0:00

Hey, it's Nancy. Before we

0:02

begin today, I just wanted to let

0:05

you know that you can listen to

0:07

Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon

0:09

Music included with Prime. A

0:13

listener's note. The following episode contains

0:15

course language, adult themes, and content

0:17

of a violent and disturbing nature,

0:20

and may not be suitable for everyone. Your

0:22

discretion is advised. An

0:26

execution-style shooting in an upscale

0:29

Vancouver restaurant leaves customers fleeing

0:31

for their lives. We

0:33

not only knew that it was gang-related, we

0:35

had a good sense of who would have been

0:38

behind it. Then, five months

0:40

later, a brazen killing on

0:42

a busy cafe patio in the middle

0:44

of a Euro Cup soccer match in

0:46

Toronto's Little Italy. He's a

0:48

very intelligent individual. He's very smart. He's

0:51

crafty. And we

0:53

believe that if anyone was able to

0:55

mount an escape, that he

0:57

may be that guy. I'm

1:00

Tracy Tong, and this is Crime Beat

1:02

Most Wanted, a podcast that

1:04

takes you inside open investigations of

1:07

some of the most serious crimes in

1:09

Canada in the hopes your tips lead

1:11

police to justice. Today

1:13

I'm joined by Jules Knox to

1:16

share the story of an escaped

1:18

criminal, convicted of two cold-blooded killings,

1:21

who allegedly also masterminded his

1:23

escape from a British Columbia

1:25

prison, as his trial

1:27

was underway. This

1:30

is the hunt for Robbie Alcalil. On

1:37

the evening of January 17, 2012,

1:39

the temperature in

1:41

Vancouver dipped below freezing. But

1:44

deep in the heart of downtown, the

1:47

Sheraton Wall Centre was buzzing with

1:49

energy. Vancouver

1:51

was hosting a qualifying tournament for

1:53

the Summer Olympics, and some

1:55

of the women's soccer teams were staying at

1:58

the posh hotel. the

2:00

Cuban national soccer team, staying at

2:02

the hotel, you had the American

2:04

soccer team staying at the hotel,

2:06

including Hope Solo. The Cuban

2:08

women were in the lobby, as were many

2:10

other patrons of the hotel. That's

2:13

Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolin. She

2:16

covered the case of Sandeep Singh Durie,

2:19

a notorious gangster from Vancouver.

2:21

Dip Durie had gone in with

2:23

a friend, sat at this table

2:25

by the window. His friend, he

2:28

went out for a smoke and

2:30

the shooter literally walked up to

2:32

the table when Durie was there

2:35

by himself after ordering food and

2:37

shot him point blank range. He

2:40

just leaves out of the side door of the hotel and

2:42

he's gone. Mike Porteous is

2:44

retired now, but back in January

2:47

2012, when the shooting

2:49

took place, he was a superintendent

2:51

with the Vancouver Police Department. The

2:53

shooter arrives nearby, comes in,

2:56

in disguise through those, the

2:59

revolving glass doors into the lobby.

3:01

In the lobby, there's

3:03

a number of people milling about. He

3:06

describes what happened after shots were

3:08

fired. People are running

3:10

for cover, ducking. So there's chaos

3:13

and then there's sort of an eerie quiet. Hotel

3:16

guest Hope Solo, who was a

3:18

goalkeeper for the United States women's

3:20

national soccer team, was in

3:23

town for the Olympic qualifiers. She

3:25

shared how she felt after the violent

3:27

incident. You know, I think

3:29

all of us were a bit scared. I think that's the reality

3:31

of the situation. We

3:34

all travel all around the world, big

3:36

cities, small cities, and you

3:38

know, I think it's a normal thing that crime happens.

3:41

Other witnesses also shared their

3:43

experiences. The one individual

3:45

that I was speaking to said that he

3:47

was in the lobby area. He heard the

3:50

shots and saw the man

3:52

escape. There was numerous

3:54

police officers all over the place and the

3:56

doors were being locked and the guests were being

3:58

had to identify themselves. going in and out. Constable

4:01

Lindsay Houghton updated journalists at the

4:04

crime scene. The restaurant

4:06

wasn't full, but there

4:08

were dozens of people in the area at the

4:10

time, if you include patrons and staff. Again,

4:13

this is an unacceptable brazen

4:15

shooting that puts innocent

4:17

people at risk. Police

4:23

swarmed the hotel after the 8.45 p.m. shooting.

