As an extradition hearing for the man accused in the August 2023 death of a southwestern Ontario restaurateur is set to begin in Scotland, a CBC News investigation has uncovered new information.
New photos of the three men charged with the murder of Sharif Rahman in Owen Sound have emerged after CBC gained access to Scottish court files and used information from affidavits provided by Canadian police to uncover social media profiles.
Until those photos emerged, the defendants’ only clues to Rahman’s death came from grainy photographs turned over by police.
Those images showed two individuals, one wearing a blue t-shirt and the other wearing an orange one, running down Owen Sound’s main street, as captured by a security camera. There was also a picture of a speeding gray Ford Escape – their getaway vehicle.
In December 2024, the police announced that three arrests had been made (months earlier, in Edinburgh). But they did not provide details beyond the names and ages of the defendants – a father, a son and an uncle – who remain in custody in Scotland, pending a hearing set to begin on October 20 on Canada’s extradition request.
Robert Evans, 25, faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, while his father, Robert Busby Evans, 47, and uncle Barry Evans, 54, are accused of being accessories to the crime.
The CBC News investigation uncovered images of the three men trawling social media profiles and verifying them by geolocating photos, tracking family and friend groups and cross-referencing posted details such as birthdays and holidays.
The newly discovered images add to what we already know about the men, including police accounts of how they arrived in Canada, what they did while they were here and how they returned to the UK.
None of the defendants have pleaded guilty and the allegations against them have not been proven in court.
CBC News reached out to his legal representatives and immediate family but did not receive a response.
Seriously injured outside restaurant
Rahman’s death in a London, Ont., hospital came a week after first responders found him lying on the rain-slick pavement outside his restaurant, unconscious and seriously injured.
A group of men dining at The Curry House had allegedly attempted to evade a $150 bill. When Rahman followed them outside, an argument ensued.
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Police allege that Robert Evans Jr. threw the punch that knocked Rahman down. According to witness statements, the restaurant owner’s head hit the pavement with a sound similar to that of a falling bowling ball.
Barry Evans, his uncle, faces an accessory after the fact charge for allegedly ordering Evans Jr. to “run” and then driving him to Collingwood, an hour away.
His father, Robert Evans Sr., who was not at the restaurant, has also been charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly purchasing a plane ticket for his son and arranging for his transportation to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Police say Evans Jr. left on a flight to Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2023, the day after the altercation in Owen Sound. The uncle and another family member, who was at The Curry House but has not been charged, left that same night on a flight to Glasgow. Evans Sr. followed a few days later, traveling to Manchester.
Arriving in Canada
According to Scottish court records, Evans Jr. and Sr. entered Canada as visitors in early June 2023, using valid British passports under false names: Michael and Justin Jones.
They did not have work visas. But police say the Evans family spent the summer crisscrossing the province, operating a cash-only business called Total Paving.
The documents identify the family as part of the UK’s “traveller” community. Several of these close-knit clans have been targeted by authorities for running driveway repair scams around the world.
“They’re doing this all over continental Europe. They’ve done it in Australia, they’re doing it in both Canada and the United States. We have detailed stories of them showing up in places like an island off Iceland,” said Eamon Dillon, a journalist in Dublin, Ireland, for the Crime World podcast who has covered the groups for more than 25 years.
“The FBI describes them as the Irish Traveler Scam Group.”
Based on documents filed in a Scottish court, a CBC News investigation has verified images of the three men charged in connection with the murder of Owen Sound, Ont., restaurant owner Sharif Rahman. For The National, CBC’s Jonathon Gatehouse breaks down the case and how the father, son and uncle trio were eventually located in Edinburgh.
A simple speech
Dillon said the speech is simple. Men go door to door offering to repave driveways for a “low” cash price, claiming they have excess asphalt they need to get rid of. However, the deal often turns out to be too good to be true.
“The price changes because problems will be discovered. It will go up and up,” Dillon said. “It’s a proven method of separating owners from their money.”
Dillon said the schemes often generate thousands of cash payments each week, all out of the sight of tax authorities.
CBC News contacted the Owen Sound Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police to ask about their joint investigation into Rahman’s murder and the allegations made in his Scottish court papers.
Both forces declined interview requests, citing ongoing extradition proceedings.
‘Legal minefield’
Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, said it will likely be many months before UK authorities make their final decision on the extradition case.
“Extradition from another country is a legal minefield. You have the diplomacy, you have the legal system of that country and it may be Byzantine. You have the constitutional human rights protections of that country,” Kurland said.
“Just because it’s Scotland or the UK doesn’t mean quick and easy extradition to Canada.”
It’s been more than a year since the Evans trio were arrested, but the grief in Owen Sound over Rahman’s death has barely eased.
“It was really shocking,” said Richard Thomas, a friend who worked with Rahman on the city’s economic development committee. “Sharif, you know, wore everything on his sleeve and was very kind and totally committed to the community.”
Despite delays in the case, Rahman’s widow told CBC News she remains confident that justice will eventually be served.
“As a family, it’s really painful. Our hearts are heavy,” Shayela Nasrin said. “We want the people who did this to be behind bars.
“It may take time, but we have faith.”
Jonathon Gatehouse can be contacted by email at jonathon.gatehouse@cbc.ca, or through CBC’s digitally encrypted Securedrop system at https://www.cbc.ca/securedrop/
