Indian-origin woman’s body found in Canada landfill, live-in partner charged

The police in Canada’s Ontario province has charged the live-in partner of Indian-origin woman Shalini Singh after human remains found at a landfill were confirmed to be of the 40-year-old woman. Singh was reported missing by her family on December 10 last year.

According to the Hamilton police statement, the man, identified as Jeffery Smith, was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains.

The police found some partial human remains at the landfill last month. Detective Sergeant Daryl Reid said that DNA analysis determined the human remains were those of Shalini Singh, according to a Global News report.

Smith reportedly has a history of violent behaviour and once also attacked his mother. Despite this, Singh had previously supported his release from mental health care, citing her experience in the field.

Police began searching the Glanbrook Landfill site in Caledonia, Ontario, near Hamilton, on February 24 in connection with Singh’s disappearance. On May 21, they discovered partial human remains at the site.

Soon, the police arrested Jeffrey Smith, 42, who was her live-in partner.

The police believed the woman was killed on December 4 last year after she spoke to her mother, Anita Singh, over the phone in the apartment where she lived with Smith.

SHALINI SINGH WAS VICTIM OF FOUL PLAY: POLICE

Investigators said that at the time of her disappearance, Singh was living with her “common-law” boyfriend at a downtown Hamilton apartment building. According to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, a “common-law partner” is defined as an individual who has lived with another person in a conjugal relationship for a minimum of 12 continuous months.

According to the police, the duo were together for five to seven years. Smith was known to police for previous incidents before Singh disappeared, but police were “never called in their affairs at all,” Detective Sergeant Reid said.

“As the investigation unfolded, evidence suggested that Shalini Singh was the victim of foul play and may have been removed from her building (her remains) by way of the garbage disposal system,” Global News quoted Reid as saying.

Investigators theorised early on, after reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance footage, that Singh never left the building alive after December 4 and could’ve been killed soon after. They traced the building’s garbage from that time period to the Glanbrook landfill, according to a report in CBC.

Following months of combing through garbage, police officers found the human remains on May 21.

HOSPITAL ALERTED COURT OF POTENTIAL HIGH-LEVEL THREAT

Smith has a history of assault, as outlined in a 2023 Court of Appeal ruling in a separate case. That case involved St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, which opposed the Ontario Review Board’s decision to release Smith into the community without supervision, CBC reported.

The board reviews cases of people found not criminally responsible.

In 2012, Smith faced charges of attacking his mother and assaulting a neighbour, but was later deemed not criminally responsible because of a mental illness, CBC reported, citing the Court of Appeal.

In 2022, the Ontario Review Board considered granting him absolute discharge, meaning his mental health care wouldn’t be overseen by St Joseph’s Forensic Outpatient Program, the Court of Appeal’s decision said.

The hospital, Smith’s treating psychiatrist, and the Crown were all opposed, agreeing that “Smith posed a significant threat to the safety of the public and should therefore remain under the board’s supervision,” said the Court of Appeal, which summarised the proceedings, according to the CBC report.

Singh, who was a mental healthcare worker, had backed Smith’s release.

She testified to her experience working in the mental health field and knowledge of Smith’s medications, said the Court of Appeal.

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