Crime Beat: Fatal façade — the murder of Dr. Elana Fric | S2 E6

good evening i'm anthony robart this is crimebeat tonight when a beloved family physician vanishes her family and friends must come to terms with some hard truths this is not her she always answered the phone something happened i hadn't heard from lena i'm worried is she with you they searched the home they tried to see if anything was untoward or anything suspicious he said that elena had left i said joe we will find her after she is that she is not a life number and now here's crime beat reporter karen lieberman with fatal facade the murder of dr elena frick dr elena frick and dr mohammad shamji appeared to have it all blossoming careers a loving marriage and three children they were a healthy vibrant couple who shared common interests outside the medical field they ran marathons together and traveled to exotic places friends called them a hollywood couple they were like a dream couple i think a lot of people were jealous of their relationship you know outwardly it was they looked so in love and so happy and they were always so affectionate with each other elena's close friend and neighbor fellow doctor alison kaufman remembers being in awe of her how she managed to juggle motherhood with work and seemed to strike the perfect balance she was super mom and super doc for sure we were always amazed how was she was able to do everything she was constantly either working or taking care of those children on social media elena plastered pictures of the two jet setting to cities like new york and dubai they would always be somewhere going in movies let's go for a beer let's go for a claw into the clap you know have a chicken wings that kind of stuff you know elena was a supportive wife who would talk often about her husband's many achievements as a top neurosurgeon in toronto she made a big sacrifice all for him because his career was very important to him to his parents and she knew that she herself a family doctor at the time was destined for greatness says her mother she was determined we never pushed her for anything and even when she finished for a medical doctor she was always think she wanted to be a surgeon but then later she wanted to be a mom cardiac surgeon dr samantha hill is the president of ontario's medical association of which dr frick was a toronto district delegate i wouldn't have been surprised if she was sitting in my seat as president as opposed to me she not that she was power hungry or anything like that but she just had such a natural rise to the top dr larry ehrlich recruited dr frick for the scarborough hospital she was just outstanding her credentials and her demeanor and her her personality so apart from the fact i was looking for someone at that time to be a teacher in the unit i was also looking for a professional development director a well-paid position and a growing practice three beautiful children the perfect marriage dr elena frick was living a fairy tale every day multiple times a day anna frick spoke with her daughter elena on the phone they were making plans for anna and joe elena's father to visit and i said you know what tomorrow morning i'm gonna give you carl and we're gonna talk and she said okay mom call me before i taking girls for the school you know and i called her that morning she didn't answer it was december 1st anna waited until after school started she called again no answer i said now she's supposed to be in the hospital i call nine o'clock no answer i call or unnoon i said maybe she have a little bit free time maybe she can call me back nothing three called when she finished revolt nothing i got a text message from anna it was around eight o'clock in the evening and she says she wrote i hadn't heard from lena uh in maybe it was 20 hours or something like that i'm worried is she with you it was anna frick elena's mother and she sounded different than i've ever heard her before with the hours passing the worry was setting in this is not her she always give me call back she always answered the phone something happening and i don't know what seven o'clock bath time for the children still no answer she was very nervous frantic even kaufman recalls it was important to anna that she checked the garage she needed to know whether elena's car was there so she said can you please do me a favor can you just don't can you just check and see if her car is there all i know is at that stage in my mind i had to find out if the car was there that was that was my job and then we just kind of like hesitantly walked over there as i was approaching maybe halfway they started going off like every few seconds one light was off and then a couple seconds later i was closer and then another light was off and it was closer and then another light was off it was very that was very creepy i really didn't know what i was afraid of but i was actually afraid that awesome it could happen to me even getting close yeah so i was very very afraid that night kaufman spotted her car it was parked in the garage and when she heard that she got even more worried and then i said look if you're worried just call the police let them do like a check elena's mother anna is desperate for answers how could elena just vanish where had she gone coming up elena's mother reports her daughter missing and elena's husband tells police he knows where she's gone a beloved family physician appears to be living the dream the successful career the kids and married to top neurosurgeon dr mohammad shamji until a day in late 2016 when her mother suddenly can't get a hold of her [Music] now back to karen lieberman with fatal facade the murder of dr elena frick i i report her missing i said please please go to their house check every corner