Travellers: The Evans/Jones Family's Road to The Curry House in Owen Sound
Evidence of the Evans/Jones family's activities in Canada leading up to Sharif Rahman's fatal assault in Owen Sound reveals travel details, aliases, and interactions with police.
Court documents in the extradition case of three UK nationals charged in connection with the 2023 death of an Owen Sound restaurant owner shed new light on the men’s movements across Southwestern Ontario that summer.
They raise questions about who the Evans/Jones men are, how they came to be in Sharif Rahman’s ‘The Curry House’ that night, and whether they should have been able to be there at all.
The details below are based on submissions made by the Owen Sound Police Service (OSPS) and other Canadian authorities to their counterparts in the UK, in support of Canada’s extradition request, except where otherwise stated.
None of these allegations have been tested or proven in a court of law.
The Owen Sound Current attended the May 22 preliminary hearing (one of several) in Edinburgh and had a brief opportunity to review the affidavits as the court was closing for the day, then returned to the courthouse on May 28 for a deeper review of the documents. This is what we’ve learned.
What Happened on August 17, 2023
At issue: Robert Evans Jr. is accused by Canadian authorities of manslaughter. His father Robert Busby Evans and uncle Barry Evans are each charged as accessories in aiding his escape from the Canadian justice system.
The charges stem from a violent altercation outside The Curry House restaurant in downtown Owen Sound on the night of August 17, 2023.
Three men dining at the restaurant reportedly refused to pay for their meal, and the dispute escalated into a physical confrontation with restaurant owner Rahman, 44 years old.
During that dispute, police allege that Robert Jr. punched Rahman in the face with such force that multiple witnesses described a sound similar to a bowling ball being dropped from a height onto the sidewalk.
Rahman suffered critical head injuries and was transported to a London hospital, where he died one week later.
Police released a few grainy photos of the men and their vehicle fleeing. They are the only public images to date.
The men in those photos are now believed to be Robert Evans Jr., also known as Michael Jones, in blue, and his brother Justin Evans in orange, who is not facing any charges in this case.
Also believed present at The Curry House: their uncle, Barry. And back at the Travelodge in Owen Sound, their father (Barry’s brother) Robert Busby Evans, AKA Justin Jones — not to be confused with that son, Justin Evans.
Police did not release photos of Barry, despite their investigation surfacing ample surveillance footage of him. According to the affidavits, Barry was identified first. By early September, OSPS learned that UK authorities believed a man travelling with his two sons was involved in the death of a Canadian restaurant owner.
Three of those men would eventually be charged and then apprehended on Interpil warrants.
But it was a long road to that point.
Police announced in mid-August 2024 that arrests had been made on July 30, though the number of individuals arrested and their identities were not disclosed at the time. Authorities cited the complexity of the case and asked for public patience.
The next update came on December 18, 2024, when Ontario Provincial Police and Owen Sound Police publicly named three UK nationals charged in connection with the August 2023 fatal assault of Sharif Rahman. Officials distributed a prepared statement to the media and refused to answer any further questions.
It’s only through the investigation documentation filed in the extradition request that substantial information about what happened that night nearly two years ago, and the people involved, is finally being revealed.
While the affidavits filed in support of the extradition include more detailed evidence — including eyewitness accounts, digital records, and the basis for the charges — The Owen Sound Current has elected not to publish specifics that could compromise the integrity of the extradition hearing or any future criminal proceedings in Canada or the UK.
Travelling as Jones; Arrested as Evans
Two of the men now in court as Evanses travelled on passports under name Jones, raising questions about their status in Canada.
According to the affidavits, Robert Evans Jr. entered Canada on June 4, 2023, using what police say Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed as a “valid UK passport” under the name Michael Jones.
His father, Robert Busby Evans, entered Canada on a UK passport in the name Justin Jones, also characterized as valid.
Now both men, alongside Barry Evans, are facing extradition proceedings in Scotland under the names Robert Evans Jr. and Robert Busby Evans.
Why the men are now identified in legal proceedings under different names and how they obtained passports as Justin and Michael Jones remains an open question that has not yet been addressed in open court.
It’s one of many questions Canadians, and Owen Sounders in particular, are looking to have addressed.
Court documents outline how police tracked the men’s movement across parts of southern Ontario in the summer of 2023, identifying them as part of a paving crew that worked for cash, and sometimes items in trade.
Evans/Jones Crew Travelled Southwestern Ontario as a Paving Crew
According to the affidavits filed by OSPS, they found ample evidence that the men operated a door-to-door business in Canada called Total Paving.
Witness accounts suggest that the men completed at least four paving jobs in Wiarton, north of Owen Sound, the week before the assault.
Police also documented that the men had acquired a second vehicle, a Jeep, in Listowel as partial payment for a paving job weeks earlier.
This was not the Ford Escape used to flee Owen Sound following the August 17 assault. The Ford was registered to a numbered company with an address in Mississauga and, according to a witness, was in the Evans/Joneses’ possession as long as they were working that summer as Total Paving.
Three other men are identified in the filings as fellow workers at Total Paving.
