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TORONTO (AP) — A Toronto neurosurgeon appeared in court Saturday to face a first-degree murder charge in the death of his wife, a family physician.
Mohammed Shamji, 40, appeared in court Saturday morning. Local media reported that he was remanded in custody until Dec. 20.
Police said 40-year-old Elana Fric-Shamji was reported missing by a family member Wednesday night, and her body was found by the side of a road in Vaughan, Ontario, on Thursday afternoon.
Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan said she died of strangulation and blunt force trauma.
He said Shamji was arrested Friday night at a coffee shop in Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto.
Ryan said the couple had been married for 12 years and had three young children.
Fric-Shamji worked as a family doctor at the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital in Toronto. Shamji is a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital and a faculty member at the University of Toronto.
They both had advanced degrees — Fric Shamji a master's degree in public policy and Shamji a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering — from Duke University in the U.S.
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