Husband claimed ICE took his wife; California nurse's burned remains found, husband charged with murder
Immigration authorities had arrested his missing wife, Gurinder Gill of Sacramento, California, told police. But after his wife's burned and buried remains were found in a neighboring county, that story now sits at the center of a murder case against him. Gill, 28, is charged with the murder of his 30-year-old wife, Jasmine Gill.
Jasmine Gill was an India-born nurse and the mother of an 8-month-old child. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, the couple were going through a divorce and child custody dispute when she vanished.
Gill allegedly told police that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested her when she went out to bring in the mail at their home. In the early days, the search revolved around a woman supposedly taken into federal custody.
Days earlier, however, authorities in neighboring El Dorado County had found burned and buried remains. The remains were later confirmed to belong to Jasmine Gill. They were found on October 1, about 70 miles from the couple's Sacramento residence, in the mountains of El Dorado County.
Jasmine Gill had last been seen on September 30. Her cousin reported her missing on October 4, and from that point Sacramento County Sheriff's Office detectives took up the investigation.
'As the investigation progressed, Sacramento County Sheriff's Office detectives identified several inconsistencies in Gurinder's statements about his wife's disappearance,' Sgt. Edward Igoe, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, said in a statement. Those inconsistencies turned the investigation.
Detectives then attempted to vet Gill's claim directly with ICE. 'Detectives contacted ICE, which confirmed that no enforcement activity had occurred at the residence,' Igoe said — meaning the story that ICE had taken his wife had no basis at all.
After the remains were identified, deputies arrested Gurinder Gill on October 14 and executed search warrants at two homes he is associated with. He is ineligible for bail, the sheriff's office said.
According to a GoFundMe campaign set up for Jasmine Gill's family, she was born in India, where her mother still lives. Jasmine became a registered nurse to follow in her mother's footsteps, and she had an 8-month-old child.
Supporters have so far raised more than $21,000, in an effort to return her remains to her mother and to help raise her son. In the campaign's words, she was fighting for a better future for herself and her child.
The case now moves toward court. The full sequence behind the divorce and custody dispute, how the remains reached El Dorado County, and each inconsistency in Gill's initial account are the central questions for investigators and, next, for a court — where the charge remains to be proven.