4:27

Ironically, 36-year-old Sandeep Dip Durie

4:29

was sitting in public at

4:31

a window seat in the

4:33

Top Flight Hotel restaurant out

4:35

on Bell for fleeing from

4:38

police. But apparently he couldn't

4:40

flee from a rival gang. Sandeep

4:42

Durie, also known as Dip, died

4:45

at the scene. Here

4:47

again is Vancouver Sun reporter Kim

4:49

Bolan. The whole Durie family

4:51

was very high profile here. You

4:53

know, we not only knew that it was

4:55

gang-related, we had a good sense of who

4:57

would have been behind it. Ranj

5:00

Daliwal is a bestselling author

5:02

of Indo-Canadian crime novels and

5:05

Durie's childhood friend. Sandeep,

5:07

he was an intelligent and

5:10

a smart person. He wasn't like

5:13

dumb whatsoever. And that's the

5:15

sad thing now that, you know, he's gone. It's just

5:17

like, you can't outsmart a bullet kind of thing, right?

5:20

He has a lot of friends, he knows a

5:22

lot of people. You know, everybody in that world,

5:24

they do get enemies. But somebody that's been around

5:26

that long, they have a lot of respect in

5:29

that world and nobody's gonna let this just slide.

5:32

Across the country, in Toronto,

5:35

College Street West is the cornerstone

5:37

of Little Italy. The

5:40

neighbourhood is home to the

5:42

city's oldest gelateria, the Sicilian

5:44

sidewalk cafe, on June 18th, 2012,

5:48

five months after the Vancouver shooting.

5:51

Eurocup fans packed onto its patio

5:53

for the game between Italy and

5:55

Ireland. At halftime,

5:57

Italy was leading one nothing.

6:01

I heard, you know, four loud pops, but I

6:03

thought it was somebody letting off firecrackers or something

6:05

because of the Italian game. Just heard some gunshots,

6:07

about four or five gunshots, and just saw everybody

6:09

running. Knows about it. It's

6:11

pretty freaky. Detective

6:13

Sergeant Terry Brown and retired staff

6:15

inspector Greg McLean of the Toronto

6:18

Police Service Homicide Squad described

6:20

in detail what happened that day.

6:23

An unknown person enters the

6:25

patio by himself and

6:28

seats at a table by himself. He's

6:30

dressed in a construction style outfit, orders

6:32

a beverage from the staff, and

6:35

while the staff are in the process

6:37

of getting that order for him, he

6:40

then gets up and engages our

6:43

victim and shoots him point blank

6:45

multiple times before fleeing the area on foot.

6:49

Johnny Raposo was enjoying a

6:51

drink in the cafe when

6:53

a trigger man came up and

6:56

assassinated him, essentially. The

6:59

victim had frequented that location many, many,

7:01

many times. He was from the neighbourhood.

7:03

As a matter of fact, he was

7:05

known by almost everyone that attends that

7:07

location. He was a family man. He

7:10

had a child and had another one on the way.

7:13

There were numerous witnesses, and of course, no

7:15

two people see things exactly the same way,

7:17

but each of them collectively

7:20

described this unknown person

7:22

seated, looking out of place.

7:25

Johnny made reference to a wig that he was

7:27

wearing, and he appeared to be

7:29

very clean, which is not

7:31

something that one would expect for a

7:33

construction worker mid-afternoon. Wendy

7:35

Drummond with Toronto Police updated journalists at

7:38

the crime scene. What

7:40

I can confirm is two victims right now. Our

7:43

homicide squad is on scene, however, they've just

7:45

arrived as well, so I don't have anything

7:47

further on the victims. No

7:50

arrest has been made. As far as the public safety

7:52

issue, we've got a crime scene set up here. We're

7:55

going to continue to ask people to stay away from

7:57

that. Police

8:01

say Raposo, also known as Little Johnny

8:03

and Johnny Mazzarotti, was targeted. The gunman,

8:06

who was dressed as a construction worker,

8:08

wearing a white desk mask, fired shots

8:10

point blank at Raposo's head. Another

8:13

man, who was also injured in the shooting, is

8:16

expected to survive. As

8:19

the investigation into Johnny Raposo's

8:21

death continued, he was laid

8:23

to rest. A steady stream

8:25

of mourners visited the Cardinal Funeral

8:28

Home here on Bathurst Street. They

8:30

decided not to speak on camera,

8:32

and those who did had harsh

8:34

words for John Raposo's alleged killer.

