We got a media notice from the B.C. government Thursday afternoon telling us that Jamie Bacon would be making a special court appearance Friday at 2 p.m. No other details were provided.
Maybe we’ll finally find out what’s been going on behind closed doors in the case over several months.
Bacon’s pre-trial hearings have been in-camera. The doors to the courtroom have been locked and there’s even been paper over the windows of the courtroom so snoopy reporters couldn’t look inside.
For the last couple of weeks I had been trying to get confirmation of Bacon’s trial date, but never got an answer from the spokesman for the Criminal Justice Branch – until we got this notice today.
I’ll obviously update you tomorrow when we learn what’s up.
Accused killer Jamie Bacon makes special court appearance Friday
Accused killer Jamie Bacon will make a special appearance in B.C. Supreme Court Friday afternoon.
Dan McLaughlin, who speaks for the Criminal Justice Branch, refused to say why Bacon was making the appearance.
Bacon’s trial on one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, had been set to proceed on Oct. 31, 2016.
There have been secret pre-trial hearings in the Bacon case continuing for months behind locked doors at the Vancouver Law Courts.
The former Abbotsford gangster was charged in April 2009 in the murder of gang rival Corey Lal, who was shot to death along with five others on Oct. 19, 2007 in a Surrey highrise.
Two of the victims — Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg — were uninvolved bystanders who got caught in the slaughter.
Mohan’s mother Eileen said Thursday that she had been informed by Crown about the special appearance but did not know what was going to happen.
“I will be in court to find out,” said Mohan.
Chris Mohan
Also killed that day were Lal’s brother Michael and associates Ryan Bartolomeo and Eddie Narong.
Less than a year ago, a gangster originally charged with manslaughter in the case, Sophon Sek, pleaded guilty only to break and enter and was sentenced to less than a year in jail. The manslaughter charge was dropped.
Sek helped the Surrey Six killers access the apartment where the murders took place.
Sek was a friend Red Scorpion gang leader Michael Le, who also struck a plea deal earlier in the case.
Le pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 12 years, minus time-served.
In December 2014, Bacon associates Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were found guilty of first-degree murder sentenced to life in prison. They have appealed their convictions.
Another gangster involved in the murders, who can only be identified as Person X, continues to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 15 years after pleading guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in April 2009.
It wasn’t the news many of us gathered in courtroom 20 Friday expected. We thought maybe accused Surrey Six killer Jamie Bacon might have struck a plea deal on a lesser charge. We have seen that a few times already in the infamous murder case dating back to Oct. 19, 2007.
There were media, some victims’ family members, defence lawyers from the earlier Surrey Six trial and just interested members of the public filling the seats of the high-security courtroom.
The actual proceedings were over in five minutes. Justice Kathleen Ker ordered that the trial would be delayed again.
Here’s my story:
Accused killer Jamie Bacon’s Surrey Six trial delayed again
Accused killer Jamie Bacon’s murder trial has been delayed until March 2018, more than a decade after the Surrey Six murders he is alleged to have plotted.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker said Friday that the adjournment was necessary because of a series of complex pre-trial applications related to evidence and other issues that have not yet been heard.
She said the original Oct. 31 trial date is now “completely unrealistic in light of the fact that there are a number of lengthy and complicated pretrial applications outstanding.”
One of them, she said, was a defence motion to stay the charges against the notorious gangster due to the lengthy delay in getting to trial.
Ker referenced a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in July, staying trafficking charges against a B.C. man named Barrett Jordan because he had waited more than four years to go to trial.
“I understand the defence is finalizing framing its Jordan application seeking a stay of proceedings,” Ker said.
She said jury selection will now begin Feb. 5, 2018, with the trial starting on March 5.
Bacon was charged on April 4, 2009 with murder and conspiracy in connection with the infamous Surrey Six slaughter of six men, including two innocent bystanders, in a high-rise apartment building.Bacon is alleged to have ordered the hit on rival drug trafficker Corey Lal that spiralled out of control on Oct. 19, 2007 and resulted in the murder of Lal, his brother Michael, associates Ryan Bartolomeo and Eddie Narong, as well as bystanders Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg.
