From fleeing police to ramming an RCMP officer’s cruiser, a killer’s three trials scheduled in 2026
John Van Liere’s recent alleged criminal activity in Chilliwack pales compared to a 2003 manslaughter in Lethbridge, near murder in Merritt in 2020
The man charged with ramming a Chilliwack RCMP officer’s cruiser in the middle of the night in May was in court Tuesday (Oct. 14, 2025) to have three driving-related trials scheduled in 2026 on three different files.
In the most serious case from May 16, 2025, John Van Liere is accused of striking a police cruiser and two other cars while driving a BMW after 3 a.m. when the officer tried to pull him over for erratic driving.
He then allegedly hit a third vehicle before coming to a stop against a street light. The 45-year-old was then taken into custody and to the hospital for treatment.
Van Liere is charged with assaulting an officer with a weapon, failing to stop, flight from police, and dangerous operation of a vehicle. He is scheduled for a two-day trial April 1 and 2, 2026, and he remains in custody on this charge as well as two others.
He has an unenviable criminal history. He was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter in Lethbridge in 2003, and he beat a man nearly to death in Merritt in 2020. In the latter case, Van Liere actually thought he did kill the man, his friend Chad Conley.
“Yo, I’m in Merritt and I’m in trouble,” he texted a friend late at night on Feb. 16, 2020, according to a report on Castanet. “I just beat this guy to death in a motel in Merritt. I’m so f--ked. F--k, f--k, f--k.”
He went on to ask a different friend to come with some clothes he could throw out and presumably help with his plan straight out of a movie.
“Do you have any shovels?” the then 40-year-old asked his friend.
He was later sentenced to four years in jail for aggravated assault in Kamloops court.
Van Liere has two other Chilliwack files before the courts, both from the months prior to the police-cruiser ramming incident, both of which were scheduled for trial in court on Tuesday.
On Feb. 2, 2026, Van Liere has a trial for driving while his licence was suspended from Feb. 16, 2025, a violation of the motor vehicle act. Then he has a one-day trial on May 29, 2026, facing one count of flight from police and driving with a suspended licence from Dec. 20, 2024.
He was ordered detained on all three files at a bail hearing on May 20, 2025 and he remains in custody.
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Paul J. Henderson
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