everything everything that you can check in that house go outside in a shed go in a closet look for her look for her colleagues were concerned too elena hadn't shown up to work i got a call from the unit that says the chief we don't know where she is she's not asking her phone not doing anything and you know all that occurred and i actually did call the police to say that we were concerned the missing person investigation started from a phone call from a lady out in windsor who was reporting that she couldn't get a hold of her daughter the daughter's name was elena shamgy and that that was very untoward that was not something that happened where she couldn't get a hold of her daughter toronto police officers were sent to elena's home in the suburb of north york inside they found dr mohammad shamji along with the children can you speak to what the police officers who visited that home were thinking were they piecing anything together at the time as part of procedure we also searched the home which is what they did they searched the home they tried to see if anything was untoward or anything suspicious and at that time they didn't find anything the facts that they gathered were how long they had been married and that they had three children in the home and mohammed shamji said that he did not know where elena had gone and he provided an account where by he said that elena had left and she had left with her boyfriend the two officers put together a police report for a missing person that report was given to an investigator we start to look at the background of not only the person who's missing but also the people that are associated to it i said to my husband i said you know go down and get a suitcase we put few things in and we're leaving for toronto i'm not standing here because i won't be able to sleep all night anyway she packs a bag and leaves windsor and heads to her daughter's home a few hours later they arrived anna got to work preparing breakfast for the children then muhammad came downstairs he just looked at me he said oh you was the one that you call police i have a detective last night in the house i said mo it's so sad your wife is missing the mother of your children is missing and you didn't report missing her you know aren't you concerned what happened to her where she is i told you last night she's with the boyfriend so why would i beat her anna knew nothing about a boyfriend what she had known was that her daughter was infatuated with her husband the neurosurgeon and a doting mother to their three children i said joe we will find her but she's dead she's not alive no more that same day that anna called police to report her daughter missing in around 3 p.m in york region a suitcase was found this couple from kleinberg who only want to be known as david and darlene were walking to get their mail last thursday afternoon when they saw a suitcase below the bridge david a volunteer firefighter from vaughan decided to call police police are trying to crack the case of the mystery woman found dead by the humber river anyone who was in the area who witnessed anything suspicious in approximately the 24 hours prior to to the discovery to please contact our homicide investigator the suspicious suitcase was found on the first of december in the humber river some 35 kilometers north of toronto in the suitcase once they were able to pull it to shore which was initially lodged on a rock and once they pulled it to shore once they opened the suitcase it was a very shocking discovery they found a body in there of a female and what was quite telling about this suitcase was that it had a tag on it and the tag had a name and the name was off anna frick soon enough they were able to find that toronto police had a missing persons report for a female by the name of elena frank and this is when we were notified [Music] coming up how the facade of elena's picture-perfect life begins to unravel elena's husband says she was having an affair and left with her boyfriend but as elena's family and friends try to make sense of her sudden disappearance a suitcase has been found containing human remains we now return to karen lieberman with fatal facade the murder of dr elena frick as ham said investigators we started doing more thorough canvas of all the facts that we had what police would uncover pointed to a life unlike the one elena and muhammad had portrayed on social media elena's facebook profile was plastered with photographs of overseas travels conferences she attended with muhammad cocktails and family fun she was so happy she loved him she loved him it was during medical school in ottawa that the two first crossed paths the son of a prominent thoracic surgeon father and psychiatrist mother muhammad was following in their footsteps crafting his own career in medicine after several years of dating in april 2004 the couple visited the frixton windsor with news and she said mom we have something to tell you and i thought to myself oh they get engaged the wedding coming she said mom we are pregnant and i said really i was so happy anna said first they should marry she married the love of her life i'd like to also thank my my new in-laws uh dr dr shamji for a beautiful beautiful wedding up in ottawa thanks mom and dad [Music] soon after elena's dream of becoming a mother would be realized she just called us from arawa and she said mom guess what i have a baby yasmin baby yasmin anna i said oh honey congratulations i'm so happy so now i'm a baka but in muhammad anna never saw real happiness she told her daughter i have a long talks with her and each time i would open my mouth i would say something against him you know like and she will say oh mom not again so anna kept her thoughts to herself until three