Who is Tanner Fox? Hitman sentenced to life for murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik acquitted in Air India bombing

Sikh activist Ripudaman Singh Malik (C) (Image: Reuters)

One of the hitmen responsible for killing an Indian-origin man acquitted in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 20 years on Tuesday.

Tanner Fox, 24, received his sentence on Tuesday from a British Columbia Supreme Court judge. Both him and his accomplice, Jose Lopez, pleaded guilty last October to the second-degree murder of Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik in 2022.

Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

Malik, once accused in the 1985 Air India flight bombing, was acquitted along with his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri. The British Columbia Supreme Court found both not guilty in the case, which involved the deaths of 329 people.

About the Kanishka bombing case:

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182, travelling from Canada to India blew up off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people on board. The majority of the victims were Canadian citizens visiting family in India.

Simultaneously, a second bomb went off prematurely in Japan, causing the deaths of two baggage handlers.

The bombing of Air India Flight 182 had been the deadliest act of airborne terrorism prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Following a two-year trial, Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were both acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings, after a judge ruled that testimony against them was not credible, according to a report by BBC.

Who is Tanner Fox?

Tanner Fox, 24, originally from Thailand, was adopted at three years old by a couple residing in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Fox reportedly has apologised for his actions. "I am sorry for all the pain and hurt that I have caused," he said.

In court, the prosecutor reportedly said that Fox and Lopez planned a "deliberate killing" of Malik. "They were financially compensated for killing him," the prosecutor said, according to a report by BBC.