Hitman sentenced to life in prison for B.C. murder of former Air India bombing suspect

One of two hitmen hired to kill former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 20 years.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes sentenced Tanner Fox for second-degree murder in front of a New Westminster courtroom packed full of Malik's friends and relatives following an emotional morning in which Malik's daughter-in-law begged the young killer to give up the names of the people who hired him.

"We plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you," Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal said as she stood at the front of the courtroom.

"Mr. Fox, we plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you. This is the right thing to do."

Malik was shot dead outside his business in Surrey, B.C., on July 14, 2022 by Fox and another man, Jose Lopez, who also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killing. Lopez is due back in court on Feb. 6.

Both men were originally charged with first-degree murder and admitted to being paid to kill Malik, who in 2005 was acquitted in B.C. Supreme Court along with his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, of charges related to the deaths of 331 people in the Air India case.

WATCH | Life sentence for Malik killer: 

Hitman sentenced to life in prison for B.C. murder of former Air India bombing suspect

2 days ago

Duration 1:59

One of two men who admitted he was paid to kill a Surrey businessman two and a half years ago was in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday morning to hear his fate. Tanner Fox was handed a sentence of life in prison with no parole for 20 years. Fox and accomplice Jose Lopez were hired to kill Ripudaman Singh Malik. As Belle Puri reports, Malik's family says their questions are far from answered.

'Are we next?'

Neither the agreed statement of facts filed in the case nor Tuesday's court proceedings shed any light on who ordered Malik's death.

Turning repeatedly to face Fox as he sat in the prisoner's dock, Dhaliwal said Malik's death has left a deep hole in the lives of the people who knew him. She said she has had to talk to her children about their grandfather's death.

"We explain to them that he was assassinated by you, Mr. Fox," she told him. "And that you were hired to do it."

Without knowing who is behind the killing, Dhaliwal said the rest of Malik's family has been left afraid.

"This fear and anxiety comes from not knowing who hired you," she said.

'Are we next?'

Outside the court Tuesday, Malik's son echoed Dhaliwal's comments.

"I'm asking both Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez to do the right thing," Jaspreet Singh Malik said as he stood with a number of family members behind him.

"Tell the RCMP who hired you. Let those people be brought to justice."

Jaspreet Singh Malik stressed his father's leadership roles with the Khalsa Credit Union and Khalsa School.

He faulted the media for emphasizing his father's connection to the Air India case as opposed to those achievements, which he said represent the slain man's true legacy.

"Why don't you refer to him as the man who was wrongfully accused because the judge said there was simply no evidence tending to point to any role he played in that conspiracy?" he said.

"In fact, all the evidence shows my father was a man who was committed to education."

'I'm sorry for the role I played'

Fox's lawyer, Richard Fowler, said 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 has no drug problems. His adoptive parents are still in touch with him.

"They obviously did all they could but it's impossible to say where Mr. Fox went awry, went wrong in his youth that took him to this horrible offence," Fowler said.

Fox, who was dressed in a light suit jacket, stood to address the court following the victim impact statements and submissions from the Crown and defence.

"I'm sorry for the role I played in this crime," he said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry for all the pain and hurt that I've caused."

An agreed statement of facts filed with the court paints a picture of the events leading up to the murder, starting with the theft of a Honda CR-V in Coquitlam three weeks before the fatal shooting. A licence plate from another Honda CR-V was stolen the next day and placed on the stolen vehicle.

The pair came and went from a residence in Whalley, a 15-minute drive from Malik's business, which was the site of the murder. They set the Honda on fire and were later traced to an Infiniti G37x registered to Lopez's sister.

Prosecutor Matthew Stacey said Fox and Lopez shot Malik multiple times as he sat in his vehicle.

"This was a planned and deliberate killing of Mr. Malik," Stacey said. "And they were financially compensated for killing him."

A 2005 Canadian government report concluded the Air India bombings were carried out by Sikh Khalistani separatists in Canada, including bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was convicted of manslaughter.