weeks after their baby girl's birth this time it was elena who reached out she said something i have to walk and i i feel like i'm walking in a egg shelf in my own house and i didn't understand properly but that mean and i asked i said ella know what you mean and she said oh nothing and then his mother said something that she pushed him so she said yeah i have to push him because he tried to choke me on the sofa and i said eleanor now you have to tell us what the hell is going on over here i don't have no slightest idea can somebody tell me what's going on elena had been upstairs breastfeeding her new baby muhammad wanted her downstairs hosting his family who had come to visit from out of town it led to an argument and according to anna muhammad lost his temper for anna it was a turning point each time the phone would ring late at night i said oh my god don't tell me it's her then every day i keep calling her every day just to make sure that she is safe in may 2005 ottawa police service investigated at the time was an assault investigation and it was between elena and muhammad and what elena had told the police officers at the time was that she had been assaulted by muhammad and she had received injuries to her face more specifically to her lip which had been split as a result of a blow from muhammad and muhammad also threatened her and at the time the young child that she was only a few weeks old the threat to their baby was shocking and anna frick remembers receiving the call from her daughter she said mom he said i'm going to kill her i'm going to throw her in out of a river and i'm going to tell police that you did it because it will be my words against your words and everybody gonna believe me and not to you mohammed was arrested and faced three criminal charges one count of assault against elena and two counts of uttering threats of bodily harm against elena and their child she went into hiding at a friend's house until her father joe moved from windsor to stay with her but a few months later elena and muhammad would reconcile and the criminal charges muhammad had been facing were withdrawn instead he entered into a peace bond with 12 months probation elena would do anything and everything not to jeopardize his career and his happiness so she signed a peace bond hoping and thinking that will result everything and that maybe from there there they can go on and have a life and have a marriage and be a family no criminal record allowed him entry into the united states and the prestigious phd program at duke university she said mom i make decision i want to go and follow my husband because if i don't go to north carolina my marriage is over and i thought to myself oh honey what marriage in 2007 the shamji family grew once again daughter faiza was born muhammad plowed ahead with his studies and elena on a full scholarship furthered her own education at duke university to complete a master's degree in public and health policy then the couple with two daughters returned to canada elena settled in ottawa with the children muhammad moved to calgary for a year to complete a fellowship oh that was the happiest time not only for her for us too because we felt so free when we come over there you know we was family again anna says even when he had an affair elena wouldn't give up on him on the marriage i said ellie honey and now it's a good time to leave him she said ma we gonna work on it we will not gonna work on it i'm not gonna let just one woman to break my marriage i asked her i said ellen or do you know who she is she said mom i know i call her and she said oh yeah he i want him so badly but he will never leave you he will never divorce you soon after he returned to ontario to his dream job as a neurosurgeon at toronto western hospital despite a demanding medical career and family muhammad had time for social media where he bragged about his long-distance runs dinner dates with elena frequent travels in canada and the united states and the birth of their third child in september 2013. a son marius was born on social media they appeared to be the perfect couple two doctors with three children successful fun fit and madly in love she was very clear early on that her facebook profile didn't reflect reality and she would jokingly call it fake book did you ever get a sense that there was more to the marriage she would cry quite a bit at work i noticed that she was crying and you know things would set her off so easily and people were always you know wondering what was going on with her something else is going on and so yes we definitely everybody had a sense that something else was going on at home but it wasn't only close friends who questioned whether there was more to the marriage and whether elena was in trouble their own daughter had wondered well i didn't really have anything to compare it to since that was like that type of dynamic was all i knew as a kid but it seemed really off like there was obviously a very big power dynamic between the two he was like dad controlled all the money in the house and then mom did whatever he told her to do and i didn't really have anything to base i didn't i didn't know what a normal family looked like why are there was always this kind of hostility between them specifically from him to her really often like there's a lot of name calling a lot of yelling a lot of putting like her down a lot of control over her too it was around that time elena lost touch with close friend and neighbor dr allison kaufman both were busy with their careers and children and now working in different medical settings until one day elena showed up at kaufman's door she was there to drop off a plate and share some news she was actually having an affair and she was so into that