Mohan’s mother Eileen was in court Friday as Ker announced the delay.
She said afterwards that she had been hoping for a guilty plea from Bacon “to end this nightmare”.
Now she will have to wait even longer for the final trial in connection with the murders.
“It takes a toll on us and on me. But at the end of the day, if it delivers justice for Christopher and his death doesn’t go in vain, then I am all for being patient and waiting for the right outcome.”
She said she wasn’t worried about a defence motion to stay the charges in the case because of all the delays.
“This one is very important to me and I’m hoping the courts won’t let him walk free,” Mohan said.
Criminal Justice Branch spokesman Dan McLaughlin said the Crown is working diligently to move the case to trial.
“Certainly we want to see these matters proceed in an expeditious manner. But they must be adjudicated upon fully and fairly,” he said.
“I think that the public should know that this is an example of the criminal justice system essentially working its way through a variety of complex issues. We are being challenged, and in my view we are rising to the challenge. We are applying appropriate resources to resolving these issues.”
Bacon was in courtroom #20 on Friday, which was packed with spectators. He wore red prison garb and looked big and bulky, like he had been hitting the jail gym.
Now 31, he is the youngest of three gangster siblings who were involved in a bloody conflict across the Lower Mainland from 2007 to 2009.
Bacon had his trial severed from co-accused Cody Haevischer, Matthew Johnston and Michael Le after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that he had been held in inhumane conditions in jail, including solitary confinement, after his arrest.
Less than a year ago, another gangster charged with manslaughter in the case, Sophon Sek, pleaded guilty only to break and enter. The more serious charge was dropped. He got sentenced to less than a year in jail.
Sek was a friend of Le, the Red Scorpion gang founder who also struck a plea deal earlier in the case and was sentenced to 12 years, minus time served.
In December 2014, Haevischer and Johnston were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. They have appealed their convictions.
Another gangster involved in the murders, who can only be identified as Person X, continues to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 15 years after pleading guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in April 2009.
Early Oct., 2007: Surrey drug trafficker Corey Lal is roughed up by rivals from the Red Scorpion gang and told to pay a $100,000 “tax” for selling cocaine and other drugs in their territory.
Oct. 18, 2007: Corey Lal, Eddie Narong and other associates forcibly take over a Surrey drug line run by Lal’s former partner Stephen Leone.
Oct. 19, 2007: Eddie Narong, Corey Lal, his brother Michael Lal, associate Ryan Bartolomeo and bystanders Ed Schellenberg and Chris Mohan are shot to death, execution-style, inside suite 1505 of Surrey’s Balmoral Tower.
Oct. 22, 2007: Police seized a BMW linked to accused Surrey Six killer Cody Haevischer at a Burnaby car-detailing business where it had been dropped off.
Oct. 23, 2007:Homicide investigators search a suite at The Stanley apartments in Surrey, where Cody Haevischer was living with his girlfriend before the Surrey Six murders.
Cody Haevischer
March 12, 2008: The Integrated HomicideInvestigation Team asks for the public’s help in identifying a man with “significant” information about the murders, saying police would protect the man from the killers.May 31, 2008: The Vancouver Sun reveals for the first time that the Surrey Six suspects are linked to the Red Scorpion gang.
May 31, 2008: Police warn that anyone associating with the Red Scorpion Bacon brothers could be in danger because they have been targeted by rivals. Jamie and Jarrod Bacon are arrested on firearms charges.
Jan. 20, 2009:Jamie Bacon is shot at as he drives his car through a busy Abbotsford intersection at midday. He is uninjured, but police later say the United Nations gang was hunting him at the time.
Feb. 3, 2009: Raphael Baldini, a close friend of Corey Lal’s who once rented suite 1505 in the Balmoral, is gunned down in a Surrey mall parking lot.
