Tanner Fox said he's sorry for shooting Surrey businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik to death but it has still not been revealed who hired him and Jose Lopez to carry out the contract killing.
"I'm sorry for the role I played in this crime," Fox told the court. "I wasn't going to speak originally but being here today I need to say something to the family of the deceased. I know nothing I say will bring him back.
"Not a day goes by that I don't feel remorse for my actions. Three years ago I was young and dumb. I've grown to see the error of my ways and I'm sorry for all the pain and hurt that I've caused you," he told Malik's family, before Justice Terry Schultes sentenced him on Tuesday, Jan. 28 to life in prison with no eligibility to apply for parole for 20 years.
Fox 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ one of two men who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 14, 2022 shooting of Malik, 75, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. Fox is now 24.
Malik was acquitted in 2005 of the 1985 Air India Bombing following a lengthy trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. He was found not guilty of eight criminal counts, including bomb-related and first-degree murder charges.
The bombing killed 329 people. Seven Surrey families lost loved ones in the Air India explosion off the coast of Ireland.
Malik was shot multiple times while sitting in his car outside his business, Papillon Eastern Imports. "This was a planned and deliberate killing of Mr. Malik and they were financially compensated for killing him," Crown prosecutor Matt Stacey told the court. "Mr. Fox's moral culpability is extremely high in this case. This was a planned and deliberate cold-blooded execution done for financial compensation. The murder demonstrated a shocking and callous disregard for human life. Further, the public shooting endangered the lives of innocent people in the community who were starting their workday."
Abbotsford resident Fox, 21, and Jose Lopez, 23, of New Westminster were originally charged with first-degree murder for killing Malik, 75, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder last October. Lopez will be sentenced at a later date.
Both will serve an automatic life sentence. In a joint submission, Stacey and defence lawyer Richard Fowler recommended the parole eligibility be set at 20 years, less credit for time served since their arrest on July 26, 2022.
Malik was slain outside a business complex at 8236 128 St. in Newton. A stolen white Honda CR-V they used, which was captured on CCTV hours before the shooting, was later found burning in the 12200 block of 82 Avenue.
The court heard victim impact statements from Malik family members who referred to him as "Daddy Ji" and described him as a "positive powerhouse," a "soft and gentle soul," a community "pillar" and "role model."
"He was admired by people all over the world," said Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal, Malik's eldest daughter-in-law.
"You, Mr. Fox, took my backbone away but you didn't break me. You tried, but you failed."
She implored Fox to reveal who ordered the killing.
"Mr. Fox, we plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you. Mr. Fox, we plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you. This is the right thing to do."
His daughter, Kirat Kaur Malik, said her dad taught her how important family is. "And it's something I think about every single day. When I look at Mr. Fox, I know that his family is probably struggling with the path that he's taken and it's his chance 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ we are at peace with what has happened to our father and we hope you can find peace too."
The court heard Fox was born in Thailand, where his father is in prison, and was adopted by a Canadian family when he was three years old. Fowler said his client was raised in Abbotsford, where he attended a Mennonite high school and "was a good student, which makes the waste even greater."
"His plea of guilty was very much motivated ultimately by his acceptance of course of the strength of the Crown's case but ultimately his instructions to us to plead guilty was motivated by his desire to accept responsibility."
His adoptive father is a physics teacher and adoptive mother works at a church.
"They obviously did all the could but it's impossible to say where Mr. Fox went awry, went wrong in his youth that took him to this horrible offence."
Schultes noted that Fox's DNA was found on a glove and mask used in the shooting and his fingerprints were also found on the passenger side of a getaway vehicle.
"A search of Mr. Fox's residence in Abbotsford yielded shoes, a shirt and a baseball hat that resembled the clothing worn by one of the participants in the shooting as we as two other handguns," the judge continued. "Photos taken by Mr. Fox's phone on two days following the shooting show a large number of $100 bills and the one taken July 16, the bills are bundled up on Mr. Fox's lap. One could infer that this represented payment for his involvement."
