon Woman's Transition House, a domestic violence shelter. She told her counsellor about the abuse she had endured in the marriage, but requested that he not take notes of their sessions because she was fearful that Mark's lawyer would subpoena them for their upcoming divorce court proceedings. A messy divorce was looking likely, with a fight also brewing over the couple's financial assets.

Mark claimed that Rajwa and her parents withdrew $80,000 more than she was entitled to. And while all this was happening, there was another wedding on the horizon. The Gokal family had begun the process of arranging a marriage for their third oldest daughter, Belvinda. Because Rajois and Mark's match had been such a disaster, Carnell and Dachan took greater measures with research, including conducting background checks to ensure their next daughter to marry would not be coupled with an abuser. In early March of 1995, Mark Chahal suddenly quit his job.

Now he just wanted to stay home all day. His brother Joe would say that he refused to talk to his family about what was going on and childhood friends reported that he didn't want to see them either. His sole focus was on Rajwa and her family, and he started phoning her family home in Vernon, threatening and harassing her and anyone else who picked up. Mark also had an interest in firearms which ramped up during the time. Before he and Rajwar were married, he had applied for and received a possession and acquisition

license from the RCMP, which allowed him to possess and use firearms in Canada. To get this license, he would have had to complete a firearm safety course and fill out a lengthy application which includes questions like criminal history, any other legal names that he went by, and about his relationships, specifically if he had been involved in a marital breakup. The license gave Mark the right to purchase a gun, but he didn't do much about it until after his marriage had broken down and he had quit his job. He decided that that was the time to buy a 40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, which is capable of emptying a 10-round clip in just seconds. It's a restricted weapon and at the time, only police, security guards,

gun collectors and gun club members in good standing were permitted to hold one. Luckily for him, Mark was a member of the Barnett Rifle Club in Burnaby, so he was able to get the secretary of the club to sign the application, saying he was an active member in good standing. He specified that he wanted the gun for target practice and submitted the application to the RCMP, which would then be subject to a police check. Now, as you'll recall, Rajwar had filed that complaint against Mark just two months earlier.

The complaint did show up in the results of the police check, a red flag for someone who wanted to purchase a restricted weapon, a semi-automatic handgun. But the RCMP approved the permit anyway and Mark registered the firearm for target practice. Meanwhile, the threatening phone calls continued and Rajwar filed. another complaint with the RCMP. She was afraid that if she pressed charges, it would enrage her estranged husband even more, but she did say it was okay for police to approach him this time. And they did. They advised him to stop making the threatening calls, but he denied making any calls to the house altogether. He told a different story to an old childhood friend, who later

spoke with the Vancouver son about it. Mark had communicated that he was devastated from a combination of Rajwar leaving him and the way her family confronted him with the allegations, and he was now worried about the financial situation, the division of the assets, and insisted he was only phoning the family to sort that out. Now obviously, if this reason was the truth, he would have had no problem giving it to the RCMP when they asked, but instead he chose to deny making the calls altogether. In his mind, it was the Gokal family who had wronged him, and he was shamed even more when he found out Rajwa had complained about him to police. He expected that through his various threats and warnings, he would be able to do whatever he wanted and get away with it, but instead he'd been betrayed.

He was the victim. Mark still wasn't talking much to anyone, but he did say to his brother Joe that he was planning to get back at Rajwa and her family. He had started to believe that they were now out to try and take his investment property, so he transferred the title into his parents' name. Three months later, in June of 1995,

Mark applied for a second restricted weapons permit. This time he wanted to buy a 38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, again for target practice. By this point, Rajwar had lodged her second complaint with the RCMP about Mark's threats and violence, and both complaints showed up in the police check, but the RCMP approved this permit as well. Sometime between June and December,

the threatening phone calls started up again. By January of 1996, Rajwa had had enough and submitted another complaint to the Vernon RCMP, but she didn't want them to do anything about it just yet, so they didn't. Around this same time, January of 1996, preparation for divorce proceedings were commencing. In Canada, there are three grounds for divorce,

