A Vancouver Island man has been arrested and charged with murder in a case of alleged intimate partner violence in Saanich, B.C., after he was taken into custody earlier this week and released.
Muhammed Ali Basar, who turns 47 this year, remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 21.
He is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Laura Gover-Basar, who was a mother of two children and an instructor in the School of Business at Camosun College.
On Jan. 5, Saanich police said its major crime unit began investigating a suspicious death inside a home in the 1600-block of Blair Avenue.
Police did not reveal how they learned of the death or whether a 911 call was made, but said the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) had assumed conduct of the investigation.
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At the time, police said they believed this was an “isolated incident.”
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Basar was taken into custody the same day and released without charges on Jan. 6.
While the suspect was free in the community, police said “measures were taken to ensure he was not a danger to himself or others.”
Basar was then arrested on Friday, Jan. 9 and charged with murder on Saturday, in what the courts have designated as an allegation of intimate partner violence.
Court records reveal Basar is also accused of disobeying a court order in Saanich on Oct. 24, 2025, involving a domestic or intimate partner.
That charge was sworn on Nov. 14 and Basar was scheduled to appear in court on the matter Jan. 5.
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On Nov. 19, court records show a woman filed a family law proceeding against Basar in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria.
Court records show Basar’s first appearance on the charge of disobeying a court order was scheduled for Dec. 15, the same date the family law file was last updated.
Basar was to appear in court to “consult legal counsel” on Jan. 5, the day police began investigating the suspicious death in Saanich.
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Advocates for victims of intimate violence say this is another case that raises questions.
“We feel that this is one of those cases that needs a really close look, both in a system response and also in what we do going forward,” Angela Marie MacDougall with Battered Women’s Support Services said.
“It’s not OK that we have another dead woman, and it’s certainly not OK that we’re not assessing risk.”
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