One Of Quebec's 10 Most Wanted Now In Santa Clara Co. Jail

U.S. marshals arrested a Canadian man Monday in Fremont who is wanted for allegedly killing his wife in 2007, according to Montreal police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Harinder Singh Cheema, 36, has been living in the Bay Area under an alias, and is now in Santa Clara County Jail, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Abraham Simmons said.

A warrant was issued on January 10, 2008 for Cheema’s arrest on suspicion of second-degree murder. He has been one of Quebec’s 10 most wanted criminals, according to Montreal police. Simmons said Cheema submitted a fingerprint to get a green card or similar identification and that tipped off authorities.

Montreal police said they found out June 26 that Cheema could be in the San Francisco area.

Prosecutors said Interpol learned on June 30 that he was living under an alias at an apartment in the 4400 block of Central Avenue in Fremont.

Since his arrest, Cheema has waived the right to challenge his extradition, Simmons said.

Montreal police said Cheema’s wife was found dead in an apartment in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal on Dec. 25, 2007. The day before, Cheema left his apartment in a hurry, dropped his children off with a friend and never returned. His wife was last seen at about 9 p.m. two days earlier in the couple’s apartment, according to police.

Cheema wore hoop earrings in both ears and went by the aliases Lakhbir Deol Singh, Peter Gones and Harinder Singh. He speaks English and Punjabi, police said.

A spokesperson for the federal public defender’s office was not immediately available today to comment on the case.

Read more on the case here.

--Bay City News/Image via www.10criminelsrecherches.qc.ca