Three charged with helping fugitive murderer Rabih Alkhalil escape B.C. jail

Federal police investigating the escape of gangland killer Rabih Alkhalil from a British Columbia jail said they foiled an unrelated murder plot as they announced charges against three people who allegedly conspired in the breakout three years ago.

But the police news conference where the developments were announced shed no light on the whereabouts of Alkhalil, despite a flurry of recent media reports that he had been arrested in the Middle East.

B.C. RCMP said Monday that charges had been laid against Edward Ayoub and John Potvin, both of Ottawa, and Ryan Van Gool of Harrison Hot Springs, B.C., for their alleged role in helping Alkhalil escape the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C., in July 2022.

Video of the escape showed Alkhalil being led through prison hallways by two men who were allegedly posing as contractors at the detention facility. 

Cpl. Sarbjit Sangha with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said the two men depicted in the video had been arrested, but didn't specify who they are. 

"This is still an active investigation. There are more people that may be facing charges at a later date," she said. 

Sgt. Tammy Lobb, spokeswoman for the RCMP Pacific region, said police can't confirm media reports of Alkhalil being arrested in Qatar. 

Information in the  reports over the weekend "has not been confirmed through the police agencies at this time," she said.

Alkhalil escaped while on trial for the 2012 shooting murder of a gang rival in a busy Vancouver restaurant, and he was later found guilty of first-degree murder in his absence.

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

Lobb said that during the investigation into the breakout, police also uncovered evidence that led to charges that Van Gool and two other men, Bryce and Scott Telford of Surrey, were involved in a 2024 murder conspiracy.

She said the planned killing in Kamloops, B.C., was averted.

Lobb said Van Gool and Bryce and Scott Telford are in custody and due in court on Wednesday in Vancouver, and Edward Ayoub is in custody in another province on other charges. 

She said Potvin is at large and is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.

Alkhalil is among Canada's most wanted fugitives with a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest by the RCMP, and is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

Police said Monday that the news conference announcing the charges related to the escape investigation had been planned "for some time," and it was a coincidence that it came amid the reports that Alkhalil was arrested abroad. 

"Alkhalil belongs to an organization that is known for its transnational reach," Sangha said. 

"He could be in Canada, he could be anywhere else in part of the world. That's why there's a Red Notice in place." 

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck