He Waited 5 Hours on the University Roof—Then EXECUTED His Model Ex-Girlfriend

Maple Batalia was born near Mumbai in India and later moved with her family to Surrey in British Columbia. People who knew Maple described her as warm, ambitious, intelligent, and incredibly driven. She was the kind of student who always earned top grades and her dream was to become a doctor someday. But at the same time, she had this creative side, too.

While studying health sciences, she was also building a name for herself in entertainment, taking part in modeling and acting projects whenever she could. She landed a role in the 2010 movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid and later appeared in an episode of the CW series The Secret Circle. Around that same time, she signed with a modeling agency and was absolutely thrilled after becoming a finalist in the Central City Model Search competition.

The head of her agency once said Maple was incredibly articulate, extremely focused, and honestly one of the nicest people you could ever meet. She eventually enrolled at Simon Fraser University while still living at home with her family and commuting to classes every day. Her plan was simple: finish university, go to medical school, and build the future she had always dreamed about.

But um there was another possibility, too. Maple told friends she was genuinely enjoying the momentum of her acting career and didn’t want to rule out the idea of turning it into something long-term. For someone so young, her life was already incredibly busy. Still, she seemed to handle everything naturally, balancing school, auditions, work, [music] and personal goals without losing herself in the process.

At the time, Maple had recently ended an on-and-off relationship that had lasted 4 years with 20-year-old Gajinder Dhaliwal, better known as Gary. Their relationship finally fell apart in 2011 after Maple discovered he had cheated on her. The betrayal devastated her, but she threw herself into work and school to move forward.

She had too much ahead of her to stay stuck in the past. Guys, before we continue for a second, I’m honestly really curious where you’re watching this video from. Drop your city or country in the comments. I always read through them and it’s honestly amazing seeing people from all over the world following these stories together.

And if you enjoy deep true crime investigations like this one, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future [music] cases. All right, now let’s get back to the story. That night, Maple left her family’s home and headed to the campus library with a friend. They planned to stay late studying and eventually they met up with a few other people there, too.

Hours passed and as the night slowly turned into early morning, everyone started packing up to leave. Maple hugged her friends goodbye and walked toward her car, which was parked on the third level of the garage. Just after 1:00 in the morning, a resident living nearby suddenly heard seven gunshots fired in rapid succession.

He rushed to the window and saw a white Dodge Charger speeding away with its tires screeching loudly. Almost immediately, people started running outside and calling 911. While that chaos unfolded, Maple was lying beside her car bleeding heavily. She had been shot five times. Three bullets hit her in the abdomen and her head was covered in stab wounds and cuts.

A large bloody kitchen knife was found beside her. She was still alive when first responders arrived, but only barely. Police officers, who had already received dozens of emergency calls about the shooting, reached the scene within minutes. They worked desperately to stabilize her long enough to rush her to a nearby hospital, but her injuries were simply too severe.

A few hours later, Maple died. One of the responding officers later said, >> Shots fired here [music] at this uh area on the third floor of this parking deck. Uniformed officers attended and they did locate uh an adult female, 19 years of age, located uh here behind me, suffering [music] from uh what can only be described as significant and multiple of gunshot wounds.

Those two uniform officers did everything they could in an effort to save this young lady’s life while they waited for EHS to tend to attend. We understand the sensitivity here in regards to what the community is feeling and where this occurred, how it may have occurred, and whether there’s [music] a link uh specifically uh to the SFU campus here.

I can confirm that yes, there is a link to the SFU campus and that this 19-year-old girl was a active student here at this campus. >> What made the attack even more shocking [music] was where it happened. Even though it was late at night, the campus was still active. Students were walking around, studying, heading home, just living through what seemed like a completely normal evening.

>> Surveillance footage showed students doing exactly what Maple had been doing all night, studying in the library, preparing for classes, hanging out with friends. Nothing seemed unusual. Everything looked ordinary, and that’s exactly what made the case so disturbing. Because despite all those people nearby, nobody on that parking level saw anything.

Nobody heard screams. Nobody could explain what happened during those critical moments. The garage wasn’t isolated. It wasn’t abandoned. Yet, somehow the attack unfolded as if nobody else existed. Fear spread across campus almost immediately. Students were horrified, and the community felt completely shaken.

By the following day, around 50 officers had already joined the investigation. Investigators kept many details private because they didn’t want to damage the case. At that point, they admitted they still couldn’t determine whether this was a random act of violence or a carefully targeted attack. But, one thing became obvious very quickly.

This did not look like a robbery. Maple’s wallet was still beside her, untouched. Nothing had been stolen, which made a random robbery theory seem far less likely. Police also said the shooting probably wasn’t connected to gang violence, although they couldn’t completely rule anything out yet. As uncertainty spread, investigators tried reassuring students that the campus was still safe.

