Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, it's Nancy. Before we begin today, I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. In the spring of 2022, chaos erupted in southeast Calgary as police received reports of two erratic drivers and then gunfire.
One of the drivers was hit. The other driver of a red truck fled the scene at high speeds. A mother of five was on her way home. As she turned off the main road and entered the intersection, she was struck by the speeding red truck. Angela McKenzie died at the scene. A man, a person who didn't know, took Angela's life away from all of us.
His rage and attempt to kill someone else ended up killing my daughter. I'm Nancy Hixt, a senior crime reporter for Global News. Today on Crime Beat, I explain what led to the senseless crash and the hunt for the person believed to be responsible. This is part two of Gone in an Instant.
Angela McKenzie's five children, her fiancé, Jeff Poirier, and her mother, Sylvia McKenzie, struggled to make sense of her sudden and tragic death. You know, I remember Jeff coming in to the door and telling me, and I remember telling Jeff, well, let's go to the hospital and see her. And he was trying to tell me she's not in the hospital.
I remember sitting at the couch in their house to wait for the kids to wake up. How we got through this, I don't remember. I don't remember how we got them to my house and the days after. I don't remember. I just don't know. It's just, it's not there.
Jeff and Sylvia, who is known as Oma, which is grandma in German, prioritized Angela's five children over their own grief. They applied for and were granted joint custody. From that point on, me and Oma took a crash course in co-parenting and, you know, just started figuring out what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.
Me and Oma, we got a house to bring, so all of us are in the same place. But life without Angela was a struggle. We have each other, and we take one day at a time. And some days are good, and sometimes are not so good. And then you cry a little, and then you pull your socks back up and go again, you know, because tomorrow is another day. And...
I know for a fact we're going to do our damnedest, you know, to give those kids what they still need and what they want. When the fatal crash happened on May 10th, 2022, police had a lot of avenues to explore while gathering evidence from multiple scenes. Normally, police would interview the driver of the red truck that collided with Angela's vehicle, but he was long gone.
Calgary Police Homicide Detective Regan Hossack was assigned as the primary investigator.
The occupant of the truck just was able to kind of get out of the truck. The truck was damaged as well, but they were able to get out of the truck and then walk/run away from the scene. They didn't try to render any assistance to the person in the minivan or talk to any of the number of people that were on scene because they either seen
The driver's exit was captured on CCTV surveillance video from the area.
He was recorded by another camera a short distance away, catching a ride from someone a few minutes later. There was a lot of 911 callers, so they had interviewed some of them and started to obtain CCTV in the area. And then they had interviewed the victim of the shooting, the living victim, at the hospital.
For safety reasons, police haven't identified the driver of the gray car, who was shot prior to the fatal collision. He survived, but officers said he suffered life-altering injuries. It was never made super clear. The motivation behind it was kind of unknown. The hunt for the suspect intensified.
The vehicle was stolen, had been re-vinned, and it was registered to a completely different person that was completely unrelated to this. So we located items in the vehicle which led to other investigative avenues which identified the suspect. And that included some more CCTV, DNA evidence,
We retrieved a handgun from in the vehicle. So all those items were found in the vehicle and they led to other investigative avenues that we were able to identify a suspect. A Canada-wide warrant was issued for the arrest of Talal Amer. So, attempt murder, manslaughter, and then a number of weapons offenses. He was known to police. He did have some history with Calgary Police.
He had recently been in jail for previous offenses. Back in 2015, Ammer was the subject of a covert Calgary police investigation led by Detective Mike Schute. Talal Ammer's name had come up as somebody who had been involved in the drug trade and a suspect in a number of violent acts that occurred in Calgary.
Through our investigation, we learned that Talal was a Canadian citizen, that he grew up in Calgary, attended school in Calgary. We learned that his family, his mom was from Syria, his dad was from Lebanon, and he had multiple family relations within Calgary. The seven-month-long investigation was dubbed Operation Hybrid. There was a couple of different drugs that they were dealing, but quite often it was fentanyl that they were trafficking.
So Talal was somebody who came to our attention as being an individual who was willing and prepared to take any overt action against who he thought might be a rival or competition. Amr was arrested in 2016 following the operation.
He pleaded guilty to two charges, including discharging a firearm with intent and conspiring to traffic drugs. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
According to documents obtained by Global News from the Parole Board of Canada, Talal Amer has been under investigation by police for two other homicides in the city of Calgary. We held people accountable for a number of offenses that happened in 2015 and 2016. And as a result, we saw a quieter beginning to 2016 when it came to violent offenses in Calgary.