April 3, 2009: Person X enters a surprise guilty plea to second-degree murder charges for fatally shooting Chris Mohan, Michael Lal and Ryan Bartolomeo in Surrey’s Balmoral Tower 18 months earlier.
April 3, 2009: Red Scorpions Cody Haevischer, Matt Johnston and Jamie Bacon are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the slayings.
Matt Johnston
June 17, 2009: Red Scorpion gang founder Michael Le is arrested in the Philippines and deported to Canada, where he is charged with murder and conspiracy in the killings.Nov. 23, 2009: Sophon Sek is charged with manslaughter for allegedly helping the Surrey Six killers get access to the Balmoral Tower suite.
April 13, 2010: A Red Scorpion who can only be identified as Person Y pleads guilty to two unrelated murders and reveals he will be a Crown witness in the Surrey Six case.
Aug. 2, 2012: The Crown announces that Jamie Bacon will get a separate trial from his co-accused Cody Haevischer, Matt Johnston and Michael Le.
Sept. 30, 2013: The Surrey Six trial begins for Haevischer, Johnston and Le under tight security at Vancouver Law Courts.
Nov. 28, 2013: Red Scorpion founder Michael Le enters a surprise mid-trial guilty plea to conspiracy to commit murder and agrees to testify against his former co-accused.
March 10, 2014: Key Crown witness Person Y takes the stand and describes his life as a gangster and killer. He later implicates Matt Johnston in the Surrey Six murders. He also testifies that Jamie Bacon had ordered the murders.
Chris Mohan
April 8, 2014: Red Scorpion founder Michael Le begins his sensational testimony at the trial, saying both Cody Haevischer and Matt Johnston confessed to having roles in the murders.
May 20, 2014: Lead prosecutor Mark Levitz closes the Crown’s case after 73 witnesses and 80 days of testimony.
June 9, 2014: Defence lawyers Simon Buck (for Haevischer) and Michael Tammen (Johnston) tell Judge Catherine Wedge they will not be calling witnesses on behalf of their clients.
July 7, 2014: Cody Haevischer’s defence team begins its closing arguments, calling the Crown’s evidence in the case “woefully inadequate.”
July 10, 2014: Matt Johnston’s lawyers begin closing arguments, saying key witnesses testifying about the murder plot are admittedviolent gangsters and should not be believed.
July 14, 2014: B.C. Supreme Court Judge Catherine Wedge announces she will give her verdict in the Surrey Six case on Oct. 2, 2014.
Oct. 2, 2014: Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston are convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They are later sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years.
Ed Schellenberg
Jan. 8, 2015: Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston file appeals of their convictions.July 29, 2015: Jamie Bacon’s Sept. 2, 2015 trial date is delayed by more than a year until Oct. 31, 2016
Dec. 18, 2015: Sophon Sek strikes a plea deal. His manslaughter charge is dropped and he pleads guilty only to break and enter for helping the Surrey Six killers access the Balmoral Tower. He gets less than a year in jail.
Sept. 23, 2016: Jamie Bacon makes an appearance in B.C. Supreme Court for a ruling by Justice Kathleen Ker to delay his trial yet again to March 5, 2018 — more than 10 years after the murders.
Ridge Meadows RCMP responded to a shots fired call near 243 Street and 102 Avenue about 2 a.m. Saturday.
When officers arrived, they found a 32-year-old man with gunshot wounds. He was transported to hospital where he died.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called in and is working with the local detachment, Cpl. Meghan Foster said in a news release.
“The investigation is in its early stages, but from the evidence gathered so far the shooting appears to be targeted,” Foster said. “We are looking to speak with more witnesses who were in the area at the time of this incident, and may be able to provide valuable information to assist our investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448.
Meanwhile, IHIT also released the name of a man found dead in Coquitlam Friday about 6:30 a.m.
