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First court appearance for suspect in Calgary women’s stabbing deaths

The estranged husband of a Calgary woman who was stabbed to death along with her friend has made his first court appearance.

CALGARY — The estranged husband of a Calgary woman who was stabbed to death along with her friend has made his first court appearance.

Harry Pal is accused of second-degree murder as well as aggravated assault in an alleged attack on a third woman who survived.

Pal had not been able to appear in court until now because he was in hospital recovering from self-inflicted injuries.

Through a Hindi interpreter, he said he has no lawyer or money to hire one, so the judge told him to get legal aid.

Pal, who is 52, is to appear in court again on June 16.

The two women were found by police officers last month at a home in the city’s southeast.

One woman was already dead and the second victim was transported to hospital where she later died.

It’s alleged Pal’s estranged wife Sanjula Devi, who was 36, and her 29-year-old friend Fahmida Velji-Visram were collecting some of Devi’s belongings.

The court appearance was an emotional one for Velji-Visram’s husband. Monday would have marked the couple’s second wedding anniversary.

“Today is our second-year anniversary,” Rahim Visram said outside the courthouse. “I didn’t even get two years with my wife and she’s taken away from me.”