Kelowna RCMP seeking public's help in finding convicted killer who jumped bail on recent charges

Photo: Kelowna RCMP

Tyler Jack Newton

Three weeks after a convicted killer jumped bail in Kelowna, police have reached out to the public seeking help in finding him.

In a press release issued Thursday morning, the Kelowna RCMP asked for the public's help in locating 32-year-old Tyler Jack Newton, who's wanted on a B.C.-wide warrant. Newton is facing outstanding charges of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and use of an imitation firearm stemming from a Dec. 31, 2021 incident on West Kelowna's Cameron Road.

The charges are labelled a “K-file” in the court records, which denotes domestic assault allegations.

He was arrested in June and remained in custody until he was granted bail by Judge George Leven and released on Sept. 8. He failed to show up for his next court date just six days later, and remains on the lam.

“Please do not approach Newton if observed and contact 911,” the Kelowna RCMP says in Thursday's press release. “Anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of Newton is requested to contact police or Crime Stoppers.”

The press release doesn't mention that Newton has been previously convicted of manslaughter in the high-profile killing of Caesar Rosales back in 2014.

Rosales was riding the No. 8 city bus on Leckie Road on the evening of Oct. 30, 2014 when Newton fatally stabbed him in the neck from behind. The stabbing was completely random and unprovoked, and a psychologist later determined Newton had been suffering from drug-induced psychosis at the time.

Newton pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2016 and was handed a seven-year sentence, but with credit for time served, his sentence expired in December 2020.

Prior to the expiration of his sentence, Newton was granted statutory release twice, but both times his release was revoked after he tested positive for methamphetamine.

The Parole Board previously called his criminal history “appalling” and his previous community supervision history “abysmal.”

Since completing his manslaughter sentence, he's been convicted of several more recent offences in 2021 and 2022, and he was given six months of additional jail time.

A judge's reasons for granting an accused person bail are generally protected under a publication ban, but Newton's disappearance comes amidst recent comments from Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance and Mayor Colin Basran, criticizing the justice system's so-called “catch-and-release” cycle that sees prolific offenders routinely granted bail.

Meanwhile, Newton's co-accused in the Dec. 31, 2021 incident, Dayton McAlpine, remains behind bars, and is scheduled for a preliminary inquiry in November.