Original subtitles

GOOD EVENING, I M ANTONY ROBART. THIS IS CRIME BEAT

TONIGHT -- WHEN A BELOVED FAMILY PHYSICIAN VANISHES...HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS MUST COME

TO TERMS WITH SOME HARD TRUTHS. Mom: This is not her. She always answered

the phone. Something happened. Allyson: I haven t heard form Elana. I m worried.

Is she with you? Detective: They searched the home. They tried

to see if anything was untoward or anything suspicious. He said that Elana had left.

Mom: I said Joe We will go to Toronto but we will find that she s dead, she s not alive

no more Host: AND NOW HERE S CRIME BEAT REPORTER CARYN

LIEBERMAN... WITH FATAL FACADE: THE MURDER OF DR. ELANA FRIC.

Caryn: Dr. Elana Fric and Dr. Mohammed 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. Allyson: 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.

Caryn: Elana s close friend and neighbor, fellow doctor, Alyson Koffman, remembers being

in awe of her.. how she managed to juggle motherhood with work.. and seemed to strike

the perfect balance. Allyson: 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. Caryn: On social media Elana plastered pictures

of the two jet setting to cities like New York and Dubai.

Mom: they would always be somewhere, going to the movies. Let's go for a beer. Let's

go into the club, have chicken wings so stuff like that, you know

Caryn: Elana was a supportive wife, who would talk often about her husband s many achievements

as a top neurosurgeon in Toronto.

Mom: She make a big sacrifice all for him because his career was very important to him,

to his parents. And she knew that.

Caryn: She *herself* -- a family doctor at the time -- was destined for greatness.. says

her mother.

Mom: she was determined. We never push her for anything and even when she finished for

a medical doctor. She was all those things, she wanted to be a surgeon. But then later

she wanted to be a mom.

Caryn: Cardiac surgeon, Dr. Samantha Hill, is the

president of Ontario s Medical Association, of which Dr. Fric was a Toronto district delegate.

Dr Sam Hill - I wouldn't have been surprised if she was sitting in my seat as president

as opposed to me. Not that she was power hungry or anything like that, but she just had such

a natural rise to the top.

Caryn: Dr Larry Erlich recruited Dr Fric for the Scarborough Hospital.

Larry: She was just outstanding at her credentials and her demeanor and her personality. So apart

from the fact I was looking for someone at that times to be a teacher in the unit, I

was also looking for a professional development director.

Caryn: A well-paid position and a growing practice.

Three beautiful children. The perfect marriage. Dr Elana Fric was living a fairy tale.

Every day multiple days a day Ana Fric spoke with her daughter Elana on the phone.

They were making plans for Ana and Joe, Elana s father, to visit.

Mom -- And I said, You know what to tomorrow morning I'm gonna give you a call and we gonna

talk. And she said, Okay mom call me before I taking girls to school and I call her that

morning she didn t answer Caryn: It was December 1st.

Ana waited until after school started. She called again.

No answer.

Mom: I said, now she's supposed to be in the hospital. I call nine o'clock. No answer.

I call around noon, I said maybe she had a little bit free time, maybe she can call me

back and nothing. 3 o clock when she finish her work nothing.

Allyson: I got a text message - from Ana - It was around 8:00 in the evening. And she says,

she wrote, I haven t heard from Lana in maybe it was 20 hours or something like that. I

worried. Is she with you?

Caryn: It was Ana Fric, Elana s mother.

Allyson: And she sounded Different than I've ever heard her before.

Caryn: With the hours passing the worry was setting in.

Mom: This is not her. She always give me a call back. She always answered the phone.

Something happened again. I don't know what.

Caryn: Seven o clock. Bath time for the children

...Still no answer.

Allyson: She was very nervous. Frantic even.

Caryn: Koffman recalls it was important to Ana that she check the garage. She needed

to know whether Elana s car was there.

