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Jan 28, 2025 1:28 PM - The Canadian Press

Hitmen face sentencing for B.C. murder of former Air India suspect Malik

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Tanner Fox and accomplice Jose Lopez pleaded guilty last October to second-degree murder (Photo: The Canadian Press)

One of the admitted hitmen who killed former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik is set to be sentenced for his part in the murder today in a New Westminster, B.C., courtroom.

Tanner Fox and accomplice Jose Lopez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last October, with Fox scheduled to be sentenced today, and Lopez due back in court on Friday. Malik, who was acquitted of charges related to the 1985 Air India bombing, was shot dead in Surrey, B.C, on July 14, 2022. Fox and Lopez, who were both in their early 20s at the time of the killing, were originally charged with first-degree murder less than two weeks after the killing. They still face automatic life sentences on the lesser charges of second-degree murder. Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers have jointly proposed that they not be eligible for parole for 20 years.

An agreed statement of facts provided by the BC Prosecution Service says Fox and Lopez were "hired and paid" to carry out the murder, but police and prosecutors have not revealed who they believe hired the pair to assassinate the Sikh businessman. Malik was shot dead in his Tesla at a business park in Surrey, B.C. 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.

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