Couple wanted in Stoney Creek murder fled to Eastern Europe: Hamilton police
Hamilton police confirmed a young couple wanted for first-degree murder and attempted murder last month fled to Eastern Europe a day after the shooting.
Oliver Karafa, 28, and Yun (Lucy) Lu Li, 25, boarded a flight from Canada to the unspecified Eastern European country about 24 hours after the shooting, which occurred around 7:15 p.m. Feb. 28, in an industrial area in Stoney Creek.
A 26-year-old woman was seriously hurt and 39-year-old Tyler Pratt was killed.
In a video posted online Staff Sgt. Jim Callender of the major crime unit says police believe the pair know they are wanted and are actively evading capture.
Oliver and Lucy if you are seeing this we encourage you to turn yourselves in," Callender said. We are working with international authorities and we are positive that our investigation will lead to your whereabouts. We will continue to relentlessly pursue you."
In the post on Twitter Hamilton police tagged a number of news organizations in Eastern European countries.
Karafa is from Slovakia and immigrated to Canada with his family in 2001, first settling in Windsor and then the Toronto area, according to parole board documents.
Karafa went to prison in 2014 after being convicted in a fatal drunk driving crash in Toronto that killed his friend and trainer David Chiang, who was a passenger in Karafa's Range Rover. He was sentenced to just under five years for impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death.
By the time he was released on full parole in August 2017 his parents were living back in Slovakia.
Li's family is from China. Her mother is a prominent Chinese-Canadian business person. Her family released a statement to Chinese-language media where they offered condolences to the victims and called on Li to co-operate with authorities.
Callender has previously told The Spectator detectives have a good idea why Li, Karafa, Pratt and the unnamed victim who survived met that day. However, he won't say before the case goes to court. It had nothing to do with the particular business on Arvin Avenue where the shooting happened, which was quiet and closed at the time.
Police are looking into Karafa's businesses and say Karafa and Pratt had contact before the 39-year-old victim left British Columbia. He was looking to move to the Greater Toronto Area for business at the time of his murder.
Pratt was an entrepreneur looking to establish businesses in Ontario.
Investigators have a good idea of why the four were meeting that day and what led to the shooting, but Callender said he won't provide details on the motive because that is evidence in the court case.
Callender has said the four were associates" who knew each other for maybe a year or so.".
The shooting happened around 7:15 p.m. Feb. 28 behind 347 Arvin Ave. The 26-year-old woman managed to walk out front where witnesses stopped and called for help. Police then found Pratt in a paved area between the main building and a secondary warehouse-type building at the back. The woman has since been released from hospital.
A white Land Rover, seen fleeing from the scene, was later recovered in the GTA. Another car was found somewhere in Hamilton, not at the crime scene.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. David Tsuchida at 905-546-4123.
To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com