cruelty, adultery and separation. Mark was incensed when he realized that Rajwar was pushing ahead under the grounds of physical and mental cruelty. He did not want to be subjected to what he perceived as further humiliation, as Rajois would detail his abusive behavior. He demanded that the grounds for divorce be changed to separation, which is when the parties have been separated for at least one year, which by this point they had been. But Rajwa stood firm. The divorce trial was scheduled for May of that year, 1996. And during discovery proceedings, Mark badged Rajwa and swore at her and her mother Darshan. The lawyer for the Gokal family would report that at one point, Mark and Rajois were left alone together during a coffee break. And when she came back to proceed,

something was very wrong. Quote, she was terrified of him, very much afraid of him. In the middle of his own divorce proceedings, Mark had learned about the upcoming wedding of Belvinda, Rajois's younger sister. The wedding was scheduled for April, the month before the divorce trial was scheduled to start, and he was incensed.

How dare they pursue another wedding celebration at the same time they were making his life such a misery with the divorce. Mark called the house and threatened Rajwa's father, Carnal, that, quote, no wedding will take place in this family. Carnal told a cousin that he was worried about Rajwa's safety. And Rajwa herself was worried too. She told her counsellor that she was scared that Mark was going to try and ruin Belvinda's wedding somehow. And he certainly was. Mark Chahol. Mark Chahol. was on a mission. He tracked down the man that Balvinda was going to be marrying, a 23-year-old

engineer from Toronto named Jitinda. Mark called up Jatinda's family home and spoke with his father, warning him that the Garkals were a bad family and advising him to cancel the marriage. Mark was further upset that Rajwa had refused to accept his proposal about how to divide the marital assets, so he contacted his divorce lawyer with. an odd question. If Belvinda's wedding did still go ahead, Mark wanted to know if he could legally photocopy his bank statements. He wanted to leave a copy under the windshield wiper of every wedding guest's car to send a message that the Gokkel family had caused him a great deal of hardship. By that point, everyone was on alert for Mark Chahal. It had now been over a year

since he and Rajwa had separated, and rather than showing signs of moving on, his obsession with the family seemed to be escalating. After all, he literally had nothing else going on in his life. It had been more than nine months since he quit his job to live off his savings while he stewed about the Gokal family's every move. In February of 1996,

just two months before Belvinda's wedding, Mark repeatedly called Rajois telling her that she was going to die. This time she went to the Vernon RCMP and gave an eight-page statement detailing all the abuse she'd endured. In part, it said, quote, I'm very scared and terrified of him and am very concerned about my safety. I'm also concerned about the safety of my family members. Mark has made various threats directed at me and my family members. He's also been making threatening phone calls about death threats to my sister.

Now, the original constable that Rajwa had spoken to in January was now on vacation, but would later testify that based on what was in that statement, she definitely would have charged Mark Chahol. But the problem was, Rajwa's statement wasn't read or reviewed by any RCMP members. It was immediately filed away, and when the constable returned from vacation, she was not told that a statement had been submitted. No action was taken.

Rajwa wasn't the only one that Mark was calling. He had also started calling her older sister, Jasbir, both at her family home and at her place of work. In one call he threatened, You fucking bitch, I'm spending money, but you're going to the grave. In another call, he did. told Jasbeer, quote, I want double money, bitch, double money, or you bitches all die. Jasbier and her husband, Roger, went to their local RCMP in the city of Abbotsford to lodge their

own complaint and also disclosed that they had been made aware that Mark had a number of guns. Jasbier said that she was fearful that if she submitted a full complaint, it would make the situation and worse, so suggested that it just be kept on file for the moment. The complaint was reviewed by the sergeant, who was concerned after reading Mark's threat, double money or you bitches all die, not because it was a death threat, but because the word bitches was plural. A threat to his sister-in-law, Jasbier, was one thing, but if the threat also extended to Rajwa, his estranged wife, then that would mean the complaint. would fall under the violence against women in relationships policy,