Allyson: So she said, can you please do me a favor? Can you just .. can you just check

and see if her car is there. All I know at that stage in my mind I had to fond out if

the car was there. That, 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. That was very creepy. I really

didn't know what I was afraid of, but I was actually afraid that something happened to

me even getting close. So, I was very afraid that night.

Caryn: Koffman spotted her car it was parked in the garage.

Allyson: 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, OK?

Caryn: Elana s mother Ana is desperate for answers.

How could Elana person just vanish? Where had she gone?

COMING UP: ELANA S MOTHER REPORTS HER DAUGHTER MISSING

...AND ELANA 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 MOHAMMED SHAMJI. UNTIL A DAY IN LATE 2016, WHEN HER MOTHER

SUDDENLY CAN T GET A HOLD OF HER. NOW BACK TO CARYN LIEBERMAN WITH Fatal Fa

ade: the murder of Dr. Elana Fric

Mom -- I report her missing. I said, please, please go to that house, check every corner.

Everything, everything that you can check in that house. Go outside in a shed. Go in

the closet. Look for her. Look for her.

Caryn: Colleagues were concerned too. Elana hadn t shown up to work.

Larry: I got a call from the unit, the chief. We don't know where she is. She is not answering

phone. I think anything and all that occurred and I actually did call the police to say

that we were concerned

Detective: 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 Elana Shamji, and that was very untoward. That was not something that happened where

she couldn't get a hold of her daughter.

Caryn: Toronto police officers were sent to Elana s home in the Toronto suburb of North

York. Inside, they found Dr. Mohammed Shamji along

with the children.

Caryn: Can you speak to what the police officers who visited that home were thinking? Were

they piecing anything together at the time?

Detective: as part of procedure. We also search 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 Elana had gone. And he provided an account whereby he said that

Elana had left and she had left with her boyfriend.

Caryn: The two officers put together a police report for a missing person and that report

was given to an investigator.

Detective: We start to look at the background of not only the person who is missing, but

also the people that are associated to her.

mom : I said to my husband I said you know what Joe go down and get the suitcase we put

a few things in and we leaving for Toronto I m not standing here because I won t be able

to sleep all night anyway.

Caryn: She packs a bag and leaves Windsor...and heads to her daughter s home.

A few hours later, they arrived. Ana got to work preparing breakfast for the

children. Then Mohammed came downstairs.

Mom: He just look at me. He said Oh you was the one that called 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, I took a sudden what

happened to her where she is. I told you last night she's with the boyfriend. So why would

I be concerned.

Caryn: Ana 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.

Mom: I said Joe We will go to Toronto but we will find that she s dead, she s not alive

no more

Caryn: And that same day that Ana called police to report her daughter missing...

Detective: in and around 3:00 p.m. in York region, a suitcase was found

New reporter 1: 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 say a suitcase beneath

the bridge.. .David, who is a firefighter from Vaughan, decided to call police.

News reporter 2 Police are trying to crack the case of the mystery woman found dead by

the Humber River...

Constable LAURA NICOLLE, YORK REGIONAL POLICE: Anyone who was in the area who witnessed anything

suspicious in approximately the 24 hours prior to the discovery to pls contact our homicide

investigator.

Caryn: The suspicious suitcase was found on the 1st of December, in the Humber River some

35 km north of Toronto.

Detective: 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. 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 Ana Fric. And soon enough, they were able to find that Toronto police had a missing

persons report for a female by the name of Elana Fric.

And this is when we were notified.

COMING UP: HOW THE FACADE OF ELANA S PICTURE-PERFECT LIFE BEGINS TO UNRAVEL...

Host: ELANA S HUSBAND SAYS SHE WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR, AND LEFT WITH HER BOYFRIEND.

BUT AS ELANA s FAMILY AND FRIENDS TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF HER SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE. A SUITCASE

HAS BEEN FOUND CONTAINING HUMAN REMAINS WITH A LUGGAGE TAG THAT SAYS FRIC.

WE RETURN TO CARYN LIEBERMAN WITH FATAL FA ADE: THE MURDER OF DR. ELANA FRIC .

