Forensic expert testifies victim was at risk of 'sudden death at any time' at manslaughter trial

A man on trial for manslaughter in his uncle's death after an argument over a game of ping pong three years ago in a Mono mansion took the witness stand Monday.

Anmol Saggu, 30, testified he had a good relationship with his uncle, 50-year-old Taranjit Singh Osahan, adding he lived with his uncle's family for roughly two years when he moved to Brampton from India in 2017.

"It was like home," he told the courtroom. "I never felt like I left my family."

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Saggu said in the moments leading up to his uncle's death, a disagreement over the rules of ping pong turned violent.

The accused said his uncle often became violent when drinking alcohol, including hitting his son, wife and the family dog, and when he became angry over the game, he got in his face.

Saggu stood to show the court how he put his right hand on his uncle's upper chest and pushed him back to create space between them.

It's at that time Saggu said his cousin punched him in the face for touching his father.

Saggu testified he was hit several times and pushed into the wall by his cousin and uncle before blacking out and falling to the ground.

"I never even tried to hit him," he told the court. "I never tried to hit him back."

The accused testified when he came to he locked himself in the washroom.

He said shortly after, he heard yelling and opened the door to find his uncle on the floor.

"I never expected that he was not breathing," he said, adding he told the group in the basement they should call an ambulance.

Saggu added, "He was like a father to me."

Earlier in the day, Dr. Ashwyn Rajagopalan, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Taranjit, took the stand, testifying the victim had very few visible signs of trauma, but noted he did have a severe long-standing coronary artery disease that left the man "at risk of sudden death at any time."

The doctor added that some people could live long, healthy lives with heart disease and be "totally fine. Then one day, they drop dead."

He testified that several factors may have contributed to the victim's cardiac arrhythmia, including the stress of moving from the home in Brampton to the new house in Mono that day, playing ping pong and the physical altercation in the basement.

"This could have happened with minimal physical activity," he testified. "This could have happened in his sleep."

Saggu's testimony will continue Tuesday with cross-examination by the Crown as it tries to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his actions led to his uncle's death in November 2019.