The day before Ripudaman Singh Malik was murdered in July 2022, a pair of hired hit men showed up at his B.C. business, 91Ƶscoping out the scene91Ƶ for several minutes before driving away.
The next morning, Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez appeared again at the business park in Surrey, B.C., and fired seven shots into Malik91Ƶs Tesla, killing him as he sat in the driver91Ƶs seat.
The sped off in a stolen car, which was later found on fire in a nearby laneway.
The details of Malik91Ƶs murder are outlined in an agreed statement of facts filed in B.C. Supreme Court as Fox and Lopez await sentencing after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
The statement, provided by the BC Prosecution Service, confirms the men were 91Ƶhired and paid,91Ƶ but does not say who ordered the assassination.
In 2005, Malik was acquitted in B.C. Supreme Court along with his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, of charges related to the bombings aimed at two Air India planes that killed 331 people in June 1985.
One bomb blew up over the ocean off Ireland, killing all 329 on board, while the second device exploded at Narita airport in Japan, killing two baggage handlers.
A 2005 Canadian government report concluded the bombings were carried out by Sikh Khalistani separatists in Canada, including bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was convicted of manslaughter.
Members of the Khalistani movement in Canada have recently been targeted by India with crimes including homicide and extortion, according to the RCMP and the federal government, which expelled six Indian diplomats this month.
The Canadian government previously said credible intelligence linked India91Ƶs government to the killing last year of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied the claims.
The statement of facts in Malik91Ƶs case makes no mention of the Air India bombing, India, or the Sikh separatist movement.
It says Fox and Jose Lopez acted together to kill Malik, and the gunfire that day sent people working nearby 91Ƶ including some of Malik91Ƶs employees 91Ƶ running for cover.
Both men were originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty last week to the lesser charge, and a hearing in New Westminster on Thursday was expected to fix a date for their sentencing.
The statement of facts outlines how Fox and Lopez91Ƶs movements were 91Ƶwere captured on various surveillance cameras and traffic cameras,91Ƶ91Ƶ on the day before and day of the murder.
It says the pair used a stolen vehicle and another car to carry out the hit, a white Honda CRV and a black Infiniti, liaising in the lead-up to the murder at a home in Surrey 91Ƶowned by a person unrelated to the homicide.91Ƶ
The pair switched license plates on the vehicles, the statement says, while detailing what they were wearing and setting out a timeline of their movements in the lead-up and aftermath of the targeted shooting.
Fox and Lopez 91Ƶwere hired and paid to commit the murder,91Ƶ and used two handguns to riddle the driver91Ƶs side of Malik91Ƶs car that morning when he showed up to work, the statement says.
91ƵThe shots struck Mr. Malik from his left side, and he was killed while he was still sitting in the driver91Ƶs seat. Other than Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez there was no one else at the crime scene who was responsible for shooting and killing Mr. Malik,91Ƶ it says.
They fled in the stolen Honda to a laneway in a residential area where they91Ƶd stashed the black Infiniti, and a video captured the Honda 91Ƶengulfed in flames,91Ƶ after being set on fire deliberately.
Surrey firefighters put out the blaze, which also set nearby bushes and a fence on fire, the statement says.
Police later seized a cellphone from the tenant of the rental suite where Fox and Lopez went after the murder, and video from a door camera showed Fox with a Puma-brand backpack.
The statement says a search of the bag turned up gloves, masks, two pistols, magazines and bullets.
A pathologist who examined Malik91Ƶs body in the days after his murder found that all seven shots hit him, 91Ƶsix of which were on the head and neck area.91Ƶ