and the RCMP would be required to take further action, even if the survivor or their family asked them not to. The constable who took the complaint was asked to follow up with Jasbier to clarify whether she thought Mark's threats were just meant for her, or if Mark was using her to send threats through to Rajwa. Jasbier said she would speak with her sister and get back to them. She called back to say that Rajwar had her own complaint which she had submitted separately to the Vernon RCMP. Now, as part of the constable's investigation, he could have contacted Vernon to get Rajwar's statement directly,

and perhaps maybe then someone might have realised it hadn't been reviewed. Or he could have searched another RCMP database known as the Police Information Retrieval System, which would have pulled up a summary of Rajwa's original complaint to Vernon RCMP that she lodged a year earlier in the weeks after the couple first separated. He would have seen those red flags if he had looked. What he did do was look up Mark Chahal's criminal record on the general police information system and noted it was clean. There were no convictions and no history of violence.

The constable decided not. to pursue the investigation any further. The Abbotsford RCMP were satisfied that the complaint Jasbya submitted didn't fall under the violence against women in relationships policy, and so they didn't send a report to Crown Council recommending that Mark be charged. In a perfect world, it would have been the Vernon RCMP detachment that did this, based on Rajois's own eight-page statement, but it remained filed away. A few weeks later, it was the end of March 1996, and the next Gawkal family wedding was fast approaching. In just over a week, 24-year-old Belvinder was going to marry 23-year-old Jitinda, an engineer from Toronto, Ontario, and he and his

family were scheduled to arrive in Vernon, British Columbia, the day before the April 6th ceremony. In the days leading up to the wedding, Rajwa met with her long-time counsellor. When she first started counselling soon after she left her marriage, she was depressed. But as they continued working together, she became stronger and took control of her life. The counsellor would report that that day she seemed upbeat and happy, but she was also worried that Mark might try and ruin Belvinder's wedding. Her lawyer had suggested twice that she take out a restraining order against him, but she refused. She thought it would just provoke him.

She had to put it out of her mind, so she focused on helping with the preparations for the multi-day celebration, which would be attended by some 400 guests. Mark Chahol was now focused on the wedding too, and he had long since forgotten his plan for putting bank statements on wedding guests. cars. Now he had a new plan. He purchased a 10-round magazine clip for his semi-automatic revolver. Then he took it to the Barnett Rifle Club to practice using it. At this point, it was about a week before the wedding. Mark continued stewing on his plan until the day before the multi-event celebration was to begin, Thursday, April the 4th. This was the day he would start putting his plan

into action. That day, Mark packed an overnight bag and grabbed his guns. He then drove his red Nissan Pulsar to Colonna Airport, which is about four hours drive northeast of Burnaby and only about 30 minutes drive from Vernon. But Mark would not be flying anywhere. He just wanted to swap cars. He parked his car in airport parking and rented a dark green minivan. He then, he then, Then drove to Vernon and checked in to the Globe Motel, paying for two nights cash under the name M Singh. The Globe Motel was only three kilometres from the Gorkle House. Friday, April 5, 1996.

The first day of what would be a multi-day celebration for Belvinda and Jitinda's pending marriage. The first event would be the Mendi Party, which is traditionally hosted by the Bride's family, day before the actual wedding. When it comes to traditional Indian weddings, the Mendi is one of the most common and important pre-wedding customs, a fun and relaxed gathering where the bride to be unwinds with all her closest female relatives and friends the day before the actual ceremony. The goal is to send her off to marriage with wishes of good health and prosperity. Mendi is also another name for Hena, the plant-based dye which plays an important role in traditional Indian weddings.

A key part of the Mendi party would be when Belvinda's mother, sisters and other invited guests would gather together as her hands and feet were painted with Hena dye. Not only with the intricate designs be exquisite to look at, forming an essential part of Belvinda's wedding regalia, but Hena is also a. said to have natural medicinal herbal properties that work to cool the body and help relieve the bride of any stress before her big day. That morning, matriarch Darshan Garkal and her five daughters, 30-year-old Jasbier, 26-year-old Rajwa, 24-year-old Balvinda, the bride, 21-year-old Calvinda and 17-year-old Harvinder were in preparation mode. Their invited guests for the Mendi party would be arriving later, and they had a lot to do before then. Also at the house that day was, of course, 14-year-old Jaspaul, the youngest and only boy of the six

Gawkel kids. Jasby's family were also there, her husband, Roger, and their three young daughters, six-year-old twins, Brittany and Justine, and four-year-old Courtney. Roger's mother, six-year-old Germal, was also there. With a large family bustling about inside, Father Carnail headed outside to the driveway with a bucket of water and a washcloth. He started washing his new 1996 Red Mazda MX3, making sure it was spotless for the weekend's events.