The body Jason Leigh Zellmer, 39, was located in the 4900-block of Quarry Road after police got a report of an abandoned vehicle nearby.
Jason Zellmer
“From the evidence gathered so far, Mr. Zellmer’s death does not appear to be random. Investigators believe that Mr. Zellmer met with foul play and died as a result of the injuries he sustained; an autopsy is required to determine the cause of death,” Foster said.
“IHIT investigators are seeking information from people who saw Mr. Zellmer during the day on September 22. Or, were in the area of 4900 Quarry Road overnight on September 22, and saw a newer black Hyundai Elantra.”
The online court database shows that Zellmer has a long history with police for crimes like break and enter, driving without a licence, possession of stolen property, theft under $5000, mischief, possession of a controlled substance, uttering threats and breach of probation.
This past August he was in the Downtown Community Court in Vancouver where he was convicted of theft and sentenced to a day in jail.
Surrey RCMP issued a release Sunday saying a man and a woman had been injured in a targeted shooting in the 4200-block of 152nd Street.
“The male and female are associated to the residence in which they were located. Both victims were transported by land ambulance to a regional trauma hospital to be treated for their apparent non life-threatening injuries. This event appears to have been a targeted event,” the release from the watch commander says.
The are has been secured by investigators. Forensic investigators are gathering evidence at the scene.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.
The double-shooting comes days after a man was shot to death in Maple Ridge and another man – Surrey resident Jason Zellmer was found murdered in Coquitlam.
I’ve tried to update readers whenever there’s a development in the case of the United Nations gang plot to kill the Bacon brothers.
As I’ve recently reported, UN associates like Ion (K-9) Kroitoru have gotten paroled after their 2014 convictions in the murder plot. And now Barzan Tilli-Choli, who was handed the longest sentence in 2013, will be released from prison in January – but only to be handed over to Canada Border Services Agency.
Tilli-Choli has been ordered deported as soon as he’s up for statutory release.
UN gangster Barzan Tilli-Choli expected to be deported to Iraq after jail release
A United Nations gangster convicted of plotting to kill the Bacon brothers will be released from prison in January and is expected to be deported to Iraq soon afterwards.
The Parole Board of Canada ruled last week it isn’t necessary to keep Barzan Tilli-Choli in custody past his statutory release date, given the deportation order against him.
Tilli-Choli, 34, pleaded guilty in July 2013 to his role in the UN murder plot, which continued over several months in 2008 and 2009.
Prosecutors said Tilli-Choli, his gang leader Clay Roueche and several others in the UN, participated in “human safaris” as they hunted the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion gang mates across the Lower Mainland.
Tilli-Choli was handed a 14-year sentence minus almost nine years as double credit for the 4½ years he spent in pre-trial custody, for a net sentence of five years and three months.
The Correctional Service of Canada originally recommended that Tilli-Choli be held in custody beyond his statutory release, which comes after a prisoner serves two-thirds of his or her sentence.
“However in August 2016, CSC suggested that your risk could be managed if you were removed to your country of origin,” board members Alex Dantzer and Linda Cross said in their decision.
“Your deportation is said to be virtually assured once you reach your statutory release date.”
Tilli-Choli was born in the Kurdistan province of Iraq and came to Canada in 1999 at age 17. He lost his permanent residence status because of his conspiracy conviction.
Denture and Cross said they still have concerns about Tilli-Choli given that he “denied or minimized” his violent behaviour when questioned at the hearing.
“The board has the following concerns — you have admitted lengthy involvement in gang lifestyle and demonstrated that you are willing to kill other persons with no regard to the safety of members of the community. You were entrenched in a subculture with attitudes that support violence,” the ruling said.
Canadian law dictates that someone can’t be held beyond the two-thirds point of their sentence unless they’re “likely to commit an offence causing serious harm to another person” before the remaining one-third of the sentence is completed.
Tilli-Choli doesn’t meet the criteria to be detained until the end of his full sentence, the board said.