One detective explained, “Other than the fact that this murder happened near Simon Fraser University, we do not believe the student community or university administration should panic excessively.” But honestly the sense of safety had already been shattered. Because now everybody understood something terrifying.

The attack happened in a place where nobody expected it, and there were still no answers about who did this or why. >> Dozens of RCMP officers are investigating yesterday’s shocking shooting of a 19-year-old SFU student. [music] >> Well, Tony, 40 to 50 officers are now on the case here at SFU. A case that [music] some say is hitting investigators very hard.

Many of them have daughters, and that’s motivating them to find the killer. Grief is the focus at Maple Batalia’s family home today, although no doubt there are many questions. Why would someone shoot the young woman several times as she made her way to her car after a late night of studying? >> Who would be capable of killing such a beautiful young 19-year-old girl in the prime of [music] her life? Did this 19-year-old young woman know her attacker? Um or was there somebody involved um in regards to this that she knew that assisted in this homicide? We don’t

have those answers. >> Students are more careful since the killing, sticking closer together. >> So, we kind of walk together in groups, but ever since the incident we felt like it there’s more more inclined to do so now. >> Through tears, a university representative announced that counseling services would be available for anyone struggling with the tragedy for as long as people needed support.

Memorial gatherings took place across the city as the community mourned together. One person attending the vigil said, >> The way that she was just footsteps away from her car, was just right there, and just it just makes you like it’s like a big shock. >> The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team continues to investigate tips in this murder case, but so far no one has been arrested.

Officers know there are still people out there in the community who have vital information and they’re pleading with [music] them to come forward. >> Just help us get our justice that we deserve. That she No daughter, no sister deserves to go through what my sister went through. She was innocent. And for you to stay quiet, it’s not the right thing.

>> Maple’s family eventually told investigators there was really only one person they could imagine wanting to hurt her, her ex-boyfriend Gary. Even then, the the thought that he could actually murder her felt almost impossible to accept. The two had dated since high school, and their relationship had always been unstable.

They broke up and got back together multiple times, and there had been ongoing problems between them for years. But after the relationship officially ended in the fall of 2011, Gary’s behavior became darker and more disturbing. According to Maple’s family, between mid-August and late September of 2011, he began obsessively harassing her.

Gary made more than 2,000 phone calls to Maple and sent even more text messages. One night, while Maple was out at a club with a friend, he sent her 300 messages. He reportedly stalked her constantly and even asked friends to keep tabs on her, checking where she went and who she spent time with.

At one point, outside a club, he spat in the face of one of Maple’s friends. Later, he punched another friend after learning he had gone for coffee with Maple. When Maple tried stepping in, Gary shoved her to the ground. She called the police. Gary was arrested, [music] ordered not to contact her, and charged with assault.

The friend Gary punched was actually one of the people studying with Maple in the library on the night she was killed. But despite Gary’s disturbing behavior, police still lacked direct evidence placing him on campus that night. And without witnesses, they didn’t have much to work with. Still, they did have one important clue.

The nearby resident who heard the gunshots gave investigators a very clear description of the car speeding away from the scene. He saw it tearing out of the area around 1:04 in the morning and even identified the street it turned onto afterward. Nobody managed to see the license plate, but investigators began tracing the vehicle’s movements using campus surveillance footage.

Luckily, the university had nearly 100 security cameras installed and the quality of the recordings was actually pretty good. Police released portions of the footage publicly and asked anyone seen on camera to come forward, even if they believed their information was insignificant. As detectives reviewed the videos, they quickly found footage of Maple inside the library with friends.

She looked happy, smiling, laughing, studying like it was any other normal night. Nothing suggested someone was actively threatening or following her inside. Maple appeared completely relaxed around the people she was with. Shortly before 1:00 in the morning, Maple left the library alongside three friends.

Even without audio, the footage looked ordinary. They were calmly walking together, talking casually. University staff helped identify everyone who had been with her that night and all of them willingly cooperated with investigators. Police became confident none of those friends were involved. It appeared they had separated only minutes before Maple was attacked.

The camera covering the third level of the parking garage rotated slowly on a timer, sweeping across the area every few minutes. And tragically, at the exact moment Maple entered that level, the camera had turned away from the entrance. Nothing was captured, but another camera revealed something chilling. That same white car had entered the parking garage around 8:00 that evening.

It spent a long time circling through the structure before finally parking. And right as the car stopped, Maple and her friend appeared on camera nearby. Investigators realized whoever was inside that vehicle already knew Maple would be there that night and had likely been tracking her movements. This wasn’t somebody randomly encountering her and acting impulsively.

