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Several photos on various websites appear to be the same images released by Coquitlam RCMP on Friday as suspects in Alkhalil’s escape.
Rabih Alkhalil escaped from the North Fraser Pretrial Center in Port Coquitlam around 6:45 p.m. Thursday. Photo by HANDOUT/RCMP/jpg
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Coquitlam RCMP confirmed Saturday that two photos they released a day earlier of alleged accomplices in accused killer Robby Alkhalil’s brazen prison break are fake.
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But Deanna Law said the men in the images, which are available on websites that sell fake IDs, resemble the two people who arrived at the North Fraser Pretrial Center in Port Coquitlam on Thursday claiming to be contractors there to make repairs
Instead, they used a plasma torch to extract Alkhalil, 35, who is in the middle of a murder and conspiracy trial.
The three men then left the premises at 1451 Kingsway in a white Econoline van around 6:48 p.m. Police have been searching for them ever since, although the van has now been located.
The suspects who helped Alkhalil escape are believed to bear a strong resemblance to the photos they left, but those images are not them, Law said. As with many complex investigations, information changes rapidly as we move forward. In this case, time is of the essence and it is important to keep the public as informed as possible even though the facts could change as we move forward.
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Online sleuths sent Postmedia several photos from various websites that match the ones originally released by police. Postmedia then provided the photos to the Coquitlam RCMP Saturday morning for comment.
Coquitlam RCMP released photos Thursday of two suspects believed to have helped Rabih Robby Alkhalil escape from the North Fraser Correctional Centre. Coquitlam RCMP released photos Thursday of two suspects believed to have helped Rabih Robby Alkhalil escape from the North Fraser Correctional Centre.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Friday that BC Corrections is investigating how Alkhalil managed to escape from the high-security institution.
Prison contractors are subject to security checks, including criminal background checks, multiple sources also said.
Farnworth said the escape appeared to have been sophisticated and well-planned with “the van and the uniforms”.
“There is a full investigation into what happened,” Farnworth said, adding that the investigation would “identify how it happened, why it happened, and then make sure that if there were gaps or mistakes, they change and fix so that this can’t happen again.”
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He said he understands the public concern about the prison break.
“What this shows is that we always have to make sure that when it comes to security in our facilities, the proper protocols are followed and it’s as strict as possible.”
A source said that if Alkhalil is not found quickly, he probably never will be.
“If they don’t find it in the first 48 hours, it’s gone.”
Law said police are well aware Alkhalil could try to flee the country “using his connections in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.”
Time is of the essence to put Alkhalil’s face at every airport, train station, taxi, car rental company or anywhere else he might be hiding, he said.
A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued while an Interpol Red Alert is in place.
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Alkhalil is charged with the January 2012 first-degree murder of gangster Sandip Duhre in the lobby of the Sheraton Wall Centre. He is also accused of conspiring with others to murder Sukh Dhak, an associate of Duhre, between August 6, 2011 and August 8, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The trial of Alkhalil and co-defendant Larry Amero, who is charged only with conspiracy, is scheduled to continue Wednesday even in Alkhalil’s absence. Closing arguments in the 13-month jury trial began in early July.
BC Supreme Court Justice Miriam Maisonville told the jury of six men and six women on Friday that Alkhalil was missing and the trial would continue without him.
“Members of the jury, by now some or all of you will have heard that Mr. Alkhalil has fled. I will tell you later what use, if any, you can make of this fact,” Maisonville said. “I remind you again that both defendants, including Mr. Alkhalil, who is not before you, are presumed innocent until the Crown has proven them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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“The trial will continue in Mr. Alkhalil’s absence, and the Crown will have to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, as well as Mr. Amero.”
He also told jurors “to pay no further attention to any media accounts or anything you read or hear on the Internet, social media or otherwise.”
“This direction agrees with my initial instructions that you must decide this case based on the evidence presented in this courtroom,” Maisonville said.
As closing arguments began, a Crown prosecutor told the jury that the main piece of evidence regarding motive was the Aug. 14, 2011, Kelowna killing of gangster Jonathan Bacon.
The trial heard that Bacon was one of five people, including Amero, in a Porsche Cayenne that was sprayed with bullets outside the Delta Grande Hotel in Kelowna. Amero, the driver, was seriously injured in the shooting.
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The Crown had previously said the two accused were members of the Wolfpack, a rival of the Duhre/Dhak group.
Law said Alkhalil is considered extremely dangerous. He said police were initially called by North Fraser staff about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 42 minutes after Alkhalil and his accomplices left.
“At this time, the RCMP is working closely with BC Corrections and the investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Alkhalil is described as 5’10” and 166 pounds with short black hair and brown eyes.
“If you see Alkhalil, police ask that you stay away from him and call 911 immediately,” Law said.
Alkhalil is not the first person to escape from North Fraser.
In August 2008, Dean Douglas Sykes posed as his own cellmate and was brought to court where he was released as the other man. When he was caught a few days later, he received a 14-month sentence.
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And in November 2007, gangster Omid Tahvili bribed a prison guard to help him escape from North Fraser. It was never recovered.
BC corrections officer Edwin Ticne was later sentenced to three years and three months in prison for breach of trust. Crown lost an appeal to increase the sentence.
Tahvili’s escape was captured on video cameras that showed Ticne “escorted Mr. Tahvili through four security doors between his housing unit and the public exit of the pretrial center where they separated,” he said. note BC Court of Appeal.
Ticne then “facilitated Mr. Tahvili’s passage through the security doors by pressing buttons that alerted personnel in the central control area who unlocked the doors after identifying the respondent and an apparent contract cleaner” .
Tahvili had changed into clothes that matched those worn by the cleaners hired at the prejudice center.
Ticne left the jail and “drove to a nearby gas station where he was to receive $50,000 to get Mr. Tahvili out of jail,” the court ruling said. However, “no one met him and he received no money.”
At the time of his escape, Tahvili was awaiting sentencing for kidnapping, sexual assault and threatening death or bodily harm. He was sentenced in absentia to six years and three months.
kbolan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kbolan
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