an affair with a fellow doctor and plans to serve muhammad with divorce papers she said to me i i need i really need to talk to you i'm getting a divorce and i this time are you sure because she had mentioned it but i said for real she's for real i'm getting a divorce and we gotta like hang out and talk i got it i really want to talk to you we have to catch up and i said are you what's happening are you safe and she said i'm safe i know i'm safe because he would and he said she said this he would never ruin his career she said that he was living in the basement and that she was living in the room and he kept bothering her to go upstairs but he would never ruin his career so she's okay when she was getting ready to serve her husband with divorce papers what was she saying to you was she nervous was she excited she had all of the concerns that anyone i've ever known to leave a relationship had you know how's this going to affect my kids how am i going to provide for them what does the future look like am i doing the right thing did dr frick ever say to you i'm afraid she shared enough with me that i knew that she was right that she needed to get out she said mom actually i took your advice i'm divorcing more i said oh my god that was the happiest time i said oh my god i'm so happy but the only thing this he asked me to give him uh three months to bury himself i said to better himself for what how many chances you already gave it to him the divorce was pending but anna was more worried than ever before she warned elena i said honey be careful don't turn your back on him be careful what you're doing she said mom he's not that stupid that he's gonna do anything wrong don't worry mom don't worry i just want to tell her to be careful and i want to tell her to take the kids and run go to dr cochman you know just tell them something but i couldn't even tell her that she said mom i gotta go i just gotta go i'm tired i didn't even tell her that i love her like i almost do i had no chance coming up elena's daughter jasmine just 11 years old at the time reveals what she witnessed that fateful night the last time she saw her mother alive years earlier criminal charges against elaina's husband for assault and threats of causing bodily harm were withdrawn but in the months before her disappearance elena had told friends and family she was filing for divorce we now return to karen lieberman with fatal facade the murder of dr elena frick [Music] once we started collecting the facts the suitcase that was found in york region it was taken to our center forensic sciences which is a facility where we analyze significant evidence this suitcase it was shocking it was gruesome for any police officer really and to have an adult female's body in there it was quite simply one of the more disturbing features of this case there had been significant trauma and blood on the body it was cleaned by central forensic sciences staff then a photograph of the woman's face was taken i love the picture i looked a picture i could recognize her i said i'm sorry that's not elena ellen i have a beautiful long blood hair the lady the picture doesn't have no hair she said because her hair was all cut good job joe pulled the picture of my head season let me look at it he looked at it he said anna it's a hell about it two days after elena served muhammad with divorce papers she was dead now investigators turned the focus on arresting her killer anna told them about her allegations of years of abuse the criminal charges police followed up with elena's boyfriend who muhammad claimed she'd run off with he was cooperative but knew nothing there was only one person in elena's life with a clear motive we put a surveillance team on muhammad to follow his actions to see what he was doing and on that day his brother flew in from boston as well and his brother's also a physician and the two of them checked into a hotel and muhammad had with him at the time a passport and from one of the officers who followed muhammad into the hotel one of the observations they made is when he was signing his name at the hotel his hands were shaking which to any investigator especially confronted with these facts is concerning but what happened in those final hours leading up to the murder was still unclear those details would come from a surprising source there were some questions that i didn't completely answer truthfully because i was you know i was shaken up i was nervous i'd never been questioned by the police before so it's really new to me so i just i wanted to tell them about what happened like what i had seen the night before so she said oh no the police ask us all kind of question but i didn't tell him the truth i said honey what back i always teach you that you always have to tell the truth anna remembers jasmine just 11 years old at the time revealing to her she had information that i heard mommy screaming and first i didn't go right away in a room and when i heard more scream i was so scared i covered up myself i was so scared i was horrified that he's gonna come and he's gonna kill us after a while it was too quiet so i kind of walked into their room and asked what was going on and kind of saw my dad like kneeling behind the the bed like over something that i couldn't see because it was out of my sight and i asked him what was happening he told me to go might go to my room and then i just did he looked really frightened like really frantic like he had just done something really bad in her final moments with her daughter listening on the other side of the bedroom wall elena frick had suffered greatly elena had significant blunt force trauma injuries [Music] predominantly to her head and face once we had the autopsy it was discovered that she had neck