'Unprecedented' reward offered in hunt for B.C. fugitive convicted of first-degree murder
The hunt for a B.C. fugitive convicted of first-degree murder in a brazen public shooting now includes a cash reward of up to a quarter of a million dollars.
Convicted killer Rabih Alkhalil, also known as Robbie, has been on the run since July after escaping from the North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre in Port Coquitlam.
Now the 35-year-old is at the top of a cross-Canada most wanted list with a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to his arrest.
BC RCMP Deputy Comm. Dwayne McDonald called the reward “unprecedented” for the province.
“For most people, $250,000 would be life changing,” he said. “We don’t need your name, we don’t need your location. We just need to find him.”
When Alkhalil left the jail with the help of two suspects (who police said were either posing as, or working as contractors), he was on trial for the 2012 murder of Sandip Duhre. Duhre was gunned down at a restaurant in a busy downtown Vancouver hotel. Alkhalil has since been found guilty.
The white Ford Econoline van he escaped in has been found, but he remains at large.
Insp. Darren Carr with the Coquitlam RCMP said “the public is not safe until he’s brought back into custody”.
“The crimes that he’s committed are serious: multiple homicides, his involvement in organized crime,” Carr said. “We will capture him. It may take some time…we are confident we will find him.”
The reward is being promoted by the BOLO (or Be On the Lookout) program (link: https://www.boloprogram.org/), which uses social media and other technology to spread the word about wanted fugitives.
They have previously focussed on former UN gang member Conor D’Monte, who was arrested earlier this year in Puerto Rico, and Brandon Teixeira, who is charged with murder, and was arrested in California in 2019.
Now Alkhalil is in the same spotlight.
McDonald said it isn’t the first time the fugitive has evaded police.
“After orchestrating brazen murders in Vancouver and Toronto one decade ago, he fled to Greece,” McDonald said. “Where he was ultimately arrested and extradited to Canada. In 2017, he was convicted of murder in Toronto. In 2020, he was found guilty of significant drug trafficking in Quebec.”
McDonald said anyone who sees Alkhalil should not approach him, as he is considered dangerous and may be armed. Instead, he asked people to call police, 9-1-1, or CrimeStoppers.
McDonald also had a message for the 25 wanted fugitives on the list.
“Your world gets smaller,” he said. ‘Do the right thing for yourself, your family, for your community. Call a lawyer, call the police, and turn yourself in.”
OTHER B.C. CONNECTIONS
Other B.C. connections on the fugitives list include Amardip Singh Rai.42-year-old is sought by the Surrey RCMP after failing to appear for a court date. He currently has an outstanding warrant on a number of charges including sexual assault, confining a person without lawful authority, and two counts of assault with a weapon.
Creston man Oliver Ole Langelid is also on the list. The RCMP said the 71 year-old is accused of sexual interference of a person under 16 and sexual assault. He also failed to appear in court.
The Oceanside RCMP in Parksville are also looking for Quinten Anthony Meyer.27-year-old is facing charges related to a break and enter and sexual assault in Nanoose Bay this July, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.