A “cold-blooded murderer” was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday (July 22) for the 2022 shooting of an Abbotsford man.
Tanner Fox appeared in B.C. Supreme Court via video as Crown and defence counsel presented a joint submission for the 25-year-old’s sentencing hearing.
Justice Catherine Murray presided over the hearing, which had Crown counsel once again summarize the events of the 2022 killing of Chad Colivas, 41, in his Abbotsford home.
Colivas was shot three times by Fox during a break-in, where Fox and his accomplice, Laetitia Acera, had attempted to steal drugs, money, and jewelry from Colivas’s 17-year-old nephew.
The fatal shots were fired when Colivas approached the room where Fox was trying to rob Colivas’s nephew and mother at gunpoint.
Initially, Fox had been charged with second-degree murder, but he later pled guilty to manslaughter.
Defence counsel attempted to paint a picture that Fox’s troubled childhood contributed to his illegal actions as a young adult, but Murray disputed that this could be used to justify his choices.
“Mr. Fox has a lengthy and serious criminal record for such a young person,” said Murray.
She explained that this was not a one-off mistake, but indicative of a larger pattern, and pointed to a second, unrelated shooting of Surrey businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik that Fox committed in July 2022.
“Mr. Fox, you’re a cold-blooded murderer,” Murray said to the convicted killer in court.
“You are 25, and you have murdered two people. You’ve stolen two people from their loving families.”
As part of the sentencing hearing, victim impact statements were read out from multiple family members and friends of Colivas.
His sister, Tanis Colivas, said the wounds of that tragic night are deep and everlasting.
“March 21, 2022 was the last time we woke up to a normal day,” said Tanis.
“It has been over four years since Chad was taken from us, and the shock and pain of his loss are still as raw and heart-shattering as they were that day.”
She said her brother’s life was cut much too short and that he continued to be a loyal and loving person right up until the very end.
“Other people’s choices resulted in Chad no longer being here with us, and all he was trying to do in that moment was what was so deeply embedded in his personality to do: protect the ones he loves,” said Tanis.
A statement was also written by Colvis’s mother, Thelma (Penny) Colivas, who was held at gunpoint and forced to watch her eldest son die.
Regardless of what sentence Fox received, Penny said it wouldn’t help to heal the emptiness that spread throughout her family when her son was killed.
“I do not believe anything that is said here will impact Mr. Fox,” said Penny.
“Any time spent in prison for his actions that night will not come close to being justice for the number of lives that were destroyed.”
Colvis also left behind his fiancée, Vicki Sriratanakoul, who wrote that she has spilled countless tears over losing the love of her life in such a sudden and cruel manner.
“In a single moment, the future Chad and I had planned was taken away,” said Sriratanakoul.
“I am not the same person I was before that day. The grief has changed every part of my life.”
After the victim impact statements had been read, Murray handed down her sentence of 15 years to Fox, who declined to say anything beforehand.
Despite the lengthy sentence, Murray said she doubted it would make any significant difference toward Fox’s rehabilitation.
“Any hope that Mr. Fox will become a contributing, law-abiding member of society, in my view, is very dim,” she said.
In addition to this new 15-year sentence, Fox is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Singh Malik.
The earliest he would be eligible for parole is July 2042.