Fugitive cage fighter detained in Canada
Martial arts fighter allegedly beat his girlfriend after she posted $5,000 bond
Vancouver Sun
Published: Sunday, November 23, 2008
VANCOUVER - A fugitive American cage fighter living illegally in Canada has been ordered detained after allegedly beating up his girlfriend two days after she paid a $5,000 bond to free him.
Ian Edward Heinisch, a former Colorado state champion wrestler, repeatedly snuck across the border in recent months even though he was told by the Canada Border Services Agency in August that his U.S. criminal record made him inadmissible.
Heinisch appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board Friday agitated and sporting a black swollen eye.
Two days earlier, Surrey RCMP had been called by his girlfriend who said he had tried to choke her and threatened to kill her after he learned she'd been unfaithful.
That 37-year-old woman, who met the 20-year-old fighter online, offered to post a $10,000 bond Nov. 17 after Heinisch was arrested for being in Canada illegally.
Immigration minister counsel Jim Murray argued at the first hearing that Heinisch should be held in custody because he was wanted on warrants for failing to appear in criminal cases in both Idaho and Colorado.
But IRB adjudicator Daphne Shaw-Dyck said she felt Heinisch could be fine released into the community and told his girlfriend that $5,000 was enough for the bond.
That same woman, the mother of two boys ages six and 12, made the frantic call to 911 on Nov. 19, saying Heinisch had threatened to kill her and throw her body in the ocean so no one would find it.
But she was there by his side at the IRB hearing Friday, yelling "sorry" as Heinisch was escorted away.
IRB member Leeann King refused to grant Heinisch a second chance at freedom even thought he pleaded for his release to talk to a lawyer and his parents.
"I don't see myself as a violent person," he said at the hearing. "I am just belligerent when I drink hard alcohol."
He said he had earned his living as a cage fighter, a form of mixed martial arts where combatants duke it out in a hexagon-shaped wire enclosure.
Heinisch was also a successful wrestler, winning several championships as a teen.
He told King that his U.S. criminal cases - including a charge of obstructing police - were a blur to him because he was drinking and on Xanax for anxiety.
And he also denied an RCMP report from last week's incident in which a constable said Heinisch resisted arrest and pushed him
Murray was again putting forward the Canadian government's position Friday, arguing that Heinisch is a "man who is violent, belligerent, juvenile and uncooperative."
He said Heinisch lied when he tried twice to enter Canada last Aug. 24, claiming he wanted to visit a high school friend. In fact, he had already been living in Canada and working since last May.
When he was first arrested by the CBSA Nov. 15, he told an agent that "he does not give a sh-t. He has the right to come into Canada. He does not give a f-ck."
The agent's report also quotes Heinisch saying that if deported, "he will come back and get the piece of sh-t who ratted him out."
And Murray said that Heinisch has earned considerably more money in Canada than he originally claimed to the CBSA.
King accepted that Heinisch was too great a risk to be let out into the community.
She ordered him detained pending a Dec. 1 admissibility hearing, though he will have another detention review Nov. 28. He is due in Surrey Provincial Court on assault charges Dec. 3.
At the earlier hearing, Shaw Dyck acknowledged that letting Heinisch out on bail was a risk.
"I do think that overall, there is a risk involved in releasing you...the criminal activity that is alleged in your case appears to demonstrate a certain volatility," she said.
"You do not seem to disrespect this woman who is prepared to put up her money for you...I think a $5,000 cash bond, together with stringent terms and conditions, should suffice to balance the risk involved in ordering your release. It should certainly make you think twice any time you decide to get a little lippy with policemen or Immigration authorities."
kbolan@vancouversun.com
effinggoof - "I don't see myself as a violent person," he said at the hearing. "I am just belligerent when I drink hard alcohol."Awesome.