BURST
A violent offender who took off from a Victoria halfway house in 2021 and earlier broke out of a Winnipeg-area jail while serving a 17-year sentence for manslaughter and other charges will be living in Surrey, police advised on Tuesday.
Surrey Police Service spokesperson Sgt. Ali Gailus said 49-year-old Jonathon Anders Muzychka, a designated high-risk offender who has a history of violence toward people and property crimes, is subject to a long list of conditions.
Muzychka’s criminal background dates back two decades in Manitoba, and includes a grim 2008 case in which he pleaded guilty to manslaughter despite the fact the victim’s body was never found.
Reports from the time said he killed Jacinto Eduardo Etcheverry during a fight in an apartment, then disposed of Etcheverry’s body in a dumpster. A lengthy search of the landfill where the body was taken proved fruitless.
Soon after, Muzychka escaped from Headingley jail near Winnipeg by hopping a fence and swimming across the Assiniboine River.
He was arrested in late October 2008 during an emergency response team takedown in Golden, B.C. He had robbed two banks on his way out west and also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from them.
While staying at a halfway house on Vancouver Island in January 2021, Muzychka and another offender took off. The men were arrested less than two days later in downtown Victoria.
A court order has Muzychka under the following conditions while living in Surrey:
• He must keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
• He must stay at a place approved by his probation officer and not be absent for more than 24 hours without approval.
• He must stay in B.C. unless given written permission by the court.
• He must not make any contact with victims of his offences or their families, and must stay at least 300 metres from their homes, job sites or schools of any victims or witnesses or their families.
• He will wear electronic monitoring equipment and have a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• He must not consume or possess alcohol, controlled substances or any weapon, including knives.
Gailus said Muzychka will monitored closely by the SPS prolific offender unit, and police ask that anyone who sees him breaching his release conditions to immediately call 911.