Detective: As homicide investigators we started doing a more thorough canvas of all the facts

that we had,

Caryn: What police would uncover pointed to a life unlike the one Elana and Mohammed had

portrayed on social media. Elana s Facebook profile was plastered with photographs of

overseas travels.. conferences she attended with Mohammed... cocktails.. and family fun

..

Mom: She was so happy, she loved him, she loved him

Caryn: It was during medical school in Ottawa that the two first crossed paths.

The son of a prominent thoracic surgeon father and psychiatrist mother, Mohammed was following

in their footsteps crafting his own career in medicine.

After several years of dating... in April 2004 the couple visited the Frics in Windsor

with news.

Mom: And she said, Mom, we have something to tell you. And I thought to myself, oh,

they getting engaged, the wedding coming. She said, Mom, we are pregnant. And I said,

really? I was so happy.

Caryn: Ana said first they should marry.

Mom -- she married the love of her life.

Elana: I would also like to thank my new inlaws Doctor and Doctor Shamji Thankyou for the

beautiful wedding up in Ottawa.

Mo: thanks mom and dad.

Caryn: Soon after, Elana s dream of becoming a mother would be realized.

Mom: she just call us from Ottawa. And she said, Mom, guess what? I have a baby Yasmin,

Baby Yasmin Ana. I said oh honey congratulations I am so happy so now I m a babka.

Caryn: But in Mohammed, Ana never saw real happiness.

She told her daughter:

Mom: I have long talks with her, and each time I would open my mouth, I will say something

against him, you know like, and she will say, oh, mom, not again, do we have to go through

this again? Oh, mom, not again.

Caryn: So Ana kept her thoughts to herself. Until three weeks after their baby girl s

birth. This time it was Elena who reached out.

Mom -- she's said to me, she's say something. I have to walk ..I feel like I'm walking on

the egg shells in my own house. And I didn t understand properly what that mean and I

ask her Elana what do 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 Elana now you have to tell us what the hell is going on over

here. I don't have the slightest idea. Can somebody tell me what's going on?

Caryn: Elana had been upstairs breastfeeding her new baby. Mohammed wanted her downstairs

hosting his family who had come to visit from out of town. It led to an argument and, according

to Ana, Mohammed lost his temper. For Ana, it was a turning point.

Mom --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's safe.

Detective: in May 2005 Ottawa police service investigated at the time was an assault investigation,

and it was between Elana and Mohammad. And what Elana had told the police officers at

the time was that she had been assaulted by Mohammed and she had received injuries to

her face. More specifically, to her lip, which had been split as a result of a blow from

Mohammed and Mohammed also threatened her and at the time, the young child, that she

was only a few weeks old.

Caryn: The threat to their baby was shocking. Ana Fric remembers receiving the call from

her daughter.

Mom: She said, Mom. He said, I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna throw her in the Ottawa river

And I'm gonna tell police that you did it because it will be my words against your words

and everybody gonna believe me and not to you.

Caryn: Mohammed was arrested and faced three criminal charges.

One count of assault against Elana -- and two counts of uttering threats of bodily harm

against Elana 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 Elana and Mohammed would

reconcile. And the criminal charges Mohammed had been

facing were withdrawn. Instead, he entered into a peace pond with

12 months probation.

Mom: Elena would do anything and everything not to jeopardize his career and his happiness.

So she signed that peace bond, hoping and thinking that will resolve everything and

that maybe from there, there they can go on and have a life and have a marriage and be

a family.

Caryn: No criminal record allowed him entry into the United States and the prestigious

PHD program at Duke University.

Mom: She said, Mom, I made a 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?

Caryn: In 2007, the Shamji family grew once again. Daughter Faiza was born. Mohammed plowed

ahead with his studies. And Elana 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.

Elana settled in Ottawa with the children. Mohammed moved to Calgary for a year to complete

a fellowship.

Mom: Oh, that was the happiest time, not only for her, for us to because we felt so free

when we come over there, you know, we were family again.