“A psychological risk assessment completed in July 2016 concludes you pose a low risk of re-offending if you are to be removed to your home country, although your risk would be significantly higher if you were to remain in Canada.”
Tilli-Choli has tried to distance himself from “negative associates in prison,” the ruling said.
He is co-operating with his upcoming deportation and provided support letters from relatives in Iraq, Dantzer and Cross heard.
The two parole board members put conditions on Tilli-Choli’s release.
Barzan Tilli-Choli in undated jail photo.
He must stay away from criminal associates, is not allowed to remain in B.C. and must notify the parole board if he plans on coming back to Canada before the end of his sentence in October 2018.
Parole Board regional manager Patrick Storey said Wednesday that Tilli-Choli would be turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency on his prison release date.
“I think the board’s expectation is that he would go into the custody of CBSA and then be removed,” Storey said.
When Tilli-Choli was arrested in March 2009, he had photos of the Bacons on his iPhone. He was also captured on wiretaps attempting to get a gun for an attack on a limousine the Bacons were in following a January 2009 concert in downtown Vancouver.
“The Pigs gangsters are here, man,” Tilli-Choli was captured saying.
He also said that whoever was in the limo “is gonna get” shot.
A month later Tilli-Choli and others shot up the vehicle of another Bacon associate outside T-Barz strip club in Surrey.
The parole board noted that Tilli-Choli had initially been charged with the murder of Jonathan Barber, a stereo installer gunned down when the gang was hunting for one of the Bacon brothers. He ended up pleading guilty only to conspiracy to commit murder.
“The conspiracy involved collecting and sharing information regarding the targets, organizing scouting teams and making specific attempts to kill the targets,” Dantzer and Cross said. “You have said that you did not care who got in the way of killing your rival.”
Vancouver police have arrested two men after two bodies were found in different parts of the city.
Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, police were called to the Davie Street mansion near Nicola Street in Vancouver West End.
They found a body inside. A 48-year-old man has been taken into custody.
“Investigators continue to gather evidence and will be working closely with the Coroner to confirm the identity of the victim and determine the exact cause of death,” Const. Brian Montague said in a news release.
“This remains a very active investigation. There is no concern for public safety and additional details will be provided as the investigation permits.”
And a man was arrested in East Vancouver early Thursday after the body of a 61-year-old woman was found inside a house near Vanness and Rupert about 6:30 a.m.
“Police will be recommending charges and homicide detectives with the VPD Major Crime Section continue to investigate,” Montague said. “Additional details will be released after charges have been approved.”
It took B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross two hours Friday to read a summary of her ruling in the massive Hells Angels case.
At the end of the morning, senior HA David Giles was convicted conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Two others charges in the conspiracy – James Howard and Michael Read – were acquitted of that count. Howard was convicted of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Read was acquitted of two other charges as well.
The second full-patch Hells Angels charged – Bryan Oldham – was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking, but acquitted of a conspiracy count. He appeared to cry when the judge said guilty on the one count.
Shawn Womacks was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking as well – the only count he faced.
The defence is already preparing an application to have the charges stayed for delay – just like the lawyers in the Jamie Bacon case are doing. Dates will be set for that application and for sentencing on Oct. 11th. We’ll see what happens.
Senior Hells Angel convicted of conspiracy to import huge amount of cocaine
A senior member of the Kelowna Hells Angels was convicted in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday of conspiracy to import 200 kilograms of cocaine after an undercover RCMP operation four years ago.
Justice Carol Ross also found David Giles guilty of conspiracy to traffic half a tonne of cocaine, as well as possession for the purpose of trafficking, after he and an associate brokered a 2012 smuggling deal with police posing as South American drug lords.
Ross said video and audio recordings made by the police during the investigation proved Giles and his associate Kevin Van Kalkeren agreed to pay the undercover cops millions for the cocaine.