8:36

I hope he gets good justice,

8:38

because our system sucks. This

8:40

woman tells me he was a good man. We

8:42

always hear about the rap sheet, but see, we

8:44

don't know about that. A lot

8:46

of people don't know about that, because obviously that was his

8:48

life, that was his private life. But what we know of

8:51

him is he was a good guy. The

8:53

casket of 35-year-old John Raposo was

8:56

carried into church flanked by family,

8:59

including the mother of his unborn child

9:02

and his 17-month-old toddler. This

9:05

is a very extensive investigation that we're conducting.

9:07

This is the very, very beginning of that

9:09

investigation. There is a lot of legwork still

9:11

to do. During

9:14

the investigation, police intercepted hundreds

9:16

of messages that wove a

9:18

web of betrayal. And

9:21

they started taking a closer look at

9:23

some of the victims' business associates. Robbie

9:26

Alcalael, his name came up

9:28

as someone who was of

9:31

interest. Police believed

9:33

he was a key player in

9:35

an extensive drug smuggling operation. The

9:38

Alcalael family had been on our radar,

9:40

not just our radar, but all law

9:42

enforcement's radar for quite some time. That

9:45

really brought the

9:49

Alcalael family to prominence,

9:51

was propensity for violence. So

9:53

we were aware that the family was

9:56

here and had embedded

9:58

themselves in the criminal world,

10:01

predominantly in the drug trafficking world. That's

10:05

Mike LaViolette, a former Ottawa

10:07

police inspector. He was part

10:09

of the investigation. Rabi

10:12

was already subject to other

10:14

investigations, predominantly in Quebec.

10:17

As Projet La Cass was about

10:20

to make the arrests, Rabi was

10:22

able to flee. Here's

10:25

Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan to

10:28

explain how the victim and suspect

10:30

were connected. There was

10:32

evidence that Johnny Raposo had been part

10:35

of this criminal organization that Al Kalil

10:37

was also a part of that was

10:39

importing, exporting cocaine. And that

10:41

for some reason they had a falling out with him and

10:44

they decided to take him out. Mike

10:46

Porteous, a superintendent with Vancouver Police

10:48

back in 2012, updated

10:51

the public on Al Kalil's whereabouts.

10:54

After the murder, Rabi Al Kalil

10:56

fled the country when a number of search

10:58

warrants were executed by the

11:00

Vancouver Police Homicide Unit in Quebec.

11:04

We believe he was working in concert with other

11:06

suspects who were present and actively involved in the

11:08

murder at that time. This

11:10

investigation is not over. We

11:12

are pursuing charges against all of the parties involved. As

11:16

the search for Rabi Al Kalil heats

11:18

up and the dragnet circled around him,

11:21

he was nowhere to be found. An

11:23

Interpol notice was sent out and the

11:26

search for him was about to hit

11:28

the international stage. Hi,

11:33

I'm Christi Lee, the creator of

11:35

Canadian True Crime. Join me for

11:38

an immersive deep dive into some

11:40

of the most thought provoking true

11:42

crime cases in Canada. Using

11:44

facts curated from court documents, inquiry

11:46

reports and news archives, I carefully

11:49

unravel and analyze each case, exposing

11:51

the pitfalls of the criminal justice

11:53

system that everyone needs to know

11:56

about. Find Canadian True

11:58

Crime wherever you listen to post. or

12:01

visit canadiantruecrime.ca Before

12:05

Canadian officers were able to catch

12:07

Robbie Alcalil, the suspected

12:10

killer left the country. It

12:12

was quite some time later he turned up in

12:14

Greece, was found to have a false passport, and

12:17

was taken into custody by Greek authorities.

12:20

That's Mike LaVielette, former Ottawa

12:22

police inspector. He was part

12:24

of the international manhunt, along with

12:27

Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Terry Brown.