And I think that that's a keynote to bring into what's currently going on for Talal is that the time and effort and resources will be put into finding him and we will find him. A written decision by the Parole Board of Canada stated Amr also offended while in custody with allegations of possession of weapons, of violent assault and possession of drugs.
Talal Amr was granted statutory release in 2021, but his warrant expiry date, the end of his sentence and the end of his parole, was May 5, 2022, five days before the crash that killed Angela McKenzie.
There are a lot of evidentiary details that Detective Hossack said she can't reveal to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. So the accused in this case hasn't had a trial yet because we've been unable to locate him. So I'm sort of limited with respect to details of the case that we can talk about because of the fact that the suspect hasn't gone through trial.
The charges Amr is facing stemming from the 2022 shooting and the crash have not been proven in court. And more than a year later, Talal Amr remains at large. So we believe that there are people out there that know the whereabouts of the accused and that potentially assisted him in some way of evading arrest and arresting
fleeing a jurisdiction. Officials believe Amer could be in B.C., but sources confirm he also has ties overseas to both Lebanon and Syria. This case is featured by the BOLO program, which stands for "Be on the Lookout." So my name is Max Landloh. I'm the director of the BOLO program since its very creation in 2017, 2018.
I've spent my entire career working with people in uniform in the military and law enforcement.
The BOLO program comes up with a list it considers to be Canada's 25 most wanted and offers substantial rewards for information leading to the arrest of these individuals. So we have three levels of rewards. There's the basic reward for active cases we cover, which is up to $50,000. Then we have rewards up to $100,000 for cases
I would call them special cases like fugitives related to organized crime, recidivists, serial killers, and fugitives like that. And then we have the very special level of a reward up to $250,000. And that's typically reserved to the number one in our top 25. The money comes from a Canadian charitable organization.
In 2016, when Mr. Cretier created the Stéphane Cretier Foundation, he made an initial donation of several million dollars. So that initial donation was invested and still today, you know, we're basically using that initial investment.
But it's a way for wealthy people to give back the community, that's for sure, by making donations to their own charities. The individuals featured in the BOLO program have outstanding Canada-wide warrants for their arrest. Most are for homicide, but some are for other major crimes including drug and firearms offenses.
Our prime criterion is the seriousness of a crime or the level of danger that a fugitive poses to the public. That's by far
the main factor we're looking at. And then there's like a whole list of things we take into account. For example, is there a Canada White Warrant? Is there an Interpol Red Notice? You know, is the fugitive investigation in a sort of dead end? Was the police partner looking for new tips because they have nothing to work from? What else? Like the circumstances of the crime itself, the community impacts and so on and so forth.
Max told me the program's goal is to boost awareness of each of the cases in order to generate tips, which go directly to Crimestoppers and the investigating police agencies. There's also the hope that people who know these individuals will be enticed by the cash being offered. To make sure people in the immediate circles of these suspects know that there's a reward available,
And truly, it doesn't matter who calls. It doesn't matter where that tipster is. All that matters is to have a location for the suspect. Remember that investigators at that stage of the investigation are not looking for evidence. They're just looking for the location of the suspect. So an anonymous tip is as good as a tipster calling 911. It doesn't really matter.
While the BOLO program focuses solely on Canadian cases, some of those wanted may have left the country. As I mentioned earlier, officials believe Talal Amr could be in BC, but sources confirm he has ties overseas. The BOLO program is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest of Talal Amr.
You can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 and rewards can also be collected anonymously. I'll also include this information in the show notes. As the manhunt for Amher continues, Angela's mother, Sylvia McKenzie, and fiancé, Jeff Poirier, are focused on raising Angela's five children.
They said they haven't spent much time thinking of Talal Amr other than hoping for his arrest. He took this person away who was loved by so, so many people. It was so useless. There was no reason to any of that. Yeah, I'm angry at the guy. I personally don't even feel that his name is worth me mentioning.
I refuse to say it. I straight up do. I won't even say his name because I'm not giving him that satisfaction. I definitely want to seek justice. I think in the beginning I was really hoping he would. Like I was really thought he had, I don't even know if I can say that, the decency to own up what he did. But you know now I just, you know like he needs to be caught. He needs to
There has to be justice. Does it make any difference afterwards? You know, like, probably not because Angela is not here anyway, right? But I think maybe for the kids and for our own, not a closure, but at least, at least he got caught. Jeff, Sylvia, and the kids do everything they can to keep Angela alive in their hearts.
