Photo exhibits of guns, getaway car released in infamous Surrey murder

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The firearms used to shoot Surrey business Ripudaman Singh Malik. Masks and gloves with the DNA of his killers — Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez. The clothing the pair wore on the day of the July 14, 2022 murder — including a T-shirt saying Just Do It.

Those are just some of the exhibits seized by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team that led Fox and Lopez to plead guilty Oct. 21 to killing the one-time Air India bombing suspect.

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Postmedia and Global TV obtained copies of the exhibits Wednesday after a joint application to B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

Fox and Tanner are expected to appear by video Thursday to fix a date for their sentencing. When they were in court 10 days ago, Lopez attacked Fox, punching his head several times before sheriffs pulled him off. New Westminster Police are still investigating the assault.

The exhibits released show the volume of evidence collected against the two young killers whom prosecutor Matthew Stacey said had been hired to shoot Malik.

“There was no previous association between Mr. Malik and the two offenders, Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez,” Stacey told Justice Terence Schultes. “Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez were hired and paid to commit the murder of Mr. Malik, and they did kill Mr. Malik.”

Fox and Lopez left a trail of evidence both before and after they shot Malik seven times outside his clothing business at 8236 128th Street at about 9:24 a.m.

They were captured on CCTV video on July 13 at the rental suite of a friend on 108th Avenue in Surrey. Both arrived in an Infiniti that Lopez drove at the time. Lopez wore the Nike shirt he would also have on the next morning during the fatal shooting. Fox was captured on camera changing the car’s licence plate.

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Both then headed out to do surveillance of Malik’s business, where CCTV cameras caught them scoping out the area for about 17 minutes before leaving at 3:09 p.m.

Fox was seen carrying a Puma backpack in which police would later find the most incriminating evidence — the firearms used and the masks and gloves containing the DNA of both suspects.

The preparations for the murder appear to have been ongoing for weeks. The Honda CRV that Fox and Lopez drove to kill Malik was stolen in Coquitlam on June 22, 2022. The plate on it had been stolen from another CRV on June 23.

About 4 p.m. on July 13, the killers drove in tandem to a cul-de-sac on 123rd Street in Surrey. Fox was in the stolen Honda and Lopez in the Infiniti. They parked the CRV and left together in the Infiniti.

On the morning of the murder, Lopez picked up Fox at his Abbotsford home at 6:05 a.m. He was driving the Infiniti. They headed to their friend’s place on 108th. Both wore the same clothes as the day before.

Fox retrieved the Puma backpack from the suite, carrying it into the Infiniti at 6:45 a.m. They headed off to complete their contract, stopping in the cul-de-sac to switch vehicles. Lopez was driving and Fox was in the passenger seat.

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They were on scene ready for Malik by 7:10 but the 75-year-old had a morning appointment that made him late to the office by almost 90 minutes. At 8:26 a.m., Fox was captured exiting the CRV’s passenger side and walking east toward the crime scene.

Malik arrived at his business at 9:23 a.m. in his red Tesla and parked. He was killed before he got out of the car.

The killers fled in the CRV, parking it in a laneway behind 8169 123rd Street before lighting it on fire. They took off in the Infiniti, racing back to the 108th suite where Fox was captured dropping off the Puma backpack.

Just 12 days later, police executed search warrants at the 108th suite, and seized the backpack. They also searched Fox’s Abbotsford home and Lopez’s New Westminster residence and seized the clothing each was wearing, as well as phones with photos of thousands of dollars cash.

Each killer is expected to receive a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 20 years.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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