compression which is choking and also significant fractures in her neck and spine area the suitcase is an average large size suitcase however she was compacted in there and that would have required some force so the injuries that she sustained were not only perimortem which is when she was alive but she also sustained postmortem as she was being put into the suitcase for investigators the puzzle pieces were starting to come together the combination of that the only people in the house prior to the argument were three children muhammad and elena and that the statement made by muhammad that she had left with a boyfriend brought us to what we call a situation which is an exclusive opportunity that the only people in the home at that time adults or muhammad and elena and that her disappearance and the subsequent finding of her in a suitcase up in york region spoke to muhammad being culpable on december 2nd 2016 dr mohammad shamji was arrested for the murder of his wife dr elena frick he was charged with first degree murder and committing an indignity to human remains he was a groundbreaking neurosurgeon news of his arrest was almost too shocking for his patients to accept this is the last person you would expected of this is someone who in every dealing i've had with him over the past four years has been incredibly kind uh gentle caring as a person and obviously in the kind of work that he does he spends his day helping people and saving lives dr jamshi has an enormous amount of support out there i can tell you from the day this charge was laid i've had been inundated with support for the doctor from friends from family from patients we've lost a huge person in the medical system there aren't doctors like him in canada in all of canada i'm shocked like i cannot explain it he was such a gentle caring person that was not the person elena frick had known her mother had tried to warn her did anna ever tell you or other police officers that in her heart she had this intuition that muhammad was involved she had a very bad feeling but she had a bad feeling from very early on in the relationship and she felt that muhammad was aloof that he wasn't very loving of elena and quite frankly they were very confused as to why elena liked muhammad and over the years from the different occurrences from assault to emotional abuse that elena sustained from the relationship i believe it reinforced their belief that muhammad was was was not a good person to elena hundreds came together for elena's funeral all her friends came from toronto her closest friends her doctor even it was bad bad weather you know they ran the big bus they came out with the buses 39 doctors i said would you play the song goodbye my life goodbye my love goodbye so the song display on her way out from the church they played that song i don't think there was a purse in the church that their eyes was not filled with the tears it's alas it's empty my heart my soul it's empty without her after the break dr shamgy faces the court and his children that's coming up [Music] two days after elena served her husband dr mohammad shamji with divorce papers she was dead the prominent toronto neurosurgeon has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and committing an indignity to human remains we now return to karen lieberman with a conclusion a fatal facade the murder of dr elena frick by the time the case worked its way through the court system it took two and a half years before dr shamji would be tried for the murder of his wife dr elena frick elena's family tried to remain strong we continue to come in to be her voice since she cannot speak we have to speak for her and for her three children that she left behind yes three small beautiful children they are in our care now that we have to look for then just days before jury selection was scheduled to begin muhammad pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder i just remember like not knowing how it's going to end because he didn't really he didn't really confess until the last minute so i was really scared about having to you know be on the witness's stand and kind of recall what happened especially in front of him i was really nervous about that happening what father will do that to his daughter she was full anxiety for another full year that knowing she will have to testify a trial the crown accepted the plea to spare jasmine the trauma of testifying in court against her father and because there was little evidence the murder had been planned making a first degree murder conviction difficult to achieve before muhammad's sentencing he was given the chance to address the court he stood up and said your honor i killed my wife there are no words to express the remorse and shame i have he went on to talk about what a great friend and wife elena was then he addressed his children two who were in the courtroom i have devastated your lives and i have hurt you immeasurably i can only say how sorry i am i hope the memory of your mother will help you be brave and supportive of each other as you navigate the horrible circumstances i have created for you i don't know how i have created such pain and anguish i reflect back that that night i should have killed myself and not elena that would have been the only justice like i remember him looking at me like turning from where he was standing to look back at like my siblings and i in the in the pews and i just remember like staring at him i just wouldn't believe like i didn't believe that he was actually talking to me and saying you know that stuff i didn't really believe what he was saying like as like the apology i don't think he was really sorry it's a ploy just a show you know i got caught i'm sorry for myself i'm not sorry for what i did