Family of Tanner Krupa appeal to public on six-year anniversary of tragic homicide
Surrey, Integrated Homicide Investigation Team
2023-08-20 08:00 PDT
File # 2017-1218
The family of 19-year-old homicide victim Tanner Krupa of Edmonton is appealing to the public on the six-year anniversary of his death.
Background:
On August 20, 2017, at approximately 5 a.m., the Surrey RCMP responded to a report of a disturbance in the 6900-block of 127A Street, in Surrey, British Columbia. When they arrived on scene, frontline police officers found a 19-year old man, the victim of a stabbing, unresponsive. Sadly, there was nothing they could do; the man had succumbed to his injuries. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) took conduct of the investigation and began working in partnership with the Surrey RCMP, the BC Coroner’s Service and the Integrated Forensic Identification Section (IFIS).
The victim of this crime was 19-year old Tanner Krupa of Edmonton.
Tanner, a recent graduate of Edmonton’s Archbishop O’Leary High School, had began working as a directional driller, while saving money for University where he planned to study Kinesiology. Having been offered work in British Columbia, Tanner travelled to Surrey to work for a company laying fiber-optic lines. It was three days into his second deployment, that Tanner’s life was tragically cut short.
Now, six-years later, Kim Krupa, Tanner’s mother, is still looking for answers.
It’s something you can never in your whole life imagine, that you would burying a nineteen-year-old child,
says Kim Krupa, mother of Tanner Krupa. We have not one idea what happened to our boy and it’s six years. And we really wanna know what happened to him and for somebody that knows something to please come forward and give us those answers.
IHIT File 2017-1218 Homicide of Tanner Krupa - Short version - YouTube
Transcription
Time denoted 00:00:0000 = hr:min:sec
DV: = Described Video
A: = sounds and music on video
V: = Voice speaking on video
T: = text on video
00:00:00 to 00:00:04
T: [ IHIT File 2017-1218
Homicide of Tanner Krupa ]
00:00:05 to 00:00:07
V: Just please do the right thing.
00:00:07 to 00:00:09
T: [ Photo of Tanner Krupa ]
00:00:09 to 00:00:12
V: Our family is just not the same without his smiling face
00:00:12 to 00:00:15
V: and without him telling jokes and-
00:00:15 to 00:00:21
V: Just it’s a hole, it’s just- Nothing will ever fill it. Nothing.
00:00:21 to 00:00:23
V: And it’s not supposed to be like that.
00:00:23 to 00:00:25
V: You’re not supposed to bury your child.
00:00:25 to 00:00:29
V: He’s supposed to be burying me, not me burying him.
00:00:29 to 00:00:34
V: And it’s something you can never, in your whole life imagine.
00:00:34 to 00:00:38
V: That you would be burying a nineteen-year old child. Never.
00:00:45 to 00:00:46
V: Give us some answers,
00:00:46 to 00:00:48
V: we don’t know what happened to Tanner that night.
00:00:48 to 00:00:50
V: We don’t have any idea.
00:00:50 to 00:00:54
V: He, you know, was found, passed away
00:00:54 to 00:00:59
V: and we have not one idea what happened to our boy
00:00:59 to 00:01:01
V: and it’s six years.
00:01:01 to 00:01:05
V: And we really want to know what happened to him.
00:01:05 to 00:01:09
V: And for somebody that knows something
00:01:09 to 00:01:11
V: to please come forward and give us those answers.
00:01:15 to 00:01:18
V: Wondering everyday what happened to him.
00:01:18 to 00:01:22
V: How did this happen? Where? Why did this happen?
00:01:22 to 00:01:25
V: And we can, we can, kind of like,
00:01:25 to 00:01:26
V: lay that to rest with Tanner and,
00:01:26 to 00:01:30
V: and give him peace and give us peace.
00:01:30 to 00:01:36
V: And finally know what happened that night
00:01:36 to 00:01:39
V: and not have to think about it every single day of our lives.
00:01:39 to 00:01:41
V: About what happened, who did this?
00:01:41 to 00:01:44
V: Why? Why? And yeah, the biggest one is Why?
00:01:49 to 00:01:53
T: [ If you have any information
regarding the murder of Tanner Krupa ]
00:01:53 to 00:01:59
T: [ Please call IHIT at 1-877-551-IHIT
or email: ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca ]
00:01:59 END.