My favorite memory is for her to, when they would come over or sometimes she just would come over on her own for a minute. She would walk in the house and say, "Hey mom, what you got to eat?" And she's already in the kitchen having the fridge open and taking something out and eating before I even could answer. You know, I used to always make potatoes, cook potatoes, and I made
had cooked eggs and they were all sitting in the fridge all the time because I was Angela. We would have the potatoes with butter and sour cream and stick it in the microwave, you know. And I even did that for a long time afterwards, but nobody ate the potatoes anymore. So those are the memories. ♪ If all looks great and I knew this ♪ ♪ I can't be waiting too long ♪
I'd probably say one of my favourite memories of us spending time together was when she realised that I play music and that and she's like, "Well, what would you say if I brought the kids over, you know, and see if any of the kids are interested in music?" And I said, "Sure." So she brought the kids over and that was probably my favourite memory was the first day that the kids were at my house with all the instruments.
And I just kind of looked at the kids and went, "What tweaks your interest? What do you see that you like? Do you want to learn guitar? Do you want to learn bass? Do you want to learn drums? What do you want to learn?" And basically they all picked up an instrument. The youngest one, she's becoming a heck of a drummer. Every Wednesday we still do band practice.
You know, and started that and there is no way we're going to stop it. So we still do band practice for the kids every Wednesday. Jeff went from dating to fiance to being a father of five without Angela in a matter of months. Sylvia went from Oma to a mother figure. And together they created a very special partnership.
Oh, I can't do it without Jeff. If Jeff wouldn't be there, I'm not quite sure where we would be. We are partners. We're working together. This is what we do. If I don't have Jeff, I don't know how to manage him all. When the kids came to my house, they came to my house because they wanted to come.
because they wanted to see me, they wanted to hang out with me. Now it's... I'm here. I'm not Oma anymore. We're not just going for ice cream and playing cards and having supper together. It's different. It's totally different. And I know they love me and I love them, you know, like there's no... I don't have to worry about it, but it is different and it is... it's hard to get used to that.
Normally, this would be where I'd end an episode. But as I was putting this one together, there was yet another tragic and unexpected twist. Sylvia and Jeff welcomed me into their lives and shared both times of joy and grief. Angela's father, Sylvia's husband, passed away shortly before Angela and Jeff started dating.
Then, Angela's ex, the father of her five children, passed away. Next came Angela's sudden and shocking death. One of the things I still planned to do was go to their home to go over photos and videos of Angela. Jeff and the kids were practicing a song to play for me with their family band. But two days before I was supposed to visit their home, Sylvia called me.
By the sound of her voice, I knew right away something was terribly wrong. Jeff had passed away. I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. She didn't have a lot of information, just that he was gone. As you can imagine, Oma Sylvia is overwhelmed. But her and the kids talked about it and felt strongly that they wanted to see this through.
This episode is in Angela and Jeff's memory, and they still want justice and are hoping this reaches someone who knows something. Talal Amr is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for manslaughter, attempted murder, and several firearms offenses.
He's 30 years old, 5'11", 230 pounds with brown eyes. He was last seen with black hair and is known to change his appearance by growing a beard or changing up his facial hair.
You can see Amr's photo at boloprogram.org. I'll also post that link in the show notes. If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of Talal Amr, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. There is a reward of up to $50,000, which can also be collected anonymously.
Thank you for joining me on the final episode of this season. I leave you with a song Jeff was working on with the kids. They invited me over and played it for me days after his passing. If you're inclined and able to help, the McKenzie family has set up a GoFundMe page and that information is also in our show notes.
Crime Beat is written and produced by me, Nancy Hixt, with producer Dila Velasquez. Audio editing and sound design is by Rob Johnston. Special thanks to photographer-editor Danny Lantella for his work on this episode.
I also want to welcome the newest member of our team, Jesse Wisner, our Crime Beat production assistant. And thanks to Chris Bassett, the VP of Network Content, Production and Distribution and Editorial Standards for Global News. I would love to have you tell a friend about this podcast and you can help me share these important stories by rating and reviewing Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
You can find me on Twitter at Nancy Hixt, on Facebook at Nancy Hixt Crime Beat, and you can join me on Instagram at nancy.hixt. That's N-A-N-C-Y dot H-I-X-T. Thanks for listening. Please join me next time.