Ontario man charged with murder arrested in Texas after months on the run

A man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in Ontario before fleeing the country has been arrested in Texas after more than two months on the run, police have confirmed.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Michael Haffner revealed Ager Hasan was arrested Tuesday in San Antonio during a traffic stop conducted by the U.S. Secret Service.

Hasan, 24, faces a second-degree murder charge and three breach of recognizance charges in connection with the death of Melinda Vasilije, a 22-year-old woman who was found dead in her Kitchener, Ont., apartment on April 28.

“The cause of her death was determined to be multiple stab wounds,” Haffner said of the Kitchener woman. “Our investigation immediately focused on Ager Hasan.”

Shortly after Vasilije’s death, the Hamilton, Ont., man crossed the border into the U.S. and was later spotted stealing a Pennsylvania licence plate from a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, according to Haffner.

“We also received a reported sighting of Mr. Hasan in Tennessee on May 20, where it was believed he was heading to the Mexico border,” the officer added.

“Throughout the investigation, our officers have been in contact with Mr. Hasan, encouraging him to turn himself in,” Haffner said. “We’ve had continuous conversation with Mr. Hasan through email conversation, however, not recently.”

Police have previously said Hasan was in a relationship with Vasilije for about a year.

After the woman’s death, a Reddit user posted a message titled ‘Wanted for Kitchener murder my side’ that appeared to be a description of what happened the night Vasilije was killed. The account has since been suspended and it remains unclear whether Hasan was behind the lengthy post of alleged events, which included purported screenshots of conversations with Vasilije.

It is suspected, but not yet confirmed, that Hasan was active on social media while on the run. Earlier this week, an Instagram account believed to be his posted the following message: “I’m coming home. It’s time to end the dark path I’ve been traveling and give people the closure they deserve.”

Other images of what appears to be Hasan and Vasilije were posted on the social media website.

“Communication is what led to the downfall of us. I hope justice is served and punishment is given accordingly to what happened that night,” the Instagram user wrote.

Haffner could not confirm if the social media account belonged to Hasan due to the police investigation that has not yet been closed.

The officer did acknowledge that Canadian officials are working with their U.S. counterparts to extradite Hasan back to the Waterloo Region following his expected appearance in a Texas courthouse on Wednesday.