Already serving life for contract killing, 25-year-old sentenced in second BC fatal shooting

NEW WESTMINSTER — A British Columbia man already serving a life sentence for the contract killing of former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik has been sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for the manslaughter of an Abbotsford man during a botched break-in..Tanner Fox, 25, was sentenced Wednesday by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray in connection with the March 21, 2022, shooting death of Chad Colivas, 41. Fox had pleaded guilty earlier this year to manslaughter with a firearm after originally facing a second-degree murder charge..Fox appeared by video for the hearing. Crown and defence presented a joint submission. Murray accepted it, imposing 15 years with no credit for time served. She described Fox as a “cold-blooded murderer,” noting he had already taken two lives by age 25 and expressing little optimism about his rehabilitation.“Mr. Fox, you’re a 25-year-old who has murdered two people. You’ve stolen two people from their loving families,” Murray said, according to reports of the hearing.Victim impact statements detailed the lasting damage. Colivas’s sister, Tanis, described him as protective and loyal. His mother, Thelma (Penny) Colivas, who was held at gunpoint during the incident, said no sentence could fill the family’s emptiness. His fiancée, Vicki Sriratanakoul, said the sudden loss destroyed their planned future.According to an agreed statement of facts, Fox and Laetitia Acera planned a break-in at a Latimer Street home in Abbotsford where Colivas lived with his nephew and the nephew’s grandparents. They believed drugs, money and jewellery were in the nephew’s ground-floor bedroom. On the night of March 21, they entered through an unlocked side door while armed with a loaded 9-mm handgun. After initially leaving, Fox re-entered alone, held the nephew and grandmother at gunpoint, and shot Colivas three times when the unarmed man entered the room after hearing a scream. Colivas died at the scene. .Fox is already serving a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 20 years for the July 14, 2022, murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik in Surrey. He and Jose Lopez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in that case in October 2024 after originally facing first-degree charges. Fox was sentenced in January 2025 by Justice Terence Schultes in New Westminster. Lopez received a similar life sentence later..Malik, 75, was shot multiple times while sitting in his Tesla outside his business on 128th Street in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood. Fox and Lopez, who had been hired and paid for the killing, used a stolen Honda CR-V, fired seven shots at close range, then burned the vehicle and fled in another car..Police recovered firearms, DNA-linked items, cash and cellphone evidence showing large amounts of $100 bills shortly after the shooting. Neither man has disclosed who hired them. Malik’s family has repeatedly urged them to do so, citing ongoing fear.Malik was a prominent Surrey businessman and community figure who co-founded the Khalsa Credit Union and was involved with the Satnam Education Society and Khalsa schools. He was charged in connection with the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing that killed 329 people and a related Narita Airport bombing, but was acquitted in 2005 along with co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri after a lengthy trial found insufficient evidence. He resumed leadership roles in Sikh educational and financial institutions after the acquittal..The Malik case produced a dramatic courtroom scene in New Westminster Supreme Court on October 21, 2024. Immediately after Fox and Lopez entered their guilty pleas to second-degree murder before Justice Schultes, Lopez removed his suit jacket, ran across the courtroom and attacked Fox, punching and clawing at him. Sheriffs eventually subdued both men, handcuffed them and cleared the public gallery, which included members of Malik’s family..Fox, who was adopted from Thailand at age three by Abbotsford parents, has a prior conviction for stabbing a 17-year-old in a 2020 Abbotsford parking-lot altercation. He received additional jail time and probation in that matter.Fox’s parole eligibility on the Malik life sentence remains no earlier than 2042. The 15-year manslaughter sentence runs in addition to that term. Police have said the Colivas killing was not gang-related. The identity of those who ordered Malik’s assassination remains unknown.

Already serving life for contract killing, 25-year-old sentenced in second BC fatal shooting

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