Caryn: Ana says even when he had **previously had*** an affair while completing a fellowship

in Calgary Elana wouldn t give up on him, on the marriage.

Mom: I said Ely, honey, now's a good time to leave him. She said no, Ma we gonna work

on it, I'm not gonna let just one woman to break my marriage. Then later, she told me.

I asked, I said, Elana, do you know who she is? She said, Mom, I know. I called her and

she said, Oh, yeah, I want him so badly but he will never leave you. He will never divorce

you.

Caryn: Soon after, he returned to Ontario, to his dream job as a neurosurgeon at Toronto

Western Hospital. Despite a demanding medical career, and family, Mohammed had time for

social media, ...where he bragged about his long distance

runs, ...dinner dates with Elana, 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.

Dr Samantha Hill: she was very clear early on that her Facebook profile didn't reflect

reality and she would jokingly call it Fake-book.

Caryn: Did you ever get a sense that there was more to the marriage?

Allyson: 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

Caryn: But it wasn t only close friends like Dr Alyson Koffman who questioned whether there

was more to the marriage and whether Elana was in trouble.

Their own daughter had wondered...

Jasmine: Well, I didn't really have anything to compare it to. And that 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. 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. Well I remember 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 her down. A lot of control over her

too.

Caryn: It was around that time, Elana lost touch with close friend and neighbor Dr. Alyson

Koffman. Both were busy with their careers and children,

and now working in different medical settings. Until one day Elana showed up at Koffman s

door. She was there to drop off a plate.

And share some news:

Allyson: he was actually having an affair and she was so into that.

Caryn: An affair with a fellow doctor. And plans to serve Mohammed with divorce papers.

Allyson: she said to me, I really need to talk to you. I'm getting a divorce. And this

time, are you sure? Because she had mentioned it. But I said, like for real? She said For

real I m getting a divorce. And we got to, like, hang out and talk And 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 OK.

Caryn: When she was getting ready to serve her husband with divorce papers. What was

she saying to you? Was she nervous? Was she excited?

Dr Hill: she had all of the concerns that anyone I've ever known to leave a relationship

had. You know, how is this going to affect my kids? How am I going to provide for them?

What's the future look like? Am I doing the right thing?

Caryn:: Did Dr. Fric ever say to you I'm afraid? Dr Hill: she shared enough with me that I

knew that she was right that she needed to get out.

Mom: She said, Mom, actually. I took your advice. I am divorcing Mo. I said, oh, my

God. That was the happiest time. I said. Oh, my God. I'm so happy. But the only thing is

he ask me to give him three months to better himself. I said to better himself for what?

How many chances you already gave it to him?

Caryn: The divorce was pending. But Ana was more worried than ever before.

She warned Elana.

Mom: 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. Koffman just something, but I couldn t tell her that, she said mom

I gotta go, I just gotta go, I m tired. I didn t even tell her that I loved her, like

I always do .. I didn t get the chance.

COMING UP: ELANA 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 ELANA S HUSBAND, FOR ASSAULT AND THREATS OF CAUSING

BODILY HARM, WERE WITHDRAWN. BUT IN THE MONTHS BEFORE HER DISAPPEARANCE,

ELANA HAD TOLD FRIENDS AND FAMILY, SHE WAS FILING FOR DIVORCE.

WE RETURN TO CARYN LIEBERMAN WITH Fatal Fa ade: the murder of Dr. Elana Fric

Detective: Once we started collecting the facts. The suitcase that was found in York

region was taken to our center of 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.

Caryn: It was cleaned by Central Forensics Sciences staff. Then a photograph of the woman

s face was taken.

Mom: I looked at the picture I looked at the picture, I couldn t recognize her. I said

I m sorry that s not Elana. Elana have beautiful long blonde hair. The lady in the picture

doesn t have no hair, she said because her hair was all cut. Joe pulled the picture out

of my hands he said let me look at it. He looked at it he said it s Elana its Elana

that s our daughter I remember nothing else after that.

Caryn: Two days after Elana served Mohammed with divorce papers .. she was dead.