12:29

Based on our own intelligence

12:32

gathering, there was a decision

12:34

that the best we'd return him would

12:36

be by a chartered plane. Because it's

12:38

an international arrest, there are certain things

12:41

that we have to make sure that

12:43

are done and done properly. When you

12:45

have the engagement of foreign governments, there

12:48

is a lot of dotting of I's and crossing of

12:50

T's that has to occur

12:52

before we are even given permission to be

12:54

able to return someone back to our jurisdiction

12:56

or vice versa. Right out of the movies,

12:58

I guess, we met him on the tarmac,

13:01

a conga line

13:03

of police vehicles or security vehicles brought

13:05

him and they handed him over to

13:07

us. And what's Robbie Alcalil's demeanor

13:09

like when you're with him on the

13:11

plane? I can tell you

13:13

he was polite and respectful to me.

13:16

This is a process where I have

13:19

a job to do. I

13:21

make certain that the people that I deal

13:23

with understand what my role and function is.

13:25

And he equally was engaging with me when

13:27

I say engaging, some of it was just

13:29

small talk, but it was not a cold

13:32

stare off, if you will. But

13:34

retired Toronto Police staff inspector

13:36

Greg McLean says they weren't

13:39

about to let their guard down. He's

13:42

a very intelligent individual. He's very smart.

13:44

He's crafty. And we

13:46

believe that if anyone was able to

13:49

mount an escape, that he

13:51

may be that guy. Upon

13:54

Robbie Alcalil's return to Canada, he

13:57

first faced court in Toronto for the

13:59

murder of... of John Raposo. The

14:02

name of that hitman is under a

14:04

publication ban, and it was not Robbie

14:06

Alcalael. But court

14:08

saw a surveillance video taken three

14:11

weeks before John Raposo's murder. Alcalael

14:14

rented a Chevrolet Impala in Toronto,

14:17

and after he returned the car, police

14:20

seized items inside that were

14:23

covered in the hitman's fingerprints.

14:28

It all apparently began over a grudge and money. Three

14:30

of the men found guilty, Nicole Amiro, Martino Caputo, and

14:33

Robbie Alcalael were

14:35

allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking and

14:37

hired a hitman to kill 35-year-old John Raposo. The

14:41

jury then delivered their verdict all guilty of

14:43

first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Helen

14:50

Pacheco, John Raposo's cousin, spoke to the

14:52

press after the verdict. Our hearts are

14:54

broken. Justice

14:58

cannot bring back the missing link in

15:00

our family. As mentioned at the funeral

15:02

mass, we ask everyone to remember John,

15:05

not how he died, but how he

15:08

lived. Across the

15:10

country and a decade after the brazen shooting

15:12

in the Sheridan Wall Center in Vancouver, Robbie

15:14

Alcalael went to trial for

15:18

Sandeep Durie's murder. He

15:22

was accused of hiring a hitman to gun down his rival. Here

15:27

are Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolin and

15:30

retired Vancouver Police Superintendent Mike Porteous with what

15:32

happened next. Alcalael was caught

15:35

on surveillance video in the vicinity that was not

15:37

alleged to be one of the shooters. You

15:41

see Alcalael at an associate at the

15:43

arrive, and they're

15:45

casing out the lobby, the lounge, et cetera. They

15:48

actually go up to the guest services desk at

15:50

one point, and then they go and they seat

15:52

them. You can see them seat themselves in the

15:54

lounge. And then around the corner is where Durie

15:56

is. The

16:01

shooter in disguise comes in, walks

16:03

through the lobby, then

16:05

walks directly through

16:08

the lounge area. And

16:10

then while he's out of sight seconds later, you

16:13

can tell by all the various

16:16

videos that something has

16:18

happened that's quite remarkable.

16:22

And the shooter literally walked up

16:24

to the table when Dorey was

16:27

there by himself after ordering food.

16:29

And shot him point blank range. As

16:33

the trial continued, Rabi Al-Khalil

16:35

was being held at a facility in

16:37

Port Coquitlam instead of

16:39

a high security penitentiary. And

16:42

on the evening of July 21st, 2022, the

16:47

unthinkable happened. Here's

16:49

reporter Kim Bolan. My

16:52

phone starts blowing up and I see Al-Khalil

16:54

escaped. You know, it was still early evening.

