Vancouver Police arrest convicted murderer who fled halfway house in 2023

A Vancouver Police officer's uniform is pictured in Vancouver, on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

By Charlie Carey

Posted May 12, 2025 9:53 am.

Police in Vancouver say a man who took off from his halfway house in 2023 has been rearrested after living in the Downtown Eastside under a different name.

According to the Vancouver Police Department, the now 30-year-old man had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for multiple crimes, including second-degree murder in Winnipeg, when he was granted statutory release in March 2023.

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He was then ordered to live at a house in New Westminster, however, he “disappeared” from his halfway house just a couple of months later in May of that year.

Police say he was arrested and taken back into custody on Saturday near Gore Avenue and Alexander Street.

“Police believe he’s been living in the neighbourhood for the past two years, using a false name, and working part-time as kitchen staff in a shelter,” Sgt. Steve Addison said in a statement on Monday.

As he was a minor at the time of the offences, the man cannot be named, the VPD says.

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