It was just before 10.30 a.m. Carnell was focused on washing the Mazda, so he likely didn't see a dark green minivan pull up at the house. Mark Chahol got out with the 40-caliber semi-automatic handgun in one hand and the 30-caliber revolver in the other. He also had an unregistered, fully loaded 12-gauge pump-action shotgun for backup, which he left in the van. Gun in each hand, Mark walked up the driveway and ambushed his estranged father-in-law, 50-year-old Carnail Garkel, who was washing the area around the front tire of his car. Mark shot Carnail in the face, killing him instantly.

A neighbour had been playing outside with his two children and froze when he heard the bang. He looked over and saw Mark standing just metres away with a gun in each hand. The neighbour would report, He turned and looked me in the eye. I thought I was going to die. He had a full opportunity to plug me full of holes, but he just turned away from me. Mark fired through a bay window at the front of the property and then walked up the steps and entered the house. The exact order of events is unclear, but the end result was devastating.

Mark walked from room to room firing both weapons, stopping only to reload the semi-automatic. He shot his 26-year-old estranged. wife Rajwar. Then he fired at her mother, 45-year-old Darshan and all of her remaining children, 14-year-old Jazz Paul, 17-year-old Harvinda, 21-year-old Calvinder and 24-year-old Belvinder, the bride. The eldest daughter, Jasbir, was watching TV with her daughters on the couch, and her husband Roger and his mother were nearby. The three little girls watched as their estranged uncle entered the room and fired at their 30-year-old mother. He then turned the gun on their 33-year-old father, and then his mother, 50-year-old

Go Mell. A stray bullet struck little six-year-old Justine through both of her thighs. Her twin Brittany and four-year-old Courtney were not physically harmed. Mark Chahol then exited the house. He reportedly fired a few more rounds into the side of it, and then calmly walked to his rented van and drove off. Neighbors had been calling 911 and the RCMP arrived soon after to a scene they would never forget.

They found Carnale's body first, laying where he had fallen right beside his car. There was now blood flowing down the sloped driveway and into the gutter. And inside the house was carnage. Police found the bodies of five more people, including, Mother Darshan, who had been shot twice from behind, one bullet to the head and one to the back. Her body was found in a kneeling position in an upstairs hallway, as though the gunmen had caught up to her as she tried to run away. The bodies of her son, Jaspole and daughters Rajwa, Balvinda, Kalvinder and Harvinda were also found. According to some news reports, three of those family members still had a pulse when the

the RCMP arrived, but passed away minutes later. One of the most heartbreaking discoveries was in another room, where the TV was still blaring. The three traumatised little girls, one of them shot through both thighs, were still sitting on the couch next to the slumped over body of their mother, Jasbir. Husband and father Roger was still alive, but only just. He had been shot several times in the chest, but was lucid when the RCMP arrived and was able to tell them exactly who was responsible for the carnage, Mark VJ Chahal. Roger was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries hours later. In the space of only about five minutes, Mark Chahol had managed to wipe out the entire Gokal family, two parents and all of their six children dead. Jasby's husband,

was number nine. Only four people survived and three of them were children. Six-year-old Justine would recover from her gunshot wounds in hospital, and the other injured survivor was her grandmother, Roger's mother, who had been shot in the face and managed to escape to the balcony. She would go on to have surgeries for a shattered jaw and facial injuries. The next task for the RCMP would be to locate Mark Chalkyne, hole as soon as possible. But as it turned out, he had driven straight back to the Globe Motel, and at around 11am, staff there heard a gunshot in one of the rooms. The RCMP arrived to find the body of the 30-year-old lying on the floor of his room. He had taken his own life with