[end of transcript]
Transcription
Time denoted 00:00:0000 = hr:min:sec
DV: = Described Video
A: = sounds and music on video
V: = Voice speaking on video
T: = text on video
00:00:00 to 00:00:06
T: [ IHIT File 2017-1218
Homicide of Tanner Krupa ]
00:00:06 to 00:00:11
T: [ What happened to Tanner? ]
00:00:12 to 00:00:14
V: I am Kim Krupa. Tanner’s mom.
00:00:16 to 00:00:19
T: [ When he came into a room,
you knew he was there... ]
00:00:19 to 00:00:22
V: His laugh was unforgettable.
00:00:22 to 00:00:26
V: And when came into a room, you knew he was there.
00:00:26 to 00:00:31
V: He was just the life of any room, any party, anything.
00:00:32 to 00:00:34
V: Tanner was born here in Edmonton.
00:00:34 to 00:00:38
V: Yeah. August 14th, 1998, 8:39AM.
00:00:38 to 00:00:42
V: He was working um, here in Edmonton
00:00:42 to 00:00:47
V: and he got a call that they needed somebody in Surrey
00:00:47 to 00:00:53
V: to drive the rig around and to put fibre optics in the neighbourhoods in Surrey.
00:00:53 to 00:00:55
V: So, he, he went.
00:00:55 to 00:00:59
V: He did one hitch, came home
00:00:59 to 00:01:02
V: and then was three days into his second.
00:01:03 to 00:01:06
T: [ I just had a feeling... ]
00:01:07 to 00:01:13
V: And I started texting about 10AM in the morning and nothing, nothing.
00:01:13 to 00:01:16
V: And his dad said don’t worry about it you know, he’s probably sleeping.
00:01:16 to 00:01:19
V: I don’t know I just had a feeling something
00:01:19 to 00:01:20
V: ‘cause he would always answer my texts.
00:01:22 to 00:01:25
V: Then about 3 o’clock in the morning
00:01:25 to 00:01:30
V: the RCMP were at the door and gave us the news.
00:01:31 to 00:01:35
V: That he had. He was a victim of homicide.
00:01:37 to 00:01:40
T: [ Our life is divided... ]
00:01:41 to 00:01:44
V: And I need to know what happened that night and why.
00:01:44 to 00:01:47
V: Why would somebody take his life?
00:01:47 to 00:01:50
V: Trying to find happiness without him.
00:01:50 to 00:01:55
V: Um. Our life is divided. It’s.
00:01:55 to 00:01:58
V: Did that happen before Tanner passed away
00:01:58 to 00:02:00
V: or after Tanner passed away.
00:02:00 to 00:02:05
V: And that’s usually what our life is like is before or after.
00:02:05 to 00:02:10
V: And uh, you know just trying to survive everyday
00:02:10 to 00:02:13
V: and trying to put on your happy face
00:02:13 to 00:02:16
V: and trying to get through the day and find joy.
00:02:16 to 00:02:20
V: And then I feel sometimes you do have some happy moments
00:02:20 to 00:02:23
V: but then you feel bad because he’s not here.
00:02:23 to 00:02:27
V: And it’s, it’s a journey.
00:02:28 to 00:02:31
V: And our family’s just not the same without his smiling face
00:02:31 to 00:02:34
V: and without him telling jokes and,
00:02:34 to 00:02:38
V: and you know him and his dad would go skidooing all the time.
00:02:38 to 00:02:41
V: And just it’s, it’s a hole.
00:02:41 to 00:02:44
V: It’s just nothing will every fill it. Nothing.
00:02:45 to 00:02:47
V: And it’s not supposed to be like that.
00:02:47 to 00:02:49
V: You’re not supposed bury a child.
00:02:49 to 00:02:53
V: He’s supposed to be burying me, not me burying him.
00:02:53 to 00:02:57
V: And it’s something you can never in your whole life imagine,
00:02:57 to 00:03:02
V: that you would burying a nineteen-year-old child. Never.
00:03:10 to 00:03:13
V: And I need to know what happened that night and why.
00:03:13 to 00:03:15
V: Why would somebody take his life?
00:03:16 to 00:03:17
V: Please do the right thing.
00:03:17 to 00:03:19
V: Please come forward.
00:03:19 to 00:03:20
V: Please call IHIT.
00:03:20 to 00:03:30
V: Please just give our family some, some closure as to what happened.