“I find that it is clear that what Mr. Van Kalkeren and Mr. Giles intended from March 2012 forward was to purchase cocaine from the (undercover officers) for resale,” Ross said. “They believed that the drugs they were purchasing were not already in the country. It is clear that the plan was to sell the drugs in Canada.”
Van Kalkeren earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and was sentenced in May to 16 years in jail.
Ross referred to comments Giles made to the purported drug lords prior to the delivery of 200 kilos of fake cocaine to a Burnaby warehouse on Aug. 25, 2012.
“Giles expressed confidence in their ability to market the cocaine,” Ross said. “The agreement was for 500 kilos. Mr. Giles’ proposal to proceed with 200 first was made so that the proceeds of the sale of the 200 could be applied to the purchase price for the 300.”
Giles, vice-president of the Kelowna HA chapter, told one of the officers “that he expected to be able to get rid of the 500 kilos in a couple of weeks,” Ross said.
Hells Angel Bryan Oldham convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking
Ross also convicted Kelowna Hells Angel Bryan Oldham of possession for the purpose of trafficking after he met with undercover police on Aug. 24, 2012 and said he would step in if anything happened to Giles.
“Mr. Oldham confirmed that he understood why he was there, that he would take over if Mr. Giles became ill, that he knew they were talking about 500 and that it was not candy, that he would go to Mr. Van Kalkeren if anything happened with Mr. Giles,” Ross said.
But Ross acquitted Oldham of the more serious charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, saying there was no evidence that the long-time biker was part of the bigger plot to sell the coke despite the single meeting he attended.
“I have concluded that the evidence supports a reasonable inference that he did not, in fact, intend to join the conspiracy, and did not do so,” Ross said.
Hells Angels associate James Howard was convicted of both conspiracy to traffic and possession for the purpose of trafficking. But he was acquitted of conspiracy to import the cocaine.
Associate Shawn Womacks, who was arrested at the warehouse where the fake cocaine was delivered, was found guilty of a single count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Michael Read, who the Crown had alleged was part of the conspiracy throughout the undercover investigation and who delivered a suitcase containing $2 million to police, was acquitted of all charges.
“I am not satisfied that the only reasonable inference is that Mr. Read knew that he was delivering the downpayment of the cocaine purchase, or that he must have been informed of the essential elements of the agreement in advance of these events and agreed to participate,” Ross said.
The elaborate reverse sting involved undercover officers meeting with Giles and Van Kalkeren over several months in late 2011 and 2012 in Vancouver, Mexico City, Panama City, and Montreal.
“In the course of these meetings, the Crown alleges that an agreement was reached for the purchase of cocaine from the undercover officers,” Ross noted. “The first agreement was for the purchase of 200 kilos of cocaine to be delivered in Los Angeles. The terms were later modified to provide for delivery of 500 kilos of cocaine in Vancouver.”
Almost $4 million was delivered by Van Kalkeren and Giles as a downpayment for the cocaine.
Giles, now 66 and in ill health, has been in custody since his arrest on Aug. 25, 2012. All the others in the case have been out on bail.
The case has been adjourned until Oct. 11, to fix a date for a sentencing and for the defence to make an application to throw out the charges because of trial delays.
Two others, Murray Elmer Trekofski and Orhan Saydam, earlier pleaded guilty to lesser roles in the cocaine scheme.
Giles, a former member of the Hells Angels’ East End chapter, was acquitted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in 2008 following an earlier undercover police investigation code-named E-Pandora.
At the time, police said Giles was a “high priority” for the RCMP and remains a suspect in the 2001 seizure of a two-tonne shipment of cocaine headed to B.C. aboard a vessel named the Western Wind, which was intercepted by authorities in Washington state. No one was ever charged.
November 2011: Kevin Van Kalkeren attends first meetings in Vancouver with undercover police posing as Miami-based members of a South American drug organization.
Dec. 13, 2011: Police watch as Van Kalkeren meets Hells Angel David Giles at a Canadian Tire parking lot in Kelowna.