the semi-automatic handgun. They also found a note that had been hastily written with several phone numbers so police could contact his next of kin. The note was brief. It read, rented van at airport, ID in jacket pocket. I apologize to my family. Mark provided no explanation for the murders. Jatinda, the engineer from Toronto who was to marry Belvinder the following day, was on route to Vernon with his family when the massacre occurred. The RCMP intercepted them with a tragic news that not only was the wedding off, but Balvinda and her entire family had been murdered. Hundreds of other wedding guests were also on route, many from India, and were devastated by news of the tragedy after they had arrived. That evening, the Okanagan Sikh temple that the Gokal

family had been instrumental in helping establish, became a place of mourning instead of celebration. And in the days that followed, a vigil was held for all the guests of the wedding that would never be. Before long, the front lawn of the Garkal home was covered in bouquets of flowers. The wider local community was also in a deep state of shock. At Clarence Fulton High School, where 17-year-old Harvinda and 14-year-old Jaspaul attended, the flag was flown at half-mast and crisis counselling was made available for all students. There were two separate memorial services held, and each was attended by more than a thousand people.

One was in Abbotsford for Roger and Jasbeer Sarin, the slain parents of three orphaned little girls. Justine was still recovering from the bullet wounds on both her legs, and her two sisters, Brittany and Courtney, stayed with extended family in Vernon at first, and then they all moved back into their old family home in Abbotsford with Roger's father. Roger's mother, Germal, was of course still recovering from her injuries in hospital and couldn't attend her son and daughter-in-law's funerals.

But after she was discharged from hospital, she moved into their family home too. A fund would be established to raise money for the girls. Back in Vernon, over 1,500 people crammed into the Vernon Recreation Complex for the funeral for the Gokal family. Their open caskets were on display up front, covered with bright purple and orange flowers, and mourners carried white flowers, which are the sick colour of mourning. One of Harvinda's high school friends tearfully read a poem she'd written in honour of the two youngest victims who were still in high school. The sick Granthi, who led the service, told the mourners, We have to search our souls to ensure this never happens again.

A lone barbarian and madmen, a savage, committed this inhuman mass slaughtering and butchering of nine beautiful human beings. In the midst of the devastation, more details started to emerge about the family's problems with Mark Chahal, and people started asking questions. It seemed that there were a number of opportunities to prevent the mass shooting. The first was the issue of gun ownership. How was Mark able to so easily get legal access to restricted firearms? And why did the RCMP approve those restricted weapon permits when Rajwa's complaints were on file? The conversation prompted the RCMP to hold a news conference where a spokesperson explained that even though they obviously saw Rajwar's complaints show up in the search,

they had not resulted in any actual charges against Mark, nor were there any peace bonds or court orders on file restricting him from getting a firearms permit. And Mark stated on the form that he only wanted the guns for target practice and hunting. There was no mention about possibly seeking revenge on his estranged wife's family. Quote, there was no reason to deny him the permits. Questions were also being asked about why the RCMP didn't follow the Attorney General's policy on family violence. Why did they not follow up on Rajwa's complaints as they should have?

The RCMP defended this too, saying, quote, What kind of a police force would we be if we don't abide by the complainant's wishes? If you extrapolate that and just picture the RCMP ignoring the wishes of a complainant, and then the husband resorts to violence, then we're going to be blamed for causing that. The coalition of South Asian women against violence were critical of the RCMP's failure to follow the policy. They released a statement that also pushed back

on a narrative that had started to develop that the massacre was typical of their culture. Quote, we decry the tendency to cast this crime within a cultural framework. We are very angry about that. A spokesperson for Canada's largest Sikh organization, the Kalsa Duon Society, told the Times colonists that Marx's actions were not representative of the Sikh community and only added to the stigma against South Asians.

He said that if you removed the cultural label, quote, would this not be just a family tragedy which all Canadians would seek to prevent? He added that violence is not an acceptable. solution to any dispute, and the perpetrator cannot be considered sick. Quote, that is not the sick culture. And the statistics confirmed this. Violence against women was widespread.