00:03:31 to 00:03:33
V: And Tanner has two sisters.
00:03:33 to 00:03:35
V: We’ve got two grandsons.
00:03:36 to 00:03:40
V: His best friend still is not in a good place.
00:03:40 to 00:03:42
V: Um, his friends grieve.
00:03:44 to 00:03:50
V: Just please come forward and call IHIT and, and let them.
00:03:50 to 00:03:53
V: Just talk to them. Anything.
00:03:53 to 00:03:57
V: Any- even if you don’t even think it’s something big.
00:03:57 to 00:04:00
V: Something small just if you have any knowledge
00:04:00 to 00:04:04
V: of that night please come forward.
00:04:05 to 00:04:07
V: Do the right thing.
00:04:09 to 00:04:11
T: [ What happened to our boy... ]
00:04:12 to 00:04:13
V: Give us some answers.
00:04:13 to 00:04:15
V: We don’t know what happened to Tanner that night.
00:04:15 to 00:04:18
V: We don’t have any idea.
00:04:18 to 00:04:21
V: He, you know was found passed away
00:04:21 to 00:04:26
V: and we have not one idea what happened to our boy
00:04:26 to 00:04:28
V: and it’s six years.
00:04:28 to 00:04:32
V: And we really wanna know what happened to him.
00:04:32 to 00:04:36
V: And for somebody that knows something
00:04:36 to 00:04:39
V: to please come forward and give us those answers.
00:04:42 to 00:04:45
V: The first two years were just pure shock.
00:04:45 to 00:04:46
V: I don’t even think we realized.
00:04:46 to 00:04:49
V: You know, we just waited for him to come thru the front door.
00:04:50 to 00:04:53
V: And then you, yeah.
00:04:53 to 00:04:57
V: I feel like everyday’s closer to being with him.
00:04:58 to 00:05:02
V: I just want to carry Tanner’s legacy on
00:05:02 to 00:05:07
V: and do good and try and love
00:05:07 to 00:05:10
V: and try and be compassionate and try and give back and.
00:05:12 to 00:05:15
T: [ But then on his birthday...
We just celebrate Tanner... ]
00:05:16 to 00:05:19
V: Um, we started a charity that we,
00:05:19 to 00:05:24
V: every year we um, go down to the less fortunate in Edmonton
00:05:24 to 00:05:27
V: and we hand out it’s called ‘Tanner’s Totes’.
00:05:27 to 00:05:32
V: And we put um, toiletries, blankets, hats, mitts.
00:05:32 to 00:05:38
V: Anything that they might need throughout the year and uh, give them to the less fortunate.
00:05:39 to 00:05:40
V: But then on his birthday.
00:05:40 to 00:05:45
V: His birthday we all get together and we go out to some friend’s property
00:05:45 to 00:05:48
V: and we just celebrate Tanner all weekend.
00:05:48 to 00:05:51
V: We have drinks for him. We have games.
00:05:51 to 00:05:55
V: We have um, talks about him. Everybody talks.
00:05:55 to 00:05:58
V: We let balloons go. We let lanterns go.
00:05:58 to 00:06:03
V: We’ve uh, let butterflies um, release butterflies.
00:06:03 to 00:06:06
V: We’ve yeah, we’ve done a lot
00:06:06 to 00:06:09
V: and it’s no less than a hundred people every year.
00:06:09 to 00:06:13
V: His friends still, still come every year.
00:06:14 to 00:06:18
T: [ If you have any information
regarding the murder of Tanner Krupa ]
00:06:18 to 00:06:24
T: [ Please call IHIT at 1-877-551-IHIT
or email: ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca ]
00:06:24 END.
[end of transcript]
Tanner’s family and friends have developed a website to tell his story in the hopes that someone with information about his murder will come forward. The website is www.whathappenedtotanner.com
We started a charity, every year we go down to the less fortunate in Edmonton and we hand out ‘Tanner’s Totes.’ We put toiletries, blankets, hats, mitts. Anything that they might need throughout the year,
says Kim Krupa. I just want to carry Tanner’s legacy on and do good and try and love and try and be compassionate and try and give back.
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551- IHIT (4448), or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
Released by:
Sgt. Timothy PierottiMedia Relations Officer
Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT)
14200 Green Timbers Way, Surrey, BC V3T 6T3
Office: 778-290-5202
Email:
ediv_ihit_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Website: homicideteam.ca
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