The day before Ripudaman Singh Malik was murdered in July 2022, two hitmen showed up at his business in British Columbia, “inspecting the premises” for several minutes before leaving.

The next morning, Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez appeared again in the Surrey, British Columbia business park and fired seven shots at Malik’s Tesla, killing him as he sat on the driver’s seat.

They fled in a stolen car, which was later found on fire in a nearby alley.

Details of Malik’s murder are outlined in an agreed statement of facts filed in British Columbia Supreme Court as Fox and Lopez await sentencing after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

The statement provided by the British Columbia Prosecution Service confirms that the men were “hired and paid” but does not specify who ordered the killing.

WATCH | 2 plead guilty in Malik’s death:

2 men plead guilty to murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik

Two British Columbia men pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the 2022 shooting death of Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings.

In 2005, Malik was acquitted by the British Columbia Supreme Court along with his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, of charges related to the bombings of two Air India planes that killed 331 people in June 1985.

One bomb exploded over the ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board, while the second bomb exploded at Narita Airport in Japan, killing two baggage handlers.

A 2005 Canadian government report concluded that the bombings were carried out by Khalistan Sikh separatists in Canada, including bombmaker Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was convicted of manslaughter.

Members of the Khalistani movement in Canada have recently been targeted for crimes, including homicide and extortion, by India, according to the RCMP and the federal government, which expelled six Indian diplomats this month.

The Canadian government previously said credible intelligence linked the Indian government to the killing last year of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied the allegations.

The statement of facts in Malik’s case makes no mention of the Air India bombing, India or the Sikh separatist movement.

WATCH | Footage shows the aftermath of Malik’s murder:

Security footage shows suspicious vehicle linked to Ripudaman Singh Malik murder

Homicide investigators have released surveillance video showing a white Honda CRV believed to have been used by the person or people who killed Ripudaman Singh Malik in Surrey, British Columbia.

It says Fox and Jose Lopez acted together to kill Malik, and that gunfire that day caused people working nearby — including some of Malik’s employees — to run for cover.

Both men were initially charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty last week to the less serious charge, and a hearing in New Westminster on Thursday is expected to set a date for their sentencing.

The statement of facts describes how Fox and Lopez’s movements were “captured by various surveillance cameras and traffic cameras” the day before and the day of the murder.

It says the two men used a stolen vehicle and another car to carry out the attack, a white Honda CRV and a black Infiniti, liaising before the murder at a Surrey house “belonging to an unconnected person.” ‘homicide. ”

The two men changed vehicle license plates, the statement said, while detailing what they were wearing and establishing a timeline of their movements before and after the targeted shooting.

Fox and Lopez “were hired and paid to commit the murder” and used two handguns to riddle the driver’s side of Malik’s car that morning when he showed up for work, the release said.

“The gunshots hit Mr. Malik on the left side and he was killed while still sitting in the driver’s seat. Aside from Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez, there was no one else there at the crime scene that was responsible for the shooting and kill Mr. Malik,” he said.

They fled in the stolen Honda to an alley in a residential neighborhood where they had hidden the black Infiniti, and video captured the Honda “engulfed in flames” after being deliberately set on fire.

Surrey firefighters extinguished the fire, which also set fire to nearby bushes and a fence, the release said.

Police then seized a cellphone from the tenant of the rental suite where Fox and Lopez went after the killing, and video from a door camera showed Fox with a Puma-brand backpack.

The release states that a search of the bag revealed gloves, masks, two pistols, magazines and bullets.

A pathologist who examined Malik’s body in the days after his killing found that all seven bullets had hit him, “six of which were in the head and neck.”