Now investigators turned the focus on arresting her killer.

Ana told them about her allegations of years of abuse...the criminal charges

Police followed up with Elana s boyfriend, who Mohammed claimed she d run off with -- he

was cooperative, but knew nothing. There was only one person in Elana s life with a clear

motive.

Detective: we put a surveillance team on Mohammed 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 is also

a physician. And the two of them checked into a hotel and Mohamed 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.

Caryn: But what happened in those final hours leading up to the murder was still unclear

Those details would come from a surprising source.

Jasmine; 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'd seen the night before,

Mom: so she said Oh no the police was asking all kinds of questions but I didn t tell them

the truth. I said honey what babka always teach you that you always tell the truth.

Caryn: Ana remembers Jasmine, just 11 years old at the time, revealing to her she had

information.

Mom: That I heard mommy screaming. And first I didn t go right away in the 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.

Jasmine: After a while it was too quiet. So I kind of walked into their home and ask what

was going on and kind of saw my dad, like, kneeling behind 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 my go to my room. And then I just did. He looked really frightened. Really

frantic, like he had just done something really bad.

Caryn: In her final moments with her daughter listening on the other side of the bedroom

wall, Elana Fric had suffered greatly.

Detective: Elana had significant blunt force trauma injuries predominately 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 premortem, which

is when she was alive, but she also sustained postmortem as she was being put into the suitcase.

Caryn: For investigators, the puzzle pieces were starting to come together.

Detective: The combination of that the only people in the House part of the argument were

the three children, Mohammed and Elaina. And that the statement made by Mohammed that she

had left with the 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, were Mohammed and Elana,

and that her disappearance and then subsequent finding of her in a suitcase up in York region

spoke to Mohammed being culpable.

Caryn: On December 2nd 2016 Dr. Mohammed Shamji was arrested for the murder of his wife Dr.

Elana Fric. He was charged with first degree murder and committing an indignity to human

remains. He was a ground-breaking neurosurgeon.

News of his arrest was almost too shocking for his patients to accept.

Male patient: This is the last person you would expect it of. This is someone who is

ever dealing. I've had with him over the past four years, has been incredibly kind, gentle,

caring as a person. And obviously in the kind of work that he does, he spends his day helping

people and saving lives.

Liam O Connor, DR. SHAMJI'S LAWYER: Dr. Shamji 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.

Female patient: We've lost a huge person in the medical system. There aren't doctors like

him in Canada and all of Canada. I'm shocked. Like, I can not explain it. He was such a

gentle, caring person.

Caryn: That was not the person Elana Fric had known. Her mother had tried to warn her.

Did Ana ever tell you or other police officers that in her heart, she had this intuition

that Mohammed was involved?

Detective: she had a very bad feeling, but she had a bad feeling from very early on in

the relationship. And she felt that Mohammed was aloof, that he wasn't very loving of Elana.

And quite frankly, they were very confused as to why Elaina liked Mo. And over the years,

from the different occurrences, from assault to emotional abuse that Elana sustained from

the relationship, I believe it reinforced their belief that Muhammad was not a good

person to Elana.

Caryn: Hundreds came together for Elana s funeral...

Mom: All of her friends came from Toronto.. her closest friends, doctors, even though

it was bad bad weather. They rent a bus and they came. It was 39 doctors. I said would

you play the song goodbye my love, goodbye so the song they played on her way out from

the church .. and I don t think there was person in the church that their eyes was not

filled with the tear. It s a loss, it s emptiness, my heart, my

soul it s empty without her.

DR SHAMJI FACES THE COURT -- AND HIS CHILDREN... THAT S COMING UP.

TWO DAYS AFTER ELANA SERVED HER HUSBAND, DR MOHAMMED 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 CARYN LIERBERMAN, WITH THE CONCLUSION OF, FATAL FACADE: THE MURDER OF

DR ELANA FRIC.

Caryn: 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. Elana Fric. Elana s family tried to remain strong.

