Newly released U.S. extradition documents obtained by Global News reveal never-before reported details in the murder allegedly perpetrated by B.C. fugitive Brandon Teixeira.
Teixeira is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 23, 2017, shooting death of Nicholas Khabra in Surrey. He was arrested in Oroville, Calif., on Sunday in a joint operation involving two SWAT teams and multiple police forces.
Now, the documents filed in a Sacramento court reveal the alleged details of the shooting, along with Teixeira’s possible motives — including an alleged massive bounty on the murdered man’s head.
According to the documents, Canadian police have two key witnesses in the case: Khabra’s girlfriend, listed as Witness A, and a man listed as Witness B, who allegedly helped Teixeira plan the killing.
Witnesses and bounty
The documents state that Witness A was with Khabra and a man she knew as his friend, known as “Kobe” and who police say she later identified as Teixeira from a photo line-up.
Witness A told police she was sitting in her car while “Kobe” and Khabra were speaking. She then saw “Kobe” holding a gun and firing it at Khabra, at which point she fled in her car and called 911.
According to police at the time, a woman was found injured near 36A Avenue and Elgin Road after apparently driving away from a shooting and calling 911.
Witness B told police he had participated in the planning and preparation of Khabra’s murder, and that he was there when Teixeira pulled the trigger, according to the documents.
Witness B said Teixeira and Khabra had been together one night prior to the murder when they were both shot at by someone else. Witness B told police that Teixeira believed that shooting was a setup organized by Khabra, motivating him to kill him as revenge, the documents state.
What’s more, Witness B said there was a $160,000 contract out for Khabra’s murder, “which further motivated Teixeira to kill” Khabra, the documents allege.
Witness B told police he and Teixeira had arranged to meet Khabra on the night of the 23rd in order to buy fireworks, the documents state. Witness B hid in Teixeira’s vehicle while the accused and Khabra spoke for close to half an hour in a cul-de-sac.
“When N.K. (Khabra) moved to get something out of his girlfriend’s car, Teixeira took a gun from his clothes and shot N.K. in the back, while also shooting N.K.’s girlfriend, Witness A,” state the documents.
Teixeira continued firing at Khabra, before returning to his vehicle and fleeing, the documents allege.
Vehicle ruse
The U.S. documents also lay out a scheme by Teixeira to attempt to throw police off his trail.
Teixeira intended to use two black Jeeps, one of them belonging to his roommate, the documents state. One of the Jeeps would be burned near the crime scene in order to confuse police.
After the shooting, Teixeira and Witness B disposed of the murder weapon, then burned the second Jeep, state the documents.
But a subsequent police investigation discovered that someone had rented a black Jeep Compass on Oct. 1, 2017, under Teixeira’s roommate’s name, and returned it the day after the murder, according to the documents.
A forensic analysis of that Jeep found DNA from blood inside the vehicle, which matched Teixeira’s DNA stored in Canadian databases, the documents allege.
Traffic cameras were also able to determine the Jeep found burned near the crime scene wasn’t the same vehicle that initially fled the area, the documents allege.
Teixeira remained in custody in Sacramento on Tuesday, awaiting his next extradition hearing.
U.S. police say despite being arrested at a home that allegedly contained 26 pounds of heroin and 40 pounds of marijuana, Teixeira will not face drug-related charges.
“The Canadian authorities believe they have a very strong, ready to try murder case up in Canada,” said Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsay.
“So rather than do any sort of interference with that, in other words bringing local charges, and he’d have to wait on the local charges being resolved before he went to Canada, we’ll just say, ‘No, let’s not bring those charges.'”
Teixeira’s court-appointed U.S. lawyer says he has requested to be returned to Canada as quickly as possible.