Jan. 7, 2012: Van Kalkeren meets undercover police in Mexico City to discuss cocaine importation. Says his business partner is a 35-year member of the Hells Angels.
March 11, 2012: Van Kalkeren and Giles meet with undercover police in Panama City for the first time. Giles says he has been working with Van Kalkeren for four years and talks about his role in Hells Angels.
June 7, 2012: Initial $2-million downpayment made to undercover police at the Pacific Rim Hotel. Some of the money is mouldy and wet.
Aug. 3, 2012: Second payment of just under $2 million delivered in suitcase to police at the Pan Pacific Hotel.
Aug. 24, 2012: Hells Angel Bryan Oldham meets undercover officers, shows his Hells Angels tattoos, and agrees to stand in if anything happens to Giles.
Aug. 25, 2012: Fake cocaine is delivered to a Burnaby warehouse and police make arrests at the warehouse, in Maple Ridge, and at a Burnaby casino.
January 2016: Kevin Van Kalkeren pleads guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine.
February 2016: Trial begins at the Vancouver Law Courts for David Giles, Bryan Oldham, James Howard, Michael Read and Shawn Womacks.
May 27, 2016: Kalkeren is sentenced to 16 years in jail for his role in the conspiracy to import up to half a tonne of cocaine.
July 27, 2016: The trial wraps up and Justice Carol Ross reserves her decision.
Sept. 30, 2016: Ross convicts Giles on two conspiracy counts and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking, Bryan Oldham on one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking, James Howard on conspiracy to traffic and possession for the purpose of trafficking counts, and Shawn Womack on one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The fifth accused, Michael Read, is acquitted of all counts.
RCMP Asst. Commissioner Bill Fordy has been at the helm of the Surrey RCMP for four years. But now he’s been appointed to head up the whole Lower Mainland District.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner announced his replaced at a news conference today.
He’s Chief Supt. Dwayne McDonald, who has been the head of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team for the last two years.
As a boy growing up in Surrey, Mountie Dwayne McDonald was attracted to policing for the “adventure and excitement”.Decades later, he is back in the city of his youth as the newly appointed officer in charge of Canada’s largest RCMP detachment.
Mayor Linda Hepner introduced McDonald at a news conference on Tuesday at Surrey RCMP headquarters in the same room where McDonald had written his entrance exam for the force 24 years earlier.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that one day I would be coming back as the officer in charge. I am excited about this opportunity,” McDonald told journalists, police officers and city councillors gathered for the announcement.
“As a child, I always … had a romantic vision of policing, the adventure and the excitement.”
He grew up in a family of boys — two brothers now live and work in the U.S. One is in the military and the other is a minister.
“I often say we are all fighting evil in our own way,” McDonald said. “I was always attracted by that notion. But again, at the heart of it for me, it is about helping people.”
He spent his youth in Guildford and Whalley. His father is still a pastor in Surrey.
McDonald, 48, earned a degree at Simon Fraser University before joining the RCMP in 1995. He started as a constable in Burnaby and later became a senior investigator with the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
In 2011, he was put in charge of the investigation into the gangland slaying in Kelowna of Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon. Three rival gangsters have been charged with Bacon’s murder and are now awaiting trial.
Two years ago, McDonald became the head of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team — the largest such squad in the country, with over 100 officers and support staff.
Hepner said McDonald’s experience makes him the perfect candidate to take over the vacancy left by the promotion of Asst. Commissioner Bill Fordy.
“Chief Supt. McDonald has earned the respect of those who work for him and with him. His style is to lead from the front, not watch from the sidelines,” she said.
McDonald said he plans to build on the successes of his predecessor on the job.
“I will strive to build on what has proven successful and look for innovative and collaborative solutions to current and future challenges,” he said.
Asked about the high-profile gang violence in the city in recent years, McDonald said, “We need to remain on top of not only enforcement actions, but I think more importantly engaging our youth early