Police update expected on double-murder fugitive who escaped B.C. jail

SURREY — Police in Surrey, B.C., are set to announce an update on a fugitive twice convicted of first-degree murder who has been on the lam for more than three years.

The RCMP’s Federal Policing Pacific Region and British Columbia’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit have announced a news conference later today on the investigation into Rabih Alkhalil.

Alkhalil escaped the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C., in July 2022 while on trial for the 2012 shooting murder of a gang rival in a busy Vancouver restaurant, and he was later found guilty by a jury in his absence.

He had previously been convicted in 2017 of first-degree murder in Ontario for the killing of a man in a Toronto coffee shop.

Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers last year teamed up with the national Be On The Look Out Program by offering a reward of up to $100,000 for Alkhalil’s capture.

Crime Stoppers had said Alkhalil was aided by a pair of men posing as contractors in his escape.

Alkhalil is among Canada’s most wanted fugitives and is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2025.

The Canadian Press