This looked planned. Carefully planned. Cold >> [music] >> and deliberate. >> With an emotional vigil in Surrey tonight, more than 100 people held an event to remember Maple Batalia. It’s been a year since she was shot to death, but no one has been arrested. >> that in a year’s time people will talk. We believe that people have talked about this murder and that may have more information than what they initially had in the beginning stages and we want those people to come forward, the people that have the intimate knowledge about

her homicide. >> We all love our angel. We never change. >> [gasps] [snorts] >> And for that person to be out there and be free and my sister will never come back. It’s just not right. >> By then, it was already 2012. Months kept passing, but Maple’s case remained unsolved. Detectives worked constantly chasing every lead, checking every tiny detail, trying not to overlook anything.

But they still didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest and the pressure was building. Investigators spent months combing through records of everyone who owned or rented vehicles matching the same make and model as the one seen leaving the scene. Interviews, background checks, more interviews, slowly eliminating people one by one.

It was exhausting work. And honestly, there were moments when it seemed like the investigation might stall completely. Then, near the end of 2012, everything changed. Detectives finally found a lead. A name that previously hadn’t stood out suddenly became important, Gershom Arbutus, a close friend of Gary who also attended the same university.

As investigators dug deeper, the pieces finally started fitting together. They discovered that on September 25th, 2011, he had rented [music] a white Dodge Charger, the exact type of car witnesses saw fleeing the scene. He returned it only after September 28th, after Maple had already been murdered.

And there was another detail investigators found extremely suspicious. [music] Gary had been with him when the car was rented. At that point, it stopped looking like coincidence. Then things became even worse. Just hours after Maple was killed, 21-year-old Gershom Arbutus took the vehicle to a car wash. It looked like somebody was desperately trying to erase every possible trace.

Police eventually recovered the vehicle. It had been cleaned thoroughly, almost obsessively, but investigators still found something. Hidden under the hood somewhere most people would never think to look was a shell [music] casing. And it matched the casings recovered at the murder scene perfectly.

At that point, the entire picture [music] started coming together. On December 1st, 2012, more than a year after Maple’s murder, authorities finally made the announcement everyone had been waiting for. Not one arrest, but two. >> Maple Batalia was gunned down on a university campus in September 2011, and since then, she, her family, and friends have appealed to the public to help find her killers.

Now, police have arrested her ex-boyfriend and another man. The CBC’s Dan Burt has that story. >> Maple Batalia’s father, Harry, vowed to wear black until he received justice for his daughter’s murder. His family joined him in black and a little closer to justice now that two men have been charged in the death of their daughter and sister.

>> This This an easy day for us. It’s very bittersweet. But although we can’t bring Maple back, we’re happy to see that the people that are responsible for this are now going to suffer the consequences. >> I can tell you [music] that I knew this day would come. I knew that to be true because uh I know that every day uh we commit to ensuring the justice and the rule of law prevails.

>> Maple’s ex-boyfriend, Gary, was charged with first-degree murder while his friend, Gershwin, was charged with second-degree murder and being an accessory after the fact. Investigators believe Gershwin had spent days watching Maple’s car before the murder, helped Gary escape afterward, took the vehicle to be cleaned, and provided him with an alibi for months.

It all looked like part of a larger plan that had been carefully built piece by piece long before the shooting happened. The murder weapon itself was never recovered, and that missing evidence only added more tension and unanswered questions to the case. Gary was reportedly furious watching Maple move on without him, meeting new people, building her future, succeeding in life while he stood on the outside looking in.

Her life no longer included him, and for someone already consumed by jealousy, insecurity, and possessiveness, that became unbearable. According to Maple’s family, Gary tried to force a relationship she no longer wanted and refused to accept her decision to move on. That obsession, need for control, and inability to let go may have ultimately pushed everything toward tragedy.

Everything Maple had been building, her education, her career [music] goals, her future, disappeared in an instant. Maple’s mother later said, >> She’s very happy when she break up with him. It’s hard. But she’s She’s say, “I’ll try my best. No more.” Maple planning to get him. >> [laughter] >> She told me, >> [snorts] >> “Gary kill Maple.

” Like, “Bye.” But she did. And then the same time I call Gary mom because she is my friend. Make a U a dog kill my daughter. That’s why I have message to people. If your son or daughter controlling someone, please >> [gasps] >> help. >> It was nearly 2 and 1/2 years ago when 19-year-old Maple Batalia was fatally gunned down in Surrey.

Her ex-boyfriend has now been ordered to stand [music] trial. >> Both men appeared in court maintaining their innocence and they were expected to stand trial together. But the process dragged on for four long years as delays continued over and over again. One family member said, [music] “It’s very difficult for us. We’ve been waiting for over four almost 4 and 1/2 years and every day we think about what could have happened.

