The wheels of international law are spinning as an American murder suspect, awaiting possible extradition to the United States from his native India, may have the Canadian government advocating for him.
Authorities believe that in 2007, now 34-year-old Avtar Grewel murdered his wife, Navneet Kaur, who at the time was 30-years-old, in her Ahwautkee home.
Grewel then boarded a plane to India, where he was arrested upon arrival and has been waiting in New Delhi jail for the last two years.
Next week, an Indian court will decide whether it will extradite Grewel to the United States, where he would stand trial for murder and potentially face the death penalty.
Here our torpid neighbors to the north got involved is interesting.
Grewel and Kaur were married in 2005 and settled in Ahwatukee so Kaur could work as a manager at Assist Technologies in Scottsdale.
Not long after their arranged marriage, the couple split and Grewel moved to British Columbia, where he worked as a truck driver.
Grewal made several trips back to the Valley, and authorities say, on one of those trips, he murdered his wife.
Since Grewel was living in Canada, the Canadian government is considering flexing its muscle to help its former resident avoid the death penalty.
The Canadian Parliament ruled in 2001 that the death penalty was cruel and unusual and made it policy to ensure that a Canadian citizen won't face the death penalty before he or she is extradited.
Somehow this may include Indians wanted for murder in the United States, who aren't even Canadian citizens, who happened to be living briefly in Maple leaf land.
