Fugitive couple arrested in Hungary
Extradition process underway to bring Oliver Karafa and Lucy Lu Li back to city to face charges of murder, attempted murder
After more than three months on the run in Eastern Europe, a fugitive couple wanted in a double shooting in Stoney Creek has been captured in Budapest, Hungary.
Oliver Karafa and Yun (Lucy) Lu Li were arrested out in public Saturday in the city’s seventh district, a busy area in central Budapest, east of the Danube. They face charges of firstdegree murder and attempted murder.
Tyler Pratt, 39, was killed and a 26-year-old woman was seriously hurt in the shooting around 7:15 p.m. Feb. 28 behind a closed business on Arvin Avenue.
Karafa, 28, and Li, 25, fled to the Czech Republic within 24 hours of the shooting, before police had secured warrants for their arrests. Police believe they remained in hiding in Eastern Europe, where Karafa has family, and had been in Hungary at least two weeks before their arrests June 12.
Now the pair is being held in custody in Budapest where the process to extradite them to Canada is already underway, said Hamilton police Det. Sgt. Jim Callender, of the major crime unit. It’s unclear how long that might take, but Hamilton police have 30 days to provide materials.
Callender told Pratt’s family and the surviving victim about the arrests late Saturday.
“They had a great sense of relief, even joy,” he said, at the knowledge the couple was off the streets.
“It was one of the better parts of my job,” he added.
Police believe the victims and accused couple knew each other, but have never shared why they met that
Sunday in the secluded industrial area. Only the 26-year-old victim had ties to Hamilton. Karafa and Li are from Toronto. Pratt was from British Columbia but was looking to move to the Greater Toronto Area.
After the shooting, the 26year-old managed to walk out front where passersby stopped and called for help. Pratt’s body was found in a paved area behind the building.
Throughout the investigation, Callender has remained steadfast in his belief they would catch the pair and publicly called for them to turn themselves in to police.
“I think there was just a drive to not let them get away with something like this,” he said.
Callender said he has seen surveillance photos of the pair, but could not tell whether they had made any effort to hide their appearance.
There was great international co-operation to find the fugitives. In particular, Hamilton police worked with the Hungarian Fugitive Active Search Team (FAST) over the last two weeks after intelligence showed the pair were there.
“It was impressive to see the commitment of a policing agency across the world to a cause that was not theirs,” he said.
Karafa has ties to several Eastern European countries, including Slovakia, where he was born, and Czech Republic, where he did business.
Records obtained by The Spectator show he dissolved his part ownership of a Prague based medical supply company four days after the murder. It was the same day police announced the pair were wanted.
His former business partner, who declined to be interviewed by The Spectator, said he didn’t realize Karafa was wanted until after the business meeting.
For the first time Monday, Callender confirmed they travelled to Czech Republic when they fled Canada in the hours after the shooting.
Karafa and his family immigrated to Canada in 2001, according to parole board documents. In 2014, he was sentenced to just under five years in prison for impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death in a drunk driving crash in Toronto that killed his friend and trainer David Chiang.
Li is a triplet and her mother is a prominent Chinese-Canadian businessperson.
After the murder, her family released a statement to Chinese-language media offering condolences to the victims and calling on Li to co-operate with authorities.
The family said they were “shocked, disturbed and puzzled by Lucy’s involvement in the tragic incident,” according to a translation of the text from Mandarin.
“We are convinced that you are a reasonable sister and daughter, and you should not be involved in such an incident voluntarily.”
Pratt was an aspiring entrepreneur who was looking to establish businesses in Ontario and move to the GTA.
After the shooting, the car the victims travelled in was stolen from the scene. A white Land Rover, seen fleeing the scene, was later recovered in the GTA. Another unspecified car was found somewhere in Hamilton, not at the crime scene.
Callender said he could not comment on the motive for the shooting or key evidence before the anticipated court case.
Police are investigating whether anyone in Canada helped the couple escape.