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Quaids still in jail despite release order

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, remain in a Canadian jail despite being granted a release from custody last week after they were arrested on outstanding warrants in California, a Canadian border official said Tuesday.

TORONTO — Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, remain in a Canadian jail despite being granted a release from custody last week after they were arrested on outstanding warrants in California, a Canadian border official said Tuesday.

The Quaids were arrested last Thursday in a shopping area of a posh Vancouver, British Columbia, neighbourhood and were jailed on outstanding U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges. The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, where they missed a court hearing Monday on felony vandalism charges.

The pair were ordered released from custody the next day during a detention review hearing on $9,750 bail and a promise to appear for their next hearing Thursday.

However, Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Shakila Manzoor told The Associated Press the Quaids remain in detention.

The Quaids’ lawyer, Brian Tsuji, declined to comment.

During their hearing last week, the couple told Canada’s immigration board they are being persecuted in the United States. Randy Quaid said he and his wife plan to apply for refugee status in Canada because the couple are seeking asylum from “the murderers of Hollywood.”

Evi Quaid begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator not to force them to return, saying their friends, such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, have been “murdered” under mysterious circumstances and she worried something would happen to her husband next. 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.

During a break in the proceedings, Tsuji approached the media to read a single-sentence statement from the Quaids.

“We are requesting asylum from Hollywood star whackers.” he read.