Murder, attempted murder conviction both deserve life in B.C. contract killing: Crown

NEW WESTMINSTER — A Crown attorney says a man convicted of committing an “execution-style murder” in Surrey, B.C., as well as an attempted murder more than eight years ago should be sentenced to life for each charge.

Brandon Teixeira was convicted for the October 2017 shooting death of 28-year-old Nicholas Khabra and the shooting injury of a woman who had driven the victim to meet Teixeira.

Crown counsel Dianne Wiedemann told a B.C. Supreme Court judge in New Westminster, B.C., that Teixeira was motivated to kill to split a $160,000 contract on Khabra’s life with a second man, and because he believed Khabra was involved in planning a drive-by shooting at Teixeira days earlier.

She says Khabra had four gunshot wounds and 31 stab wounds, “leaving a bloody and gruesome scene” when he died.

Wiedemann said the first-degree murder conviction comes with a mandatory life sentence of 25 years before parole eligibility and the attempted murder conviction should come with a concurrent life sentence.

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She told the court that the woman who was shot twice in the leg was vulnerable, unarmed and unsuspecting, and that the attempted murder “arose out of the commission of a planned and deliberate targeted contract killing.”

Following the murder, Teixeira escaped to California, where he was living under an assumed name until his arrest in 2019.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026

The Canadian Press