Murder charges laid in 2022 Burnaby double homicide of Coquitlam couple

Murder charges have been laid in the 2022 deaths of Kiesha Garie, 31, and Umair Kasim, 30, a couple from Coquitlam whose bodies were discovered in a car parked near École Alpha Secondary School in Burnaby on October 17, 2022. Mohammed Arif Ansari, 27, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of indignity to human remains.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spent four years piecing together evidence and investigating leads in the case. IHIT Sergeant Freda Fong said the investigation demanded sustained effort. "This was a complex investigation that demanded years of dedicated work by investigators who were committed to finding answers," Fong said. "Through the persistent pursuit of multiple investigative avenues and the meticulous examination of evidence, this case has reached a significant milestone with the approval of charges."

Garie and Kasim had been reported missing to Coquitlam RCMP a few days before a passerby spotted their bodies inside the parked vehicle around 1:45 p.m. IHIT says the homicide was targeted and that all three people — the victims and the accused — knew each other.

The nearly four-year delay before charges were laid reflects the high threshold set by the B.C. Prosecution Service, which demands a substantial likelihood of conviction before proceeding with a case. Garie's family, frustrated by the lack of progress, started a Facebook group to raise awareness and launched a true crime podcast about the case. Her mother, Christine Angelis, held a protest in front of RCMP headquarters in Surrey in February. "The pain of losing my daughter to murder has been compounded by the agonizing wait for justice," Angelis told the Tri-Cities Dispatch at the time.