16:56

It had happened within an hour of getting

16:58

these messages. And I'm like, oh my God,

17:00

oh my God. We

17:03

see on the surveillance video two

17:05

people posing as contractors. They

17:07

wore masks over their faces. These

17:10

guys used a plasma torch to cut through

17:12

from part of the jail into the yard so he could

17:15

go into the area that they were in. He

17:17

got this vest on. You

17:19

see them getting into a white van. They

17:22

take off. The van was

17:24

later abandoned. Rabi

17:26

Al-Khalil escaped from the North Fraser Pretrial

17:28

Center on July 21st, 2022, just before

17:31

7 p.m. RCMP

17:36

say they were notified 40 minutes

17:38

later. Police should have

17:41

been notified way earlier. I don't understand why

17:43

there was that big gap in time. Like

17:46

myself and no doubt other journalists were hearing

17:48

from sources within less than an hour. And

17:51

yet it took several hours before the

17:53

public was notified. What if Al-Khalil had

17:55

gone on a crazy shootout? What if

17:57

his plan wasn't as sophisticated as it

17:59

is? ended up being and they had to

18:01

carjack a car to get away. I

18:04

heard he was out of the country within an hour. I

18:07

think it's a real black eye

18:09

on the Canadian justice system when

18:11

someone is already convicted of one

18:13

murder and subsequently convicted of another

18:15

murder is able to walk out

18:18

of a government institution and escape.

18:22

I don't think he'll ever be found. Here's

18:25

retired Vancouver police superintendent Mike

18:27

Porteous. Gangster

18:29

facing murder charges. To me,

18:32

it's a slap in the

18:34

face to the justice system that

18:37

an individual like that can escape.

18:39

Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolin says

18:41

that with Al Kalil on the run,

18:44

she worried about justice being served.

18:47

We thought the whole trial might go off the

18:50

rails. The trial was continuing, so

18:52

I went to court the next morning. It

18:55

was very, very tense. The judge,

18:57

she worked with the Crown and Defense

18:59

to draft a statement that would be

19:01

given to the jury. And so we

19:03

were able to publish her statement about

19:05

him essentially absconding and that they

19:07

were gonna carry on with the trial. It was

19:10

a month later when he was finally convicted. He

19:12

was facing the rest of his life behind bars

19:14

in his mid-30s. And

19:16

he really had nothing to lose. If

19:18

he'd been caught, what would it have done to his sentence?

19:21

Nothing. Robbie Al Kalil

19:24

was a fugitive with nothing to lose

19:27

but his freedom. Convicted

19:34

killer Robbie Al Kalil escaped

19:36

from jail while on trial

19:38

for another murder. Shortly

19:41

after a white van pulled away

19:43

from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre

19:45

with him inside, Al

19:48

Kalil became a wanted man. RCMP

19:51

Constable DeAnn Law said the search for

19:53

the killer wouldn't be

19:55

confined to Canada. Al Kalil's

19:58

connections range from across the country. Canada

20:00

to the United States, Europe

20:02

and Asia, a Canada-wide arrest

20:05

warrant and an interpole red

20:07

notice are being prepared. Retired

20:11

Ottawa police inspector Mike LaVielett

20:13

and reporter Kim Bolin offer

20:15

their theories of where Alcalil

20:17

could be. Given

20:19

the geographic location, he certainly had

20:22

options. If he has proper

20:25

documentation, I expect this was all

20:28

these details would have been well planned.

20:30

All it takes is to get across

20:32

that border and once he's across the

20:35

US, a big country, go just about

20:37

anywhere from there. I don't think he

20:39

is in Asia because

20:44

Asia, when you look

20:46

at BC criminal organizations, is more

20:48

or less controlled by

20:50

the United Nations gang. So

20:52

that would be those would be his enemies.

20:54

You know, his brother was living in Mexico.

20:57

I've heard that he has good connections in

20:59

Panama. But I think most likely

21:01

he is in the Middle East where his

21:03

family has connections. There

21:05

are rumors that he's in Dubai. Regardless

21:09

of where he is, Toronto Police

21:11

Detective Sergeant Terry Brown says Alcalil's

21:13

escape has had a huge impact

21:16

on John Raposo's family because

21:18

he was supposed to be serving time

21:20

for their loved one's death. It's

21:23

still too tough for them to speak about this.