Just three years earlier, a survey reported that about half of all Canadian women had experienced at least one incident of violence since the age of 16. Half of these cases were by a man they knew, and a quarter said the man, was their current or past marital partner. Another study by the Canadian Centre for Justice found that more than 75% of women murdered in 1991 died at the hands of a family member or someone they knew. And in the province of British Columbia itself,

almost 75% of men charged under 1993 anti-stalking legislation were harassing former partners. So while violence against women is widespread, the Times colonists reported that several sick leaders had been discussing how factors like the social stigma or stress of failing at an arranged marriage might have come into play, since it appeared that Mark had detached himself from the sick community. BC's Attorney General at the time, O'Djil Desage, who was himself a sick originally from the Punjabi state of India had also been watching the discussion very closely. He expressed his own

disappointment in the narrative that the violence was culture-based. He spoke to the Times colonist, quote, this kind of violence exists everywhere in society. All of us are victims and by not recognizing that, we'll all be participating in a negative way in the tragedy. He also announced that the RCMP would be reviewing how they handle complaints in the context of the violence against women in relationships policy. Meanwhile, those who thought they knew Mark Charhol the best couldn't believe what he had done. His cousin told the Vancouver son, he was just a nice guy, I never expected anything like this. They insisted he had never shown any kind of tendency for violence to them before and concluded that he must have just snapped.

His grade 10 yearbook had since been uncovered and under his picture he had provided the chilling tagline, The Devil Made Me Do It. Obviously at the time, no one thought anything of it. The RCMP had concluded that Mark deliberately planned the murders, but his original intention was to flee afterwards, hence the rental car, but he changed his mind when he arrived back at the hotel and died by suicide. His estranged wife, Rajwa, was a member of the Interior Dental Hygienist Society, who launched a petition demanding that Parliament enact legislation prohibiting gun permits being issued to anyone for 12 months after a report against them of family violence. The culmination of this uproar was a five-day inquest into how the massacre happened and what could have been done to prevent it.

The RCMP stood firm in their stance that they were only following Rajois's wishes and didn't want to be the cause of additional violence. But University of BC forensic psychologist at the time, Don Dutton, an expert in family violence, thought differently. He was hired by the inquest to conduct a psychological autopsy of Mark and Rajwa's relationship and told the inquest that police should have investigated Mark immediately following her initial report in January 1995, just after they first separated. This would have allowed Mark to enter a court-mandated counselling program

to seek help for his anger management issues. The psychologist told the inquest that he rejected the argument by the RCMP that their intervention would have escalated the matter. Quote, if that argument is followed to its logical conclusion, then we wouldn't have a criminal justice system because we don't want to get people angry for being charged. Dutton was also critical of the RCMP's decision

not to investigate the matter further on the basis that Rajwar didn't want them to take any action. Quote, I don't think it's the state's decision. It's not just a crime against, a woman, it's a crime against society. He went on to explain that if abusers aren't held to account and confronted about their violent behaviour, they become convinced of their self-righteousness. After evaluating the murders, Dutton found that it was a case of what he referred to as injustice homicide. Not only did Mark want revenge against Rajwa, but her whole family,

and he believed they had publicly humiliated him and his family, and because they wouldn't accept his proposal around the division of assets, it was costing him money in legal fees. And Mark was also likely angered, not because he missed Rajois specifically, but because he'd lost control of her and didn't have a wife. Dutton pointed out that the risk of spousal homicide increases immediately following a separation and remains a high risk for around 6 to 12 months.

