VANCOUVER — Ten days before she was stabbed to death in a Coquitlam parkade in January, Ramina Shah posted a cryptic message on her Instagram account.
“Be careful when it comes to revenge. Negative energy is a powerful force and the more you put out in the world, the more comes back on you. If you felt like you were done wrong, the best thing you can do is just take that energy and focus it on improving yourself,” she wrote. “Because in the end, you only hurt yourself trying to hurt other people. And what a waste of energy. You could’ve put that towards something positive in your life. I never wish ill on anyone. Even those trying to hurt me.” She ended the post with a tiny white heart.
Police are now trying to find the person responsible for killing the new realtor and single mother of three, who loved to post selfies, family photos and positive messages.
She was attacked in the 22-stall parkade under her real-estate office in a strip mall at 1126 Austin Ave. in Coquitlam at about 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.
Friends said on the day she died, Shah had been “filming a video to promote her real estate career.” Records show she received her realtor’s licence last October.
“She will never be forgotten,” the friends wrote online. “Anyone who met her instantly fell in love. She was full of life, had a smile that lit up any room, and a laugh that took away all of your problems. She always stuck up for what was right, and never backed down from any fight. She was a leading example as a parent and it showed as her kids love her more than anything in the world.”
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team did not respond to a request for an update on the case Tuesday. But earlier, Sgt. David Lee said investigators were looking for witnesses and dash-cam footage from those in the area between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m.
Nine months ago, a civil forfeiture lawsuit filed in 2018 to seize the house she once owned with ex-husband Bobby Shah was dismissed by the consent of all parties. The house is now solely owned by Bobby Shah, also known as Bahman Djebelibak, who had faced a number of fraud and theft charges laid in June 2019 after a lengthy police investigation. Those charges were stayed in March 2021.
The civil suit alleged the house should be forfeited to the B.C. government because the couple had used it to commit crimes, including laundering the proceeds of unlawful activity, failure to declare taxable income, and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Shah and her then-husband both disputed the government’s allegations.
The Civil Forfeiture Office said Tuesday its director couldn’t comment on the why the case was dismissed.
