A suspect in the murder of a Kitchener woman has been arrested after spending months on the lam in the United States.
Waterloo Regional Police say Ager Hasan was arrested Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas, at a traffic stop conducted by the United States Secret Service.
The traffic stop was part of an “ongoing counterfeit currency investigation,” Insp. Mike Haffner told reporters. According to the Secret Service, Hasan had bought counterfeit money over the dark web.
Hasan, 24, was wanted for second-degree murder in connection with the death of Melinda Vasilije, who was found dead in her Country Hill Drive apartment on April 28.
Police have said that Hasan crossed the border into the United States shortly after Vasilije was stabbed to death.
There was one sighting of him in a parking lot in Pennsylvania, and another at a truck stop in Tennessee, but nothing had been said publicly about Hasan’s whereabouts in the past month.
An Instagram account belonging to someone claiming to be Hasan had been slightly more active, occasionally posting messages related to the case.
“I’m coming home. It’s time to end the dark path I’ve been traveling and give people the closure they deserve,” the most recent post reads.
Hasan was expected to appear in court in Texas on Wednesday. Haffner said authorities plan to return him to Canada through the extradition process. Hasan is not expected to face any charges related to the American counterfeit currency investigation.
At the time of the arrest, Haffner said, Hasan was driving the same 2016 Honda HR-V he had left Canada with, bearing stolen licence plates from the state of Arkansas.
While there had been suggestions that Hasan may have changed his appearance as part of his attempt to elude police, Haffner said that turned out not to be the case.
“The information we have … is that he looks very similar to what he looked like on April 28,” he said.
Hasan and Vasilije had previously been in a relationship. He was under court orders not to be in contact with her and not to be in Waterloo Region.