Mom: We'll continue to come and to be her voice since she cannot speak. We have to speak

for her and for her three children that she left behind. Three small, beautiful children.

They are in our care now that we have to look for.

Caryn: Then just days before jury selection was scheduled to begin Mohammed pleaded guilty

to the lesser charge of second degree murder.

Jasmine: Well, I just remember 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 stand and kind of recall what happened, especially in front

of him. I was really nervous about that happening.

Mom: What father would do that to his daughter. She was full anxiety for another full year

that knowing she will have to testify at trial.

Caryn: 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 Mohammed s sentencing,

he was given the chance to address the court -- he stood up and said:

"Your Honour, 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 Elana 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 Elana.

That would have been the only justice."

Jasmine: Like I remember him looking at me like turning from where he was standing to

look back at my siblings and I in the in the pews, and I just remember, like, staring at

him, I just wouldn't believe 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 the apology. I

don't think he was really sorry.

Carolin Lekic, Elana's Sister: It's a ploy just to 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?

Henry Poon, Crown Attorney: 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.

JOSEPH FRIC, Elana s Father: Yesterday and today, talk about that, how

many lives Mo saved, in the past, okay. I don't know about that, but I know how many

life he destroyed. Mom and Dad: No..no no justice wasn't done

today Mom: There was no penalty that this court

could give him that will ever justify what Mo has done to Elana, to us, and especially

to the children.

Caryn: Three children left without a mother. Their father serving a life sentence for second

degree murder no chance of parole for 14 years. Jasmine, Faisa 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. Elana Fric.

Mom: the kids they have, all three of them, their own personality but there is each one

has something of hers, you know, and I thank god every day for those children, at least

we have them.

Caryn: Elana was once Ana and Joe s pride and joy.

The second child they never thought they would have.

Mom: she was kind of a miracle baby for us because after Caroline, I lost two babies

and I was told by the doctor that they will never have children again.

Caryn: It was the *best* surprise for the couple.

Her family and her friends say she was destined for greatness.

But Elana was not *safe.* Her mom and friend allege she faced years

of escalating emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband.

Detective: 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 Mohammed two days prior to this happening. And in Mohammed's

mindset, from what I understand as an investigator, that was simply not acceptable.

Caryn: What do we learn from her story?

Allyson: Get out. Get out. You re gonna die if you get hit once you re gonna die. She

never thought in a million years because of his career. 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. Does it matter who your abuser is. They're going to kill you. Get out.

Detective: domestic violence can happen anywhere. There is a self-deprecating aspect to this

where it has happened 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.

Caryn: Without their daughter Ana and Joe focus on her children.

Mom: I want all the best for them, just to be happy, now I want them first to be children,

let them be children, something they didn t have the opportunity to be before.

Caryn: Losing their mother has been life altering.

Jasmine: 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.

Caryn: But living out of the shadow of their father has been the biggest change.

Jasmine: 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 do any of the sort. And now I'm like, I'm a 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.

Caryn: Jasmine is making plans for the future.. shaped in many ways by the past.

Jasmine -- I think if she was here. She'd be proud of me. And that kind of. Makes me

happy. I want to go to bring justice as in like I want people who are as bad as him to

get the consequences, like to go to jail and, you know, not be able to hurt other people.

Caryn: On the surface, her parents Dr. Elana Fric and Dr. Mohammed 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 Elana. Today, Ana Fric has this warning.

Mom: If there is anybody who are abused, my wish if they hear me, please don't stay with

those guys. They will never change. They will never change. Move on. Have a life for yourself,

for your kids before it's too late. Deliver us from evil. Amen. Rest in peace

mommy forever. Do we miss Mummy? Yes. How much you miss her. How much? A lot. A lot.

Do you know where your mummy is in heaven? Does she look after us? Yes. Oh honey, how

much we miss you. We miss you.

IN CANADA IT S ESTIMATED THAT ON AVERAGE EVERY TWO AND A HALF DAYS A WOMAN OR A 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 911.

I M ANTONY ROBART, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.