Then before trial finally began in 2016, 26-year-old Gary suddenly [music] changed his plea. He admitted guilt to second-degree murder. The court sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for 21 years. The judge could have chosen anywhere between 10 and 25 years before parole eligibility and prosecutors later noted it was likely one of the harshest sentences ever imposed for the murder of a single victim rather than multiple victims.

>> Rosie Batalia leaves court with the sense of closure she sought for more than 4 years. >> Thank you to the community members, friends, family who have supported us endlessly and let me see [music] through this process. It’s been a really long time and Maple can finally rest in peace knowing that she got some justice.

And we just want this to be an example in the community that no matter what you do, it does catch up to you and justice must be served and I’m just hoping that she’s looking down and is is content that she finally got her justice. >> Just finality for this family. It’s over. There are no appeals. There is no possibility of a new trial [music] being ordered.

It’s over. It’s done with respect to Mr. Dalliwal and that is to the benefit of the family. >> 27-year-old Gursimar Battalia was later acquitted of second-degree murder charges. However, he was still convicted for helping conceal the crime afterward. He received a sentence of 22 months in prison, though he was released 6 months early.

>> From the family of Maple Battalia, one of the two men involved in her high-profile 2011 murder has been released from jail. >> Maple’s sister later said, “This one 8-month sentence was a real slap in the face to our family. He had the audacity to remain silent even during the sentencing. He smiled at our family.

He smiled at the people in the courtroom as if to say, ‘I got out of the water unscathed.’ It took 5 years before Maple and her family received any form of justice at all. And honestly, the impact of her death is still felt throughout Surrey even today. In 2017, a documentary about Maple was released and went on to win several awards at major film festivals.

Director Jocelyn Cote wanted the film to serve not only as a tribute to Maple, but also as a way to raise awareness about domestic violence [music] and abusive relationships. A scholarship called the Maple Battalia Memorial Scholarship for the Arts was also established. Each year, it supports a South Asian Canadian student beginning studies in art and design.

>> Member for Surrey-Whalley. >> Thank you, Madam Speaker. Last Saturday, March the 4th, a candle light vigil took place at Holland Park in Surrey-Whalley to honor victims of domestic violence. One of the very poignant stories recounted was that of Maple Battalia. Maple was an extraordinary and vibrant young woman, an SFU student, and also an aspiring actress and model.

The Battalia family has responded to the tragedy in a strong and resilient way. And to honor Maple’s legacy, the Battalia family has established a bursary to support students in SFU’s health science department. Her mother, Sarbjit, told me on Saturday that as a result of her work, the fund now exceeds $100,000. And a separate Maple Battalia Memorial Scholarship for the Arts was also established in partnership with Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Even after her death, her legacy goes on. >> By the age of 19, Maple had already accomplished so much. She was balancing school, chasing dreams of becoming a doctor, taking her first serious steps into acting, and somehow still remaining the kind of person who made everyone around her feel comfortable and welcome.

With her determination, focus, and inner strength, people truly believed she could succeed in absolutely anything she chose to pursue. Nobody doubted that for a second. She was at that stage of life where everything is just beginning. Endless opportunities ahead, thousands of future moments she still hadn’t lived yet. But she never got that chance.

One of her friends once described her death as, “Like somebody crushed a flower before it even had the chance to bloom.” And honestly, that feeling stayed with a lot of people. It felt like something bright and full of life had been taken away suddenly for no reason at all. Her father called Maple his greatest treasure.

After her death, he said his life felt empty, “Like something inside him had disappeared permanently. We are left with nothing. We lost our angel and she will never come back.” Those weren’t just words. That became the reality her family had to wake up to every single day. Her father also said that even though Maple was the youngest in the family, she was the glue holding everyone together.

She was the one calming conflicts, supporting everyone else, bringing warmth and energy into the home. And after she was gone, that balance disappeared, too. The house that once echoed with her voice and laughter became painfully quiet, and that silence never really left. Holidays stopped feeling the same.

Ordinary days became harder. Every photograph became a reminder of everything they had lost. And the truth is people don’t really move on from pain like that. They just learn to live beside it. Day after day, year after year. Maple’s memory survived far beyond her family. Friends, [music] classmates, and the entire community continued remembering the light she brought into people’s lives.

Even people who only knew her briefly said she left behind this feeling of warmth [music] and kindness that was impossible to forget. And that’s why this story resonated with so many people. Because this isn’t just a story about murder. It’s a story about obsession destroying everything in its path. About control going too far.

About one person stealing an entire future from someone else. And maybe the most heartbreaking part is thinking about everything Maple never got the chance to experience. The career she could have built. The people she would have met. The happiest moments of her life that never got to happen. All of it simply vanished.

What remains now is memory and the silence that forever reminds everyone of what was taken away.