The Canadian Press has posted the strange case of a 2022 British Columbia assassination, related to a man suspected of bombing Air India planes in the 1980s.
Hired assassins demonstrated both lethal efficiency and surprising sloppiness in their hit on Ripudaman Singh Malik in Surrey. Court documents recently revealed some fascinating contradictions about the job.
The two assassins, Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez, showed meticulous planning in some aspects of their operation. They conducted advance surveillance of their target’s business the day before, carefully coordinated their movements between two vehicles, and executed the shooting with chilling precision –- landing six of seven shots in the victim’s head and neck area as he sat in his Tesla.
However, attempts to cover their digital and physical tracks fell remarkably short of their tight shooting accuracy. The pair’s movements were extensively captured on surveillance and traffic cameras throughout the operation. They left behind a telling trail of digital breadcrumbs, including:
- Video footage of their pre-attack surveillance
- Multiple camera recordings of their vehicle movements
- A door camera capturing one assassin with an identifiable Puma backpack
- Cell phone evidence from their post-murder location
The assassins’ most careless mistake was keeping their weapons and gear, even after burning their getaway car. When police searched the distinctive Puma logo backpack, they found the murder weapons, complete with magazines and bullets, along with masks and gloves used in the hit.
Canadian court documents confirm Fox and Lopez were “hired and paid” for the assassination, yet the identity of who ordered the hit remains undisclosed. Both men have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and await sentencing.
This case serves as a stark reminder that even highly trained professional killers make very rookie mistakes when it comes to digital footprints. And it of course begs the question of how long before we hear who hired them.