British Columbia SC Sentences Second Hitman To Life For Murder Of Ex-Air India Bombing Suspect
Jose Lopez, 26, received a life sentence without parole for 20 years for murdering Ripudaman Singh Malik, a former Air India bombing suspect.
British Columbia's Supreme Court on Friday sentenced Jose Lopez, 26, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 20 years for the murder of former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik. Lopez is one of two hitmen who pleaded guilty to Malik's killing. The other, 24-year-old Tanner Fox, was handed the same sentence in January.
Malik was shot dead on 14 July 2022 outside his business in Surrey, B.C., by Lopez and Fox. The identities of those who hired the two men to carry out the assassination have never been revealed. During the sentencing in New Westminster, Lopez, dressed in a black suit, sat before his family. Prosecutor Matthew Stacey told the court that Lopez and Fox had been paid to kill Malik, CBC reported.
"This was a planned and deliberate killing of Mr. Malik," Stacey said. "And they were financially compensated for killing him."
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Ripudaman Singh Malik's Family Living In Fear, Urges Hitman To Reveal Who Ordered Murder
In victim impact statements, Malik’s children spoke about the fear and anxiety they continue to experience, not knowing who ordered the murder. They pleaded with Lopez to disclose the names of those who had orchestrated the killing, as per CBC's report.
During Fox’s sentencing earlier, Malik’s family had expressed similar concerns. "Mr. Fox, we plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you. This is the right thing to do," Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal had urged, as quoted by the report.
Malik was acquitted in 2005, along with co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri, of charges related to the deaths of 331 people in the 1985 Air India bombing case. A Canadian government report concluded that the bombings were carried out by Sikh Khalistani separatists, including bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was convicted of manslaughter.
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