Amid a recent string of arrests targeting a transnational criminal enterprise allegedly led by former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding, a family is still left with at least one key question about a double murder in Caledon last year: Who killed Jagtar and Harbhajan Sidhu?
The couple, visiting from India, were shot on Nov. 20 in a brazen attack that authorities said was orchestrated by Wedding and his associate, Andrew Clark. Late that night, at least one gunman burst into the family’s rented home and opened fire, allegedly seeking revenge for a stolen cocaine shipment.
“Unfortunately, tragically,” Ontario Provincial Police Det.-Insp. Brian McDermott said, “they shot the wrong people.”
A U.S. federal prosecutor also said the Sidhus, both 57, had nothing to do with the drug trafficking ring.
Jagtar and Harbhajan’s daughter, Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu, 28, witnessed the rampage and was shot 13 times herself. She survived, but suffered what police describe as “life-altering injuries.”
McDermott, the OPP’s major case manager for the Caledon attack, acknowledged in an interview that investigators haven’t been able to determine the shooter’s identity.
“We still are full steam ahead with that investigation, trying to identify those individuals that actually were in the house and pulled the trigger,” McDermott told CBC News.
Victim recounts parents shot in front of her
He joined other senior officers from the OPP, RCMP, Peel Regional Police and U.S. law enforcement agencies this week for the announcement of new charges in the sprawling probe surrounding Wedding and his associates.
A lawyer for the Sidhu family declined to comment on the case on Friday.
Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu recounted the incident to CBC News from her hospital bed earlier this year.
“My father was shot in front of me,” she said. “I heard my mother’s last screams. After that, there was complete silence. Only the noises of gunshots.”
U.S. justice officials say Ryan James Wedding, a member of Canada’s 2002 Olympic snowboarding team, is wanted in connection to a 2023 double homicide in Caledon, Ont. — allegedly related to a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California. Another Canadian, Andrew Clark, is in custody.
McDermott said investigators hadn’t determined whether more than one attacker was involved in the Caledon incident, and whether they were local or “brought in from somewhere else in the world.”
McDermott said the FBI provided Ontario police with information earlier this year linking the shooting to Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking operation.
Wedding, 43, competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. U.S. authorities dubbed the recent investigation into his alleged organization “Operation Giant Slalom.”
A U.S. federal prosecutor told reporters in L.A. on Thursday that Wedding’s organization had been moving 60 tons of cocaine around North America every year.
“This group was ruthless and violent,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “They would use contract killers to assassinate anyone who they saw as an obstacle to their operation.”
10 Canadians facing charges
Niagara Regional Police said in a news release that investigators in Niagara Falls, Ont. linked the April 1 shooting death of 29-year-old Randy Fader to the same criminal organization. Peel Regional Police said the May 18 killing of Mohammed Zafar, 39, in Brampton was also connected.
In all, the RCMP said 10 Canadians were facing charges stemming from the international police operation.
Wedding, who authorities said was recently living in Mexico, remains at large. He faces eight felony charges in the U.S., including drug trafficking offences and three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
The U.S. indictment unsealed this week lists 18 aliases for the Thunder Bay native, including James Conrad King, El Jefe (“The Boss”) and “Public Enemy.”
His associate, Clark — another Canadian, nicknamed “The Dictator” — was arrested in Mexico.
Toronto police said four suspects were arrested in the city, including two accused of running Wedding’s alleged drug shipping operations through Canada.