CTV has the news:

The Hollywood actor best known for his role as deadbeat cousin Eddie in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and his wife have asked for refugee protection in Canada after being arrested in Vancouver on immigration violations earlier this week.

Oscar-nominee Randy Quaid, 60, and his wife Evi, 47, made the verbal plea for protection at a Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board hearing in Vancouver on Friday afternoon.

The couple said that they fear for their lives in the U.S., and Evi claimed that nine close friends of her husband have recently been murdered, including actors David Carradine, Heath Ledger and Chris Penn.

Previous Kwazy Quaid coverage here.