Police say 2 men found guilty of murder caught trying to flee B.C. jail

Two convicted murderers have been charged after police say they attempted to escape from the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre last month.

The Surrey Police Service said correctional officers observed the escape attempt in the facility’s exercise yard on Dec. 7.

Police allege Dean Wiwchar, 40, and Harry Christensen, 34, were caught before they could flee. Both men were formally charged Tuesday and remain in custody while awaiting new court dates, police said.

Wiwchar is a well-known gangland hitman who was one of four men convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 killing of John Raposo. Raposo, 35, was shot in the head on the patio of the Sicilian Sidewalk Café in Toronto during a daytime shooting linked to a feud among drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said Wiwchar carried out the killing as soccer fans gathered nearby to watch a Euro Cup match. He and his co-accused were also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In addition to the Toronto case, Wiwchar pleaded guilty last year to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in British Columbia, including one related to a 2012 killing in the lobby of Vancouver’s Sheraton Wall Centre and another foiled plot to kill a second man.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said Wiwchar received concurrent sentences of 20 years and 18 years for those crimes, along with a lifetime firearms ban, DNA order, no-contact order and forfeiture order imposed on Dec. 5.

Christensen, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder for the 2018 killing of Kyle Cromarty in Chilliwack, B.C.

According to sentencing reasons from B.C. Supreme Court, Christensen shot Cromarty twice from behind “execution-style” in a public area on Oct. 4, 2018. One of the shots was fatal. The court noted Cromarty did not know his attacker.

Christensen evaded police for nearly four years and was eventually arrested after DNA linked him to the murder weapon. He was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 13½ years.

Police say both men remain incarcerated as the investigation into the alleged escape attempt continues.