A shocking scene unfolded in a B.C. courtroom on Monday, as a fistfight broke out after two men pleaded guilty to murdering a man acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombing.
Ripudaman Singh Malik was fatally shot in Surrey in July 2022. In 2005, Malik was acquitted in the Air India bombing that killed more than 300 people. He had consistently denied any involvement.
Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez, both of whom have long criminal records, were later charged with first-degree murder.
In B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on Monday, both Fox and Lopez pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
The court heard an agreed statement of facts that revealed the two men had been hired to kill Malik.
“What we know from the agreed statement of facts is that there was some type of financial incentive that was involved in the commission of this crime, but in terms of any other specifics, it is another one of those situations where unfortunately it is just something that we as people on the outside will probably never know,” Lopez’ lawyer Gloria Ng told Global News.
“One of the things we certainly have in the forefront of our minds is the youth of our client — Mr. Lopez is a very young man and we are certainly hopeful with prospects for rehabilitation.”
Things took a dramatic turn, however, when moments after the two men entered their guilty pleas, they began fighting.
The two men, both sitting in the prisoners’ box, had been separated on opposite sides of the room. Lopez raced across the prisoners’ box and began punching Fox in the head.
Lopez delivered multiple blows before the sheriffs separated the men, brought them to their knees and handcuffed them.
Based on the agreed statement of facts, the two men were contracted to kill Malik. They shot him seven times, mostly in the head and neck, as he sat in the driver’s seat of his red Tesla in front of his business.
The court heard Crown had an overwhelming amount of evidence tying Lopez and Fox to the murder, including security video, their DNA found on masks and a glove, bullet casings found at the scene and traced to handguns found in a bag linked to the men.
Police also recovered more than $16,000 in cash. The evidence did not shed light on who hired the men and why.
In a statement, Malik’s family urged the two men to cooperate with police to bring down whoever directed the killing.
“Until the parties responsible for hiring them and directing this assassination are brought to justice, the work remains incomplete,” the family said.
“To Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez we say: You have taken a good first step in taking responsibility for your actions. Now take the next step and cooperate with the RCMP in bringing those that hired you to justice.”
Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the pair of Air India bombings that killed 331 people, mostly from the Toronto and Vancouver areas.
The attacks are the largest mass killing in Canadian history and set off an international investigation that ended in just one person being convicted, and multitudes of criticism aimed at the RCMP and federal agencies.
Bomb-maker Inderjit Singh Reyat was later convicted in the attack, while alleged mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar died.
Malik and Bagri were charged with 329 counts of first-degree murder 15 years after the bombing but were acquitted following a 20-month trial in which a B.C. Supreme Court judge found the primary witnesses were not credible and the evidence from RCMP and Crown had fallen “markedly short” of the threshold for conviction.
Crown and defence lawyers have agreed that Fox and Lopez should not be eligible for parole for 20 years.
The case will return to court on Oct. 31 for a sentencing hearing.
With files from Rumina Daya and Amy Judd