why'd you wait two and a half years to say you're guilty regardless of what your sense of right and wrong or what your sense of justice is the focus of any responsible resolution in this case should be squarely on the welfare of the children going forward yesterday today talk about that how many life more save it on the pass okay i don't know about that but i know how many lives he destroyed do you think justice has been there no no no not even close no justice wasn't done today no there was no penalty that this court could give him that will ever justify what mo has done to elena to us and especially to the children three children left without a mother their father serving a life sentence for second-degree murder no chance of parole for 14 years jasmine fisa and marius now live in windsor they're being raised by their grandparents in a home filled with love and memories of their mother dr elena frick the kids they have the all three of them they have their own personality but there is each and one have something of hers you know and i thank god every day for those children at least we have them elena was once anna and joe's pride and joy the second child they never thought they would have she was kind of a miracle baby for us because after caroline i lost two babies and i was told by the doctor that i will never have a children again it was the best surprise for the couple her family and her friends say she was destined for greatness but elena was not safe her mom and friend allege she faced years of escalating emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband domestic violence is a lot about control and when the person doing the violence emotionally and physically starts to lose the control which is when is the most dangerous time she served divorce papers on muhammad two days prior to this happening and in muhammad's mindset from what i understand as an investigator that was simply not acceptable what do we learn from her story get out get out you're gonna die if you get hit once you're gonna you could die she never thought in a million years because of his career it doesn't matter who you are you could be someone who's been in jail many times or you could be you know the fancy neurosurgeon that he was it doesn't matter who your abuser is they're gonna kill you get out domestic violence can happen anywhere there is a self-deprecating aspect to this where it has it's happening to me because of this there is no reason for it to happen and nobody should be victimized with emotional and physical abuse in any domestic relationship and my message to them is to reach out and get help from friends and if that's not available then they need to contact the police without their daughter anna and joe focus on her children i want all the all the best for them just to be happy now i want them just to be first the children let them be the children something that they didn't have opportunity to be before losing their mother has been life-altering i usually picture her like you know being happy with me as a kid like she was a really happy person despite what was going on but living out of the shadow of their father has been the biggest change i'm not like more free to hang out with them you know my dad wasn't really fond of me hanging out with friends or you know doing that kind of stuff i wasn't allowed to have sleepovers or you know any of the sort and now i'm like i'm not happier i'm able to socialize more with people that i like rather than people that just my dad liked because he would like to pick and choose my friends a lot jasmine is making plans for the future shaped in many ways by the past i think if she was here she'd be proud of me and that kind of makes me happy i want to be able to bring justice as in like i want people who are as bad as him to you know get the consequences like to go to jail and you know not be able to hurt other people on the surface her parents dr elena frick and dr mohammad shamji appeared to have it all a medical power couple madly in love on social media they were the portrait of perfection but there had been red flags now everyone wishes they'd paid closer attention that they'd done more to help elena today anna frick has this warning if there is anybody who are abused my wish if they hear me please don't stay with us guys they will never change they will never change move on have a life for yourself for your kids before it's too late [Music] deliver us from the evil amen rest in peace mommy forever do we miss mommy yes yes how much you miss her how much a lot do you know where your mommy is in heaven does she look after us yes yes oh honey how much we miss you how much we miss you [Music] in canada it's estimated that on average every two and a half days a woman or girl is killed as a result of gender-related violence and according to the united nations one third of all women and girls will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime if you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help resources are available one spot you can go is the assaulted women's helpline and in case of an emergency please call 9-1-1 i'm anthony robart thank you for joining us tonight on crimebeat [Music] want more episodes of crimebeat listen to my crimebeat podcast now for free on apple podcasts spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts you

Channel: Crime Beat TV

Views: 945,685

Rating: 4.7704015 out of 5

Keywords: Global TV, Global News, crime beat, crime beat tv, crime beat global news, crime, crime investigation, nancy hixt crime beat, crime beat podcast, dr elena fric, murder of dr elena fric, Dr. Mohammed Shamji, caryn lieberman

Id: iRahFF_hEx8

Length: 45min 10sec (2710 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 21 2020