This remains true today. Another thing that was discussed was what happened to the eight-page statement that Rajwar filed with Vernon RCMP, just two months before the mass shooting. Her statement was filed away without being read, and it was only after news of the massacre that a constable there searched the database and discovered it. A number of internal and external reviews

failed to determine who took that statement and why it was filed away without being reviewed. And somehow, Rajwa's complaints were spread across three separate files and some information was missing from some. On this, the RCMP conceded that something had fallen through the cracks. The inquest jury recommended that the RCMP update their procedures for handling spousal abuse files, including expanding the definition of violence against women in relationships to include extended family members. Other recommendations included following up on threats

regardless of the survivor's wishes, assigning all related complaints to the same investigator and carry permits to be limited to one firearm. By the end of 1996, the province reported that all RCMP detachments had allocated an officer to be responsible for all spousal abuse files. And new federal gun laws came into effect two years later in 1998, specifying that spouses or former spouses must be notified

when a person applies for a gun permit, and anyone applying for a permit must also provide two references. On the one-year anniversary of the Gokul family's tragedy, a memorial ceremony was held at the sick temple. community leaders and those close to the family spoke of their ongoing grief and the continued need for change to support women who were victims of family violence. The director of the Vernon Women's Centre told those gathered that Rajwa had been failed on a large scale.

Quote, she told people what was going on. She didn't keep it a secret she talked about her fears. She even predicted her husband might do something to disrupt the upcoming wedding. of her sister. She didn't get what she needed to stay alive. We didn't even see her as a victim until she was dead. We failed her and her family. Violence against women is not a cultural issue. It affects us all. And we need to do everything in our power to honor Rajwa and her family by demanding change in a system that is not working. On the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy, Brittany Sarin, one of the twins spoke with the province saying she could still remember everything vividly, as if it only

happened hours ago. At that point, she was 16 years old and remembered her mother, Jasbir as a smart, sweet, confident, modern woman. Her father, Roger, was remembered as a protective force in her life, strong but sweet. Brittany went on to say she thought of them often. For example, when she's on stage performing at school plays, her eyes, her eyes search for her parents' faces in the crowd. Quote, I can imagine their camera clicking. These are some of the hardest moments for me. Jasbier was a highly regarded social worker passionate about helping women affected by domestic

violence. She'd spent her last nine years working at Abbotsford Community Services, now known as Archway Community Services, and the organisation had gone on to dedicate one of their recreation rooms to her, the Jasbeer Seran Room. Brittany told the province that she had recently found one of her mother's old business cards and decided to start volunteering at the organisation. She wanted to feel closer to her mother and learn more about who she was. Her twin, Justine, who still bore the scars of those stray bullets to her legs, came too.

They felt a connection as soon as they walked in. They were able to speak with Jasby's former colleagues who described her as an empathetic, compassionate person who was admired for her professionalism. They also discovered that their mother had been instrumental in the development and growth of the organisation's English as a second language classes, which provided support to new immigrants. All of these discoveries brought solace to the twins. Brittany said that she still experienced haunting dreams of that day. The sound of firecrackers or hearing a door slam affected her for many years afterwards, but she was clear about how she wanted her parents to be remembered. Quote, not only with happy memories, but also in the context of what happened to them,

we need to learn and prevent it from happening in the future. Today, outside the Vernon Museum, there is a moment. memorial stone for the family with plaques that carry the names and a short description of each of the nine people who lost their lives. While April 5, 1996 will forever be remembered as the darkest day in Vernon's history, the memories of the Gokal family will always live on. Thanks for listening and special thanks to Gemma Harris for research. This episode relied on the journalism of Lindsay Kynes, Stuart Bell and Mike Crawley for the Vancouver Sun, Lee Fraser and Frank Lubber for the province,

Patrick Brennan for the Morning Star, and Chris Wood for McLean's Magazine. For the full list of resources and anything else you want to know about the podcast, including how to access ad-free episodes, visit canadian truecrime.ca. We donate regularly to Canadian charitable organisations that help victims and survivors of injustice.

This month we have donated to two, organizations. The first is Archway Community Services, the current name of the organization where Jasper Serran worked. The second is the Archway Society for Domestic Peace, formerly known as the Vernon Women's Transition Society, who helped Rajwa after she first left her abusive marriage. You can find links to these worthy organizations in the show notes. Well, that's it for this episode. Thank you so much for your kind ratings, reviews, messages and support. Thanks also to the host of True for voicing the disclaimer and We Talk of Dreams who compose the theme song.

I'll be back soon with another Canadian true crime story. See you then.