One is another member of the Evans family — Justin Evans, who was present during the meal at The Curry House and the subsequent assault of its owner. Again, he is not charged in relation to Rahman’s death.
Little is known about a fifth UK national who worked on the paving crew. The affidavits contain his name, but no information about his immigration status, visa type, or entry to the country. He is not alleged to have been present during the assault in Owen Sound.
Another man, purportedly a Canadian resident, did contract work for the group.
All three men charged — Robert Jr., Robert Sr., and Barry Evans — are reported to have obtained Canadian cell phone numbers on a shared family plan, registered under the name “Justin Jones” with a billing address in Woodbridge, Ontario.
Summer 2023 Police Interactions Preceded Assault
In the course of their investigation, OSPS searched a shared law enforcement database used by both their service and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). That search turned up at least two prior interactions between OPP officers and members of the Evans paving crew earlier in the summer of 2023.
In one instance, OPP responded to a call about a suspicious person in Listowel. In another, officers were dispatched to investigate a report of several men loitering around a business location in Perth County. Both incidents involved the asphalt work the men were doing.
According to the affidavits, Barry Evans was present during both of these encounters and in one, told officers he was in Canada on a work visa. He reportedly showed police a photo of his passport on his phone.
No further documentation of his visa status was included in the case file, and it remains unclear what follow-up, if any, occurred as a result of those interactions.
These prior incidents suggest the crew had come to the attention of police before the deadly events of August 17.
Total Paving Implicated in Driveway Paving Scam
The Owen Sound Current has identified an August 4, 2023, complaint submitted to the Better Business Bureau, which places a paving crew using the “Total Paving” name in Collingwood, the same town OSPS believe the Evans’ crew fled to after Rahman’s assault.
The complainant in the BBB “scam tracker” report described an interaction with an “extremely aggressive” person, calling himself Bob, who came to their home that summer.
“A representative from a company called Total Paving came to the door with a story about a lost contract and would we like to take advantage of the load of asphalt for a great deal, no money or deposit needed until the job was done,” they wrote.
The homeowner had concerns about the legitimacy of the business, they said, given that the paving crew’s card listed a Toronto address but linked to a website for an unrelated company based in Illinois. The man at the door could not provide the phone number for the company’s head office in Toronto.
“Bob became physical and started poking me, saying I had to be more trusting,” the complainant wrote. “He continued to insist on starting the job. He would not even give us 10 minutes to talk to my husband in private about the job.”
“He was clearly angry when he left,” they added.
We have not been able to locate a business as described called Total Paving using the phone numbers or addresses listed in the affidavits, nor by searching the internet and Ontario business registration records.
The investigation conducted by OSPS — now the basis for a transatlantic extradition request — paints a picture of a group of men who traveled to Canada, some on passports issued to aliases but deemed valid by Canadian border officials.
Those men allegedly secured vehicles, local phone numbers, and contract work from Listowel to Wiarton to Collingwood. They travelled about paying cash for hotels and occasionally raising enough suspicion for people to place complaints with the Ontario Provincial Police.
Even still, they made their way onward to Owen Sound.
The Exit Strategy: Flights and Timing
The affidavits include details of flight records obtained by investigators and reveal how and when the accused left Canada following the assault.
Robert Evans Jr., as Michael Jones, departed the day after the assault — August 18 — on an Air Canada flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport to London Heathrow. How that flight was booked and who delivered him to the airport are part of the accessory charges.
On the same day, two other members of the crew, Barry Evans and another Evans family member present at The Curry House, boarded an Air Transat flight to Glasgow.
Robert Busby Evans, travelling as Justin Jones, is believed to have left last. He flew to Manchester near the end of August.
Authorities did not announce charges in the case until December 2024. By then, all three accused had been located in Scotland and arrested on international warrants.
Media reports have highlighted that the accused are believed to be Irish Travellers, a recognized ethnic minority in the UK. This does not require Irish nationality. In this case, the men are UK citizens.
Court documents list the same last known address near Manchester, England, for Robert Sr. and Jr., while Barry’s last known address was a caravan on an unremarkable street in a neighbouring town.
While these new details help paint a picture of the men’s activities across Ontario leading up to the fatal incident, they raise more questions than answers. These unanswered questions sit at the heart of public concern as the extradition case unfolds.
Whether the Evans/Jones men will ultimately be returned to face justice in Canada remains a decision for the Scottish courts, and one that Owen Sound residents, still grieving the loss of a respected community member, continue to await.
None of these allegations need to be proven in the extradition case. Both the judge and advocate (defense counsel) stated in the May 22 hearing that they take the information provided by Canadian authorities at face value.
Instead, the arguments focus on two key issues: whether there is an equivalent criminal charge in the Scottish justice system, and whether the defense has a valid concern that Canadian prisons are of such poor condition it would be a violation of the Evans/Jones crew’s human rights.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled to continue in Edinburgh on June 19, 2025. The Owen Sound Current will bring updates as this story develops.
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Great reporting. This story makes me wish there were something other than a heart to click to show approval.
Thank you for this investigative journalism. The heartbreak continues. So many suspicious details that lead to more questions.