This is Christy, and welcome to the Canadian True Crime podcast, episode 6.

This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised.

Our story takes us to Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. You may picture a

small island, but in actual fact, Vancouver Island is the largest island off the west coast of North America,

comparable in size to the Netherlands or Taiwan.

Located on the southern end of Vancouver Island is the city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.

Victoria has a British colonial history which shows in its architecture.

There's a certain quaintness about the city,

and it's known for abundant parklands and beautiful English-style gardens.

In the 1990s, the suburbs on the western edge of Victoria were made up of rougher,

working-class families. At the time, the crime

rate in these suburbs was above the national average and included a higher proportion of crimes

committed by young offenders. Many of these offenders came from troubled homes and were unable to

live at home with their parents so they either lived in group homes, couch-surfed

with friends, or lived rough on the streets.

In this area is the suburb of Sanich, and within it lived the Verk family, Manjit and

Suman Verk and their three kids.

Father Manjit was a first-generation immigrant from India and of the Sikh religion,

and his wife Suman, also Indian, had been born and raised in Victoria, but in the Jehovah's Witness faith.

While Suman's parents wanted her to have an arranged marriage, she met Manjit, fell in love and married him instead.

Given their similarities and differences,

the family embraced a mix of religious and cultural beliefs that included elements of both North American and traditional Indian lifestyles.

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