21:25

He is missed. I would suspect almost as much

21:27

today as when it happened. Canada's

21:30

Be on the Lookout or BOLO

21:32

program is making an appeal

21:34

for help in finding Robbie Alcalil, offering

21:37

a $100,000 reward. He

21:40

needs to be off the streets because he's committed two

21:43

murders in the last decade and there's the

21:45

chance for another one. Staff

21:47

Sergeant Lindsay Haughton of BC's

21:49

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit

21:52

shares what to look out for when it

21:54

comes to Robbie Alcalil. Mr.

21:56

Alcalil is about 5'10 to 6' tall. He

21:59

has been. known to grow a beard in the past, as

22:01

you can see here. He's,

22:05

he like other gang members that we've

22:07

seen flee either custody or try to

22:09

escape. They will try to alter their

22:11

appearance, whether it's hair color, they have

22:13

been able to get implants, whether that's

22:15

dental or facial implants, like cheek implants.

22:18

So he may not look exactly like

22:20

this. The investigators involved

22:22

believe that Al-Qilil is a

22:24

dangerous fugitive. But with your

22:26

help, they'll be able to bring him in. He

22:30

will do anything in his power to survive

22:32

and live his life outside

22:35

of custody. He's

22:37

capable of having people killed at the

22:39

drop of the hat. So I

22:42

would suggest to you that he's extremely dangerous. Despite

22:45

the influence of someone like Rabbi

22:47

Al-Qilil, there's always someone who wants

22:49

that guy dead. Every

22:52

dog has his day. They only

22:54

need to make one mistake. And I think

22:57

that'll happen. I'm confident in the

22:59

police that they're going to find him. There

23:07

are currently publication bans in this case.

23:09

So we can't tell you everything about

23:12

those involved. While Rabbi

23:14

Al-Qilil wasn't the only suspect charged in

23:16

these murders, he is the

23:18

only one who got away and

23:20

remains at large. He's

23:23

described as five feet, 10 inches tall, or

23:25

178 centimeters, and

23:28

weighs around 165 pounds or 75 kilograms. He

23:33

has black hair and dark brown eyes. He

23:36

speaks English, French, and Arabic. And

23:39

he has two birthmarks on his left cheek

23:41

and a faint scar above his nose. He

23:45

is convicted of two murders and

23:47

is wanted on charges of murder and

23:49

conspiracy to commit murder. If

23:52

you have any information, call Crime

23:54

Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS or

23:58

1-800-222-TIPS. You can also submit a tip

24:01

online. You

24:05

can watch our docu-series Crime Beat Most

24:07

Wanted on YouTube, where you can see

24:10

the suspects still at large. And

24:12

remember, there is a $100,000 reward for information that leads

24:14

to his capture. We'll

24:19

include this information in our show notes. Thanks

24:22

for listening. Crime Beat

24:24

Most Wanted is hosted by me, Tracy

24:26

Tong. Reporting in this episode

24:29

is by Jules Knox. Adapted

24:31

to podcast by our senior

24:33

producer, Dila Velazquez, with help

24:35

from associate producer Elizabeth Sargent.

24:38

Audio and sound design by Rob Johnson. Please

24:41

tell a friend about this podcast and

24:43

consider rating and reviewing Crime Beat Most

24:45

Wanted on Apple Podcasts or wherever you

24:47

listen. Thanks again for

24:50

listening. Please join me next time on Crime

24:52

Beat Most Wanted. Every

24:57

season of Survivor starts the same way.

24:59

Build the challenges and we hide the

25:01

advantages and then we turn it over

25:03

to the players. I am ready to

25:05

forge my own path. And no matter

25:07

how many times we do it, I'm

25:09

still surprised. Survivor has evolved

25:12

all these advantages, all these twists. It

25:14

has to be victory or glory is

25:16

death. That's why we watch.

25:18

Because every season of Survivor is

25:20

a new adventure. Survivor. New

25:23

season Wednesdays on Global. Stream on

25:25

Stack TV.