Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins: Where Is Mukhtiar Panghali now?

The heinous 2006 murder of the British Columbia resident, Manjit Panghali, led the detectives to the killer and her husband, Mukhtiar Panghali. The five-day search resulted in the discovery of her burnt body along a beach in the Delta waterways.

Mukhtiar was arrested and convicted of second-degree murder in 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison but was granted full parole in 2023, according to CBC News. Panghali walks a free man now as the Parole Board of Canada stated that he does not continue to pose any risk to society.

The Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins episode titled The Missing Mother showcases the mysterious disappearance of Manjit Panghali, and it airs on Oxygen on August 17, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST. The official synopsis for the episode reads,

"The sudden disappearance of Manjit Panghali sparks a massive search for the pregnant mother. What investigators uncover has a tight-knit immigrant community in shock, a family in mourning and a killer relationship exposed."

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How was Mukhtiar Panghali convicted?

Four-month-pregnant Manjit Panghali disappeared after her prenatal yoga class on October 18, 2006. Five days later, her burnt body was found on a beach at the Delta waterways.

Her husband, Mukhtiar Pangali, reported her missing 26 hours later, leading the detectives to suspect his involvement. Realizing that he had provided an inconsistent alibi, they began to collect evidence against him.

They ultimately found footage of Mukhtiar purchasing a lighter and a newspaper from a Chevron gas station. He had also used Manjit's cell phone after her disappearance on October 18.

Furthermore, handwritten notes left behind by Manjit depicted a tumultuous image of their marriage. Manjit wrote about how Mukhtiar's alcoholism could affect their family dynamic, and the domestic violence involved that led her to depression.

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Where Is Mukhtiar Panghali now?

Mukhtiar Panghali was arrested for the murder of Manjit Panghali in 2007 and he went to trial in February 2011. Panghali's hearing was presented with witness testimonies and circumstantial evidence, following which he was found guilty of second-degree murder and for interfering with human remains.

Panghali was sentenced to life in prison in March 2011, with the possibility of parole after 15 years, per Global News. The Vancouver Sun reported that Panghali was willing to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter but his appeal was rejected by the former attorney general Wally Oppal.

He then appealed his conviction on grounds of the decision being unsupported by the evidence, as the attorneys stated that the trial judge made an error by letting a police officer claim that the man in the surveillance video was Mukhtiar himself. However, the appeal was rejected by a three-judge panel in the British Columbia Court of Appeal, as per The Globe and Mail.

Mukhtiar Panghali was incarcerated at a federal prison in British Columbia but in a turn of events, he was granted full parole by the Parole Board of Canada, effective from October 6, 2023. Furthermore, CBC News reported that he was granted unescorted temporary absences from jail in 2021.

Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Vancouver-based Battered Women’s Support Services, spoke to Global News.

“This tells us everything we need to know about how ineffective the criminal legal system is in meting any kind of justice for victims of intimate partner and domestic violence,” Angela commented.

Mukhtiar Panghali is a free man now and his release was granted as the Parole Board of Canada stated that he does not present an undue risk to society.

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Catch all the details of Manjit Panghali's disappearance on the Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins episode, airing on Oxygen on August 17.