Investigators probe tip that ex-boyfriend confronted Surrey murder victim
METRO VANCOUVER — Homicide investigators are following up on information from Maple Batalia’s family that an ex-boyfriend had recently confronted her in a Surrey restaurant,burberry outlet RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said Thursday.
And Thiessen said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team now has 50 officers trying to figure out who gunned down the popular 19-year-old Simon Fraser University student in a parkade about 1:10 a.m. Wednesday.
Batalia’s father Harry told The Vancouver Sun and other media outlets that he suspected the tragic slaying has something to do with a young man with whom Maple was having some troubles.
And he said his daughter had an altercation with the man at a Tim Horton’s a few days before she was gunned down.
“We are aware of that Tim Horton’s incident,” Thiessen said. “We are certainly aware of what the family has been saying publicly.”
He said investigators are trying to verify the details of information circulating publicly and assess whether it has anything to do with the murder.
Thiessen stressed that while police have persons of interest and avenues of investigation, they have to look at all possibilities in a murder probe, including that Batalia may not have known her killer.
“This is a senseless homicide involving a beautiful, intelligent girl who was just starting her life,” Thiessen said. “It effects everyone. Many of our investigators have daughters. I have a daughter.”
Thiessen would not confirm whether police had spoken to the ex-boyfriend.
He addressed the media a few metres away from where Batalia was shot several times near her burgundy sedan on the third-floor of a parkade adjacent to SFU’s Surrey campus.
A makeshift memorial for Batalia grew throughout the afternoon Thursdays with bouquets of flowers, a candle and photos near the university door.
Batalia was an aspiring model and actor who was determined to become a dermatologist, her friend Priya Chundunsing told the Sun.
Batalia was not only beautiful and kind, but extremely positive, said Chundunsing, who has supposed to model with her friend at an event Friday.
Batalia didn’t mention to her modeling friends that she was having trouble with a former boyfriend, Chundunsing said.
But her friends were aware that someone had hacked Batalia’s facebook page, forcing Batalia to shut it down for several months.
She had only recently set up again at the urging of her friends, Chundunsing said.
Life was almost back to normal at SFU’s Surrey campus Thursday, though university spokesman Don MacLachlan said he thought students were still “subdued.”
While he said neither police nor the university feel there are ongoing security, SFU is taking extra precautions. He estimated that there could be anywhere from 50 to 100 students studying through the night at the Surrey campus.
“We are telling students: `if you are going to be here all night, tell security where you are,'” MacLachlan said.
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