California man charged with murder after falsely claiming ICE took missing wife

A California man is facing a murder charge after authorities said he falsely told investigators his missing wife had been taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to court documents.

Gurinder Gill of Sacramento County, California, is accused of killing his wife Jasmine Gill. On Monday, a spokesperson from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said jewelry found on Oct. 1 on burned human remains in El Dorado County helped identify the remains as Jasmine Gill.

Sister station KCRA reports that the sheriff's office said Jasmine Gill was last seen on Sept. 30 at her Sacramento residence. She was reported missing by her cousin on Oct. 4, and her husband, Gurinder Gill, was questioned during the initial investigation.

Gurinder Gill told law enforcement that his wife was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while checking the mail. The sheriff's office said it contacted ICE, and immigration officials said that no enforcement activity occurred at that residence.

The sheriff's office identified more inconsistencies with Gurinder's statements as the investigation continued. Detectives learned that Jasmine and Gurinder were in the process of a divorce and child custody battle, the sheriff's office said.

An arrest warrant for murder was obtained for Gurinder, and he was taken into custody on Oct. 14, officials said. Search warrants for two residences connected to Gurinder were also executed.

Gurinder has been booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on murder charges and is ineligible for bail.

"This is just an absolutely unfortunate worst-case scenario event," said Sgt. Edward Igoe of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. "We would just ask anybody that might be in any type of abusive relationship, obviously, to give us a call so we can attempt to mitigate whatever they have going on. In this specific instance, good detective work was able to determine that obviously something was awry here and with that identify Jasmine's remains, as well as the person that did this to her."

According to an online fundraiser, Jasmine Gill was the mother of an 8-month-old boy.

"She was a devoted daughter, a loving sister, a caring nurse, and a mother to an 8-month-old baby boy who needed her more than anything," the fundraiser reads.