Church, families brought murder suspect to Canada
Accused killer Ibrahim Ali lived with his family in the shadow of the leafy Burnaby park where the body of young Marrisa Shen was found in July 2017 — close enough that family members might have passed by the small memorial that reminded the public her killer was still at large. At the building, where the family rents two apartments, a man answered the door to Postmedia News on Wednesday.
The man confirmed that he was a relative of Ibrahim Ali, the Syrian refugee charged in Shen’s murder, and said “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” before closing the door.
Ibrahim Ali came to Canada in March of 2017 through a joint sponsorship between a group of Bowen Island families and the St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.
According to reports in the Bowen Island Undercurrent, Ali arrived with two brothers, one of whom had a spouse and three young children.
They joined a fourth brother who came to Canada as a government-sponsored refugee four years ago.
The family was united and now lives in Burnaby.
A member of the Bowen Island sponsorship group that came together to raise thousands of dollars and donate clothing and furniture for the family declined to speak to Postmedia on Wednesday, citing instructions of a lawyer.
In an interview with Postmedia, Bowen Island Mayor Murray Skeels called the situation “absolutely devastating.”
“Our hearts go out to both the families, of the victim and of the accused,” said Skeels.
Bowen Island resident and SFU professor of criminology Neil Boyd (who was not part of the sponsorship group) said it’s important to remember that, at this point, Ali is only alleged to have committed the crime, and that it would be wrong to jump to conclusions about the refugee sponsorship system that brought Ali to Canada.
“It would be inappropriate to say this was a failure in the system. Some people who wanted to do good raised some money to see him reunited with his family.”
Boyd said, “We can’t predict with unfailing accuracy who will or will not commit crime. All we can say about immigration is that people who come to Canada as immigrants have lower crime rates than native-born Canadians.”
The reverend of a downtown Vancouver church that was involved in the joint-sponsorship of Ali said his congregation would co-operate fully with the ongoing police investigation.
However, in an emailed statement, Rev. Dan Chambers of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church, declined to elaborate on the church’s involvement in the sponsorship of 28-year-old Ibrahim Ali.
“We will co-operate with the police and hold everyone involved in our prayers,” Chambers wrote.
“I appreciate your interest in the story, but because of the privacy of the families involved and the complexities of the matter before the courts, we’re not able to comment further at this time.”
Ali was arrested on Sept. 7. He’s due to appear in court on Friday.