Kaiden Mintenko, 20, of Burnaby has been charged with second-degree murder in the Surrey stabbing death of 17-year-old Ethan Bespflug, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Monday (April 17).

Ethan died in hospital after being stabbed April 11 while riding the Route 503 bus in the 9900-block of King George Boulevard. He was reportedly riding home from a friend鈥檚 house and had texted his mom that he was being threatened by 鈥渟ome kids鈥� and was scared.

Police said at a presser on Monday, at BC RCMP Headquarters in Green Timbers, that the stabbing was a targeted attack and not a random one. IHIT said the suspect and victim knew each other through a third party.

Mintenko is in custody. He was arrested at a residence in Burnaby on April 16. His next appearance in Surrey provincial court is set for May 8.

鈥淭he individual who was arrested does have an association to the deceased,鈥� Sgt. Tim Pierotti, of IHIT, said, adding the suspect is known to police. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still working to determine exactly what the nature of the relationship is between them.鈥�

Ethan is Surrey鈥檚 fifth homicide victim so far this year.

鈥淚t does come as a shock to me,鈥� Ethan鈥檚 mom Holly Indridson said of the arrest and charge. 鈥淚鈥檝e never heard his name around, only just I guess the girlfriend鈥檚 name of the guy, the man that鈥檚 charged. There鈥檚 always been a little bit of a bullying situation I guess the man charged and the girlfriend, like the girlfriend would bully my son.鈥�

鈥淚 am quite in shock. I didn鈥檛 think, you know sometimes bullying you don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to take it so far as to murder.鈥�

She said she鈥檚 pleased the suspect remains in custody. 鈥淣o other family should have to through this pain,鈥� Indridson told the Now-Leader.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad that they worked on it so quickly, I鈥檓 so thankful for them, the detectives that were working on this. They were very sincere and sympathetic.鈥�

Indridson, 38, has joined a club nobody wants to belong to, as yet another parent who鈥檚 lost a beloved child to mindless violence in Surrey.

鈥淚鈥檝e been through so many losses and this one, it鈥檚 crushed my will to live but I have to live, you know,鈥� she said.

Before the night he was killed, when he texted that he was scared and threatened by other passengers, Ethan had never complained about riding bus or SkyTrain.

鈥淗im and his friend would take the bus and SkyTrain, they鈥檇 take it downtown, they鈥檇 go to Brentwood Mall, they鈥檇 go to Metrotown, they utilized it so they could explore their surroundings and their world you know, as teenagers would. I don鈥檛 think at any time he felt unsafe and for this to happen on the bus鈥�,鈥� Indridson, an Abbotsford resident, trails off.

Authorities from Premier David Eby on down have expressed outrage at her son鈥檚 homicide and have promised enhanced police patrols on public transit in its wake.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that they can put more security,鈥� Indridson says of this. 鈥淲hen I was younger, there was a security guard or a transit police on the bus itself, when I was like 17.

鈥淚 thought there would be a lot more,鈥� she says.

TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn vented about the crime during an unrelated presser in Surrey on Friday,

鈥淚鈥檓 angry, we鈥檙e really angry, I鈥檓 very frustrated, I鈥檓 bothered by these events and as a parent of two transit-riding kids, every single day, I am concerned,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will not allow criminals or those who want to commit crimes to come onto our system.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檒l say as a father, I will say I was particularly shocked regarding the fatal stabbing of a teenager aboard one of our buses and our sincere condolences are with that young man鈥檚 family,鈥� Quinn said.

鈥淥ur Transit Police have already stepped up patrols in crime hot spots and the forthcoming 24 community safety officers will allow police to further focus their efforts on criminal activity. We鈥檙e always looking for new ways to improve safety on transit and I want to emphasize that if anyone feels unsafe on our system they should immediately text Transit Police at any time at 87-7777.鈥�

Indridson says two GoFundMe campaigns will help her surviving children and help put Ethan to rest. By press time, one set up by her sister-in-law Andrea Van Der Gracht had already raised $23,895 and one by another aunt, Daphni Miller, had raised $23,370.

鈥淭he outpouring of support and just people that are messaging me that are just, I don鈥檛 know them, but other mothers that are messaging me, the family, the friends, people I haven鈥檛 talked to since high school, it鈥檚 just amazing how communities come together but I just wish it wasn鈥檛 under these circumstances,鈥� Indridson said. 鈥淚 can feel it and I know Ethan is smiling down because that it鈥檚 what he would want in this type of situation, for his family not to feel alone and feel love and support.鈥�

Her younger children 鈥渁re devastated.

鈥淢y kids were all very close, they got along well, there鈥檚 very large age gaps between some of them. They connected in such a way that to me it was magical watching them together and Ethan was the largest piece of the puzzle.鈥�

Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, officer in charge of the Surrey RCMP, offered his condolences to Ethan鈥檚 friends and family.

