Where is Gurjinder Dhaliwal now? Details explored ahead of Death by Fame on ID

The upcoming episode of Investigation Discovery's famous true crime show, Death by Fame, is all set to cover the exceptionally brutal murder of Maple Batalia and the role of Gurjinder Dhaliwal, her ex-boyfriend, in the same. The case dates back to 2011 but remains fresh in the minds of the Indian community in Surrey.

This case will be covered in detail in Death by Fame season 3, episode 7, titled Diary of a Madman, which is set to premiere on February 17, 2025, at 9.00 PM EST. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"A young actress gets her big break in the hit movie "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules"; within months, she turns up dead in her school parking lot; police sift through hundreds of hours of surveillance to attempt to catch her killer in the act."

Though the path to solving this case was hardly a linear one, it was ultimately solved, and Gurjinder Dhaliwal did receive his punishment. However, the punishment was not satisfactory enough for the Batalia family, who lost their daughter at the tender age of 19.

Ahead of the episode, let us go over the details of this murder.

---

Who is Gurjinder Dhaliwal, and what did he do?

Maple Batalia, who was originally from Mumbai, India, was an exceptionally bright girl who was studying health science at Simon Fraser University and had already done a few modeling gigs and had even worked in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

She met and started dating Gurjinder "Gary" Dhaliwal, who was also from the Punjabi community and was from a reputed family. The couple seemed to be perfect for each other at first, but as Maple Batalia started to flourish in her acting career, Gurjinder started getting jealous of her success.

After graduating high school, Gurjinder Dhaliwal started working in his father's business while Maple went to attend Simon Fraser University in Surrey, British Columbia.

Soon, things turned sour between the couple, and by 2011, Maple found out that Dhaliwal was cheating on her and broke off their relationship for good. But Dhaliwal would not let it go so easily.

After an outburst that had him arrested after spotting Maple with another guy, he shot and stabbed Maple to death outside her campus library at around 1 AM on September 28, 2011. Maple succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. She was shot three times and stabbed multiple times in the head. The brutality of the crime confirmed that it was by someone who knew Maple well.

---

How was Gurjinder Dhaliwal caught?

After interviews with friends and acquaintances, the police had already singled out Gurjinder Dhaliwal as a suspect, but there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. CCTV footage gave the first clue when it caught a distinctive white Dodge Charger exiting the area right after the shootout.

The police found out that it was a rental car that was rented by Dahiwhal’s friend, Gursimar Bedi. Inspection of the car revealed that there was shell casing and gunshot residue. CCTV footage at the rental also captured Dhaliwal and Bedi. Investigation also confirmed that the driver of the car had fired a gun.

This was not enough evidence, but ultimately, cellphone records of Gurjinder Dhaliwal placed him at the crime scene. This was enough to arrest and charge Dhaliwal for the murder.

---

Where is Gurjinder Dhaliwal now?

Gurjinder initially refused to talk in the interrogation, but when Sarbjit Batalia, Maple's mother, joined in and approached him with empathy, he ended up apologizing to her, which was enough for the prosecutors to proceed.

He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 21 years. His friend, Bedi, received a sentence of 22 months.

As of now, Dhaliwal remains incarcerated in Canada.

---

The upcoming episode of Death by Fame will cover this case in further detail.