One of the two successfuls hired to kill the former suspect of Air India bombing, Ripudaman Singh Malik, was sentenced Tuesday to life imprisonment without the possibility of probation for 20 years.
The Judge of the Supreme Court of BC, Terence Schultes, sentenced Tanner Fox for a second degree murder in front of a new Westminster Court Chamber full of friends and family of Malik after an emotional morning in which Malik’s daughter -in -law He begged the young murderer to renounce the names of the names of the names of the people who hired him.
“We beg him to reveal the names of the people who hired him,” said Alndeep Kaur Dhaliwal while standing at the front of the courtroom.
“Mr. Fox, we beg you to reveal the names of the people who hired him. This is the right thing.”
Malik was shot dead outside his business in Surrey, BC, on July 14, 2022 by Fox and another man, José López, who also declared himself guilty of second degree murder in the murder. López must return to the Court on February 6.
Both men were originally accused of first -degree murder and admitted that they were paid to kill Malik, who in 2005 was acquitted in the BC Supreme Court along with his coacked, Ajaib Singh Bagri, of charges related to the death of 331 people in the Air India Case.
‘Are we the following?’
Neither the declaration of agreed events presented in the case nor the judicial procedures on Tuesday threw light on who ordered the death of Malik.
Turning repeatedly to face Fox while sitting at the prisoner’s dock, Dhaliwal said Malik’s death has left a deep hole in the lives of the people who met him. She said she has had to talk to her children about her grandfather’s death.
“We explain that you were killed by you, Mr. Fox,” he said. “And they hired you to do it.”
Without knowing who is behind the murder, Dhaliwal said that the rest of Malik’s family was afraid.
“This fear and anxiety come from not knowing who hired you,” he said.
‘Are we the following?’
Outside the court on Tuesday, Malik’s son echoed Dhaliwal’s comments.
“I am asking Mr. Fox and Mr. López to do the right thing,” said Jaspreet Singh Malik while standing with several family members behind him.
“Tell the RCMP that hired him. Let these people be taken before justice.”
Jaspreet Singh Malik emphasized his father’s leadership roles with Khalsa Credit Union and Khalsa School.
He criticized the media for emphasizing his father’s connection with the Air India case instead of those achievements, which they represent the true legacy of the murdered man.
“Why don’t you mean him as the man who was unfairly accused because the judge said there was simply no evidence to point out any role he played in that conspiracy?” said.
“In fact, all evidence shows that my father was a man committed to education.”
‘I regret the role I played’
Fox’s lawyer Richard Fowler said that the 24 -year -old was born in Thailand and was adopted by parents in Abbotsford at the age of three. His biological father is in jail in Thailand.
Fowler said Fox was a good student and that he has no drug problems. His adoptive parents are still in contact with him.
“Obviously they did everything they could, but it is impossible to say where Fox went wrong, he went wrong in his youth that led him to this horrible offense,” Fowler said.
Fox, who was dressed in a light suit jacket, stood up to go to the Court after the statements and impact presentations of the crown and defense victim.
“I regret the role I played in this crime,” he said in a soft voice. “I regret all the pain and pain that I have caused.”
A declaration of agreed facts presented before the Court paints an image of the events prior to the murder, beginning with the theft of a Honda CR-V in Coquitlam three weeks before the fatal shooting. A registration of another Honda CR-V was stolen the next day and placed in the stolen vehicle.
The couple went and left a residence in Whalley, 15 minutes by car from Malik’s business, which was the site of the murder. They looked at the Honda and then tracked in an infinity G37X registered in López’s sister.
Prosecutor Matthew Stacey said Fox and López shot Malik several times while sitting in his vehicle.
“This was a planned and deliberate murder of Mr. Malik,” Stacey said. “And they were financially compensated for killing him.”
A 2005 Canadian government report concluded that Air India bombings were carried out by Siaj Khalistani separatists in Canada, including the manufacturer of Inderjit Singh Reyat bombs, who was convicted of involuntary homicide.
