The driver who caused a fiery crash at the Peace Arch border crossing in 2019 had no mental health challenges or issues with alcohol prior to the accident, his wife testified in Surrey court on Thursday.

Gurpreet Kaur, 40, is the wife of the Washington State's Gurbinder Singh, 40, who was charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death in the May 2, 2019 crash.

Rev. Tom Cheung died in the crash after the impact from Singh's car hitting the minivan Cheung was in landed both vehicles in a garden area located in the median between the north and southbound lanes. The van was fully engulfed in flames, and Cheung, who was described as 鈥渁 kind, compassionate and humble individual who loved people and always willing to help others,鈥� was declared dead at the scene.

Singh was arrested and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Now more than five years later, Singh's trial is underway. The trials saw Kaur take the stand on Thursday (Oct. 31) in Surrey provincial court. Kaur was questioned on Singh's demeanour and movements both the day of and the day prior to the incident. On May 1, 2019, Singh ended up in hospital, but few details were shared by Kaur on Thursday.

Living in Edmonds, Wash., Kaur was visiting her parents at the time in Auburn, Wash. for four of five days, she detailed, and everything between her and Singh was normal until the night of May 1.

"In the evening, yes, I got a call from my neighbour telling me 'Your home is open, Gary (Gurbinder Singh) is not home and his clothes are on the sidewalk.' ... I thought she was just joking, I didn't believe her the first time, and then she told me to come back as soon as possible," Kaur said.

The pharmacy technician took to the road to head back home and tried calling Singh but got no answer. Once back in Edmonds, Kaur realized the home was left unlocked. The neighbour said her husband may have been taken to hospital, which is where they both went.

Kaur located Singh, who was sleeping in his room in the hospital. Kaur testified she went back home to retrieve his ID, insurance information and clothing for him, as the 40-year-old had been taken in to hospital naked. At one point while at home, Kaur said she noticed the TV screen was cracked.

"He was talking to a social worker or somebody there, answering (their) question, and then they asked me afterwards 'Are you OK going home with him?' There was nothing to be concerned (about) at that point, so I said yes. He seemed fine."

The couple went home, and, while Kaur took to bed, she said Singh stayed up to "have one or two drinks" because he was not sleepy and came to bed shortly after.

When asked, Kaur insisted that she did not speak to any doctor at the hospital, did not ask Singh any questions at the time about what occurred to land him in hospital and does not remember if any resources on alcoholism were provided to her husband.

The next morning, the day of the fatal crash, the couple woke up at about 8 a.m. Singh planned on going ahead with his prior plans of meeting some friends in Surrey, which he told Kaur about while she was visiting her parents.

"I didn't say anything, I was just really upset from the night before. He got up, got ready, took a shower, got ready, put together a bag and he had breakfast and he was talking and doing things how he usually does," Kaur recalled.

When asked if Singh was "in rough shape" and should not have been driving, Kaur denied it. She said that Singh seemed fine, "nothing out of the ordinary."

Singh told his wife he would call her right before crossing the border as he would not have cellphone service once in Canada.

"I was tired and pretty upset from what happened the day before, so I went to take a nap," Kaur said, adding that she woke up around noon but had no missed call from Singh even though it had been two hours since he left and he should have been well across the border.

Worried, Kaur began to call Singh's friends and family members. She discovered that her husband never ended up meeting with his friends, leading her to continue making phone calls to Singh and others.

A family member of Singh's finally called Kaur and told her there had been a crash and her husband was in hospital. Kaur then made her way across the border and went to visit Singh, but visiting hours were over at the time.

"Then I found out that the person passed away. I got really upset, I started crying."

She did not see her husband until he was released by police at the Canada-U.S. border.

During her testimony, Kaur was asked about Singh's drinking habits and mental health, to which the wife said her husband had no mental health challenges and no psychotic episodes and she was not concerned about his drinking prior to the accident during the more than 10 years of their marriage.

"Before he was fine, before the accident, but after that, he was drinking more," she said.

Kaur was additionally asked about a phone call she had with her doctor regarding her husband's drinking habits. She was asked if, during the conversation in 2023, she had said she was concerned about Singh's drinking and that he had a past of drinking to the point of blacking out, notably when he was in college.

Kaur was also asked if Singh was an alcoholic for as long as she's known him and the actual reason she went to visit her parents prior to May 2 was to get away from Singh because she knew he would be drinking much more than he typically does.

Kaur denied all of this and said the only reason she went to visit her parents was because she gets homesick and visits them regularly. 

Singh is expected back at Surrey provincial court on Nov. 6.