鈥淎s being the parent of a teenager myself this is absolutely heartbreaking,鈥� he said. 鈥淎fter all these years of being a police officer I still struggle with the senselessness of certain crimes. This is one of those crimes.鈥�

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke at Monday night鈥檚 council meeting also conveyed her 鈥渄eepest condolences.

鈥淎s a mom, I cannot imagine the pain Ethan鈥檚 family is going through,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n addition to an increased police and security presence on transit, we are looking to arrange sustainable and long-term solutions. I will be reaching out to the premier, solicitor general and minister of health to ask for additional resources in policing and to make better use of technology to deter these crimes and identify the perpetrators.鈥�

Meantime, Surrey RCMP said police have no reason to suspect Ethan鈥檚 stabbing was 鈥渋n any way connected鈥� to a man鈥檚 throat being slashed 鈥� also on a Route 503 bus 鈥� at Fraser Highway and 148 Street on April 1. That stabbing resulted in the suspect, Abdul Aziz Kawam, being charged with four terrorism-related offences, with Kawam accused of committing the crime on behalf of the Islamic State otherwise known as ISIS.

Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, in charge of the Surrey RCMP, on what police are doing about violence on public transit.

鈥� Tom Zytaruk (@tomzytaruk)

Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth told reporters in Victoria there鈥檚 鈥渁 number of things under way鈥� to crack down in violence on public transit.

鈥淥n Friday my director of police services met a number of times with the police agencies, the RCMP, Transit Police and other police agencies in the Lower Mainland in terms of identifying are there additional resources required, what actions are needed,鈥� Farnworth said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my expectation to see an increased policing presence on our transit system.鈥�

鈥淭his is an issue that is plaguing transit systems across the country,鈥� Farnworth said.

Shirley Bond, of the British Columbia United Party (formerly BC Liberal Party), slammed the NDP government.

鈥淲ell, no amount of patting themselves on the back will bring comfort today to a family whose son was on a bus and didn鈥檛 get home,鈥� Bond said.

鈥淭his Premier needs to stand up and acknowledge that people in British Columbia today are tired of the empty words. What they want is a Premier that will acknowledge the fact that they are afraid to take a bus in British Columbia. Who can possibly imagine that?鈥�

On Saturday a 20-year-old man was stabbed at Surrey Central SkyTrain Station, making it the third stabbing on public transit in Surrey in three weeks. Transit Police Chief Officer Dave Jones said there are no 鈥渃ommonalities or linkages鈥� between any of these cases.

鈥淢y emphasis here is this is an anomaly, the number of events that have occurred of this type of nature on the transit system. It moves hundreds of thousands of people every day,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭here was no commonality between all of the events that have occurred, the separate incidents that have occurred.鈥�

Const. Amanda Steed, spokeswoman for Metro Vancouver Transit Police, said uniformed officers assigned several units have been pulled from their regular duties have been assigned to buses and SkyTrain in Surrey. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to saturate the system with a visible presence. We鈥檝e also taken our detectives who work in a crime-suppression team 鈥� they鈥檙e in a plainclothes capacity so you might not see them but they are there 鈥� we鈥檝e taken them from their day-to-day duties and put them in hot spots where we鈥檝e identified where people aren鈥檛 feeling safe,鈥� she told the Now-Leader.

As for two of the stabbings happening on a Route 503 bus, Steed said she doesn鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 a coincidence. 鈥淎ll of the stabbings that have occurred and slashings that have occurred they鈥檙e not connected in any way, there鈥檚 no evidence to suggest that they鈥檙e connected. But does that say that maybe the 503 is a route that we might need to look at a little but closer and perhaps improve our presence on that route? Absolutely.鈥�

What鈥檚 fueling this recent violence is a question for the age.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand what鈥檚 happening, this is so abnormal, this is not normal, and we looked at other provinces who are having issues like this, with violence and weapons, and we were always lucky that that wasn鈥檛 happening to us but now for some reason in the last couple of weeks the world has just lost it,鈥� Steed said.

Bigger, more complex issues are at play, she suggests, 鈥渘ot necessarily just a policing issue, where this violence is coming from.

鈥淲e have to ask ourselves, what has brought these people to this spot? Why are they in this position, why are they exhibiting more violence and using more weapons that they have in the past? And I think it has a lot to do with mental health, and the drug crisis, and social housing crisis. I also think COVID also had a huge impact, we were isolated for so long. People are struggling right now, people who are already on the edge of a mental health break, they鈥檝e completely gone over the edge, and even people who didn鈥檛 suffer from any type of mental health before, they鈥檙e struggling.

鈥淧eople are really on edge.鈥�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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