Senior who killed son, 48, dies before sentencing

Ajit Kohar’s hearing was set for Wednesday; the Kitchener man died that night, his lawyer says

KITCHENER — An elderly Kitchener man who killed his son with a hammer died in hospital on the day of his sentencing hearing.

Ajit Kohar, 79, pleaded guilty in July to manslaughter and was in custody awaiting a sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

The case was adjourned because he was in hospital. He died that night, his defence lawyer, Vikram Singh, said in an email on Friday.

Asked about the cause of death, Singh said, “I don’t have that information first hand.”

Kohar had been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his son, Gurpal Kohar, 48, but the Crown accepted a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter because he was provoked.

Around 6 p.m. on Jan. 25 of last year, the older Kohar had been using a claw hammer to do a repair in the house on Marianne Dorn Trail, near Brigadoon Park in Kitchener. He lived there with his son, his son’s wife and their two sons.

The accused turned around to see his drunk son standing nearby holding a screwdriver.

“The deceased and Mr. Kohar had a heated verbal exchange, during which Mr. Kohar understood that his son was threatening to kill him and the family,” Crown prosecutor Alanna Fedak-Tarnopolsky said in July, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

The accused was provoked, causing him to “lose his selfcontrol and he immediately and intentionally began striking his son with the hammer,” Fedak-Tarnopolsky said.

Kohar hit him at least once in the head. When his son fell to a sitting position on a couch, Kohar struck him in the head with the hammer multiple times. As Gurpal fell to the floor, his father continued the attack.

The killer left his son lying face down in a large pool of blood. He dropped the hammer beside the body.

No one else was home at the time of the killing. The victim’s sons and their two cousins arrived shortly after. The accused spoke to them outside.

“Mr. Kohar told them not to enter the house and that their father may be dead,” Fedak-Tarnopolsky said. “Mr. Kohar told the group that the deceased had threatened to kill him and had attacked him.”

Although identity documents show Kohar was 79, he said he was actually 83 or 84.

Court was told he emigrated from India, where he had served in the military.

Kohar, who had a long white beard and wore bright orange jail clothes in court in July, wasn’t asked to speak, but blurted out, “I made a mistake.”

He had no prior record.