VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (AP) - Actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have been released from a Canadian detention facility after she was declared a Canadian citizen, Canadian border officials said Wednesday.
The Quaids were arrested last Thursday in a shopping area of a posh Vancouver, British Columbia, neighborhood and were jailed on outstanding U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges. The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, California, where they missed a court hearing Monday on felony vandalism charges.
The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed in a statement that Evi Quaid is a citizen of Canada.
The pair had appeared at an immigration hearing in which they requested refugee status based on their belief that they were being persecuted by “Hollywood star whackers,” as they put it, and that their lives were in danger.
During the hearing, Evi Quaid repeatedly said her father was a Canadian FBI agent, a claim she explained later by saying her father was a Canadian who moved to the United States and began working for the FBI.
Catherine Sas, the Quaid’s new lawyer, said Evi Quaid can live and work in Canada and border officials have withdrawn their proceedings.
As for Randy Quaid, the border services agency would only say that he is no longer in detention and his case will be proceeding through immigration channels.
The couple had been scheduled to appear at a refugee board hearing in Vancouver on Thursday. They were told last week they could be released from detention if they posted a $10,000 bond each, but the pair remained in custody.
Refugee claimants can be detained if officials suspect they won’t appear for their hearings.
The Quaids have frequently missed court appearances in the past for a now-resolved U.S. case involving charges they defrauded an innkeeper.
The Quaids are due to appear in a Santa Barbara court next week on felony vandalism charges and their U.S. lawyer has said he expects them to show up.
After a court hearing in Santa Barbara on Tuesday, senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter made it clear that the U.S. warrants for the Quaids remain outstanding.
The couple’s U.S. lawyer, Robert Sanger, told the court he had been in contact with the Quaids and expected them to be present for the hearing which is set for Nov. 2.
Quaid and his wife were charged after more than $5,000 in damage was found in a guest house of a Montecito, California, home they had previously owned.
Last week, Evi Quaid, 47, begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator to allow the couple to stay in Canada, saying she feared for her 60-year-old husband’s life after some of their friends, like actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, had been “murdered” under mysterious circumstances.
Ledger died in January 2008 from an accidental overdose. Carradine was found dead, hanging from a rope, in a suite at a luxury Bangkok hotel. Neither actor’s death was ruled suspicious.
Randy Quaid is best-known for supporting roles in films such as “Independence Day” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
He has said the couple came to Canada because he was being given an award by a film critics group. He added that they were considering moving to Vancouver, where he planned to jump-start his career.
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