Former World Wrestling Federation, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling superstar Johnny K-9 (Ion Croitoru) was found dead yesterday evening at the Keele Community Correctional Centre, a federal halfway house that takes only the most notorious and unwanted offenders, according to a report from The Hamilton Spectator.
For those unfamiliar with Croitoru’s past, he was charged by Hamilton police back in 2005 in the cold-blooded 1998 murders of Lynn Gilbank, a criminal defence lawyer and her husband Fred. Both were shot in their home on Postans Path in Ancaster in the early-morning hours of November 16th, 1998, however after a lengthy investigation, the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence. He was also arrested back in May 2009 for conspiracy to commit murder, while in January 2011, he was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 2008 execution of Jonathan Barber in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Meanwhile, back in September 2016, Croitoru gained statutory release from a British Columbia prison after he served time on a 13-year sentence for conspiring to commit murder and conspiring to traffic in cocaine and marijuana and was granted credit for time served and his sentence was reduced to less than four years. For those wondering, statutory release is a non-discretionary form of legislated release, subject to supervision and if Croitoru had lived to March 29th, 2018, his sentence would have expired and he would have been declared a free man.
More details on his passing are available at this link.