Canadian man arrested in U.S. over ex’s death will be extradited: court docs

A man arrested in the U.S. in connection with the slaying of his ex-girlfriend in southern Ontario will be extradited back to Canada after a Texas court found the evidence against him was “extensive.”

Court documents show a San Antonio judge also denied Ager Hasan’s request to be released on bail pending his extradition, noting his past behaviour suggested he is “both a danger to the community and a serious flight risk.”

Hasan has been in custody since his arrest in the southern U.S. city in July. The charges he faces in Canada include second-degree murder.

U.S. court documents allege Hasan “had difficulty accepting” the end of his year-long relationship with 22-year-old Melinda Vasilije, which they allege led him to stab her more than 30 times with a steak knife. 

The documents lay out what investigators believe happened leading up to and following Vasilije’s death in late April, though the allegations have not been proven in court.

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It’s alleged Vasilije broke up with Hasan, who is from Hamilton, by text message in early April, prompting him to become increasingly agitated over the course of the day.

He allegedly broke into her Kitchener, Ont., home that night, an incident that saw him charged with break and enter and assault, documents show.

He was released on bail on condition that he stop contacting Vasilije and stay out of the Kitchener region, but cellphone records show the pair remained in touch, the documents say.

A few weeks later, the two arranged to meet up late at night at Vasilije’s home to discuss their breakup, the documents say. Vasilije’s roommate and a friend were also there, though they left twice during the night, they say.

At one point they heard someone they believed to be Hasan with Vasilije in her room, the documents allege.

It’s alleged CCTV footage shows Vasilije walked Hasan to his car around 1:45 a.m. while her friends were out but he followed her back inside. He was then captured on video leaving about 15 minutes later, the documents say.

When the women returned for the second time shortly before 3 a.m., they found Vasilije lying in a pool of blood on the floor, with stab wounds to her throat and chest and two steak knives nearby, the documents say.

The documents allege Hasan texted Vasilije shortly after 3:30 a.m. saying: “Nice seeing you tonight glad we worked things out! You better have deleted that (expletive) dorche (sic) bag lol. Anyways see you soon.”

“Far from raising doubt as to Hasan’s actual involvement in the murder, this text message, when viewed against all of the other evidence, suggests Hasan was merely attempting to cover up his guilt,” the San Antonio court said.

“Moreover, it is also evidence that Hasan was the man who was in the apartment that night.”

It’s alleged Hasan drove a car registered to his mother across the border a few hours later. Police eventually issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for him.

A person believed to be Hasan posted a long document on Reddit a few days later that contained alleged details about the incident and contended he was acting in self-defence, the documents say. 

He was arrested in Texas on July 11 and a request was made for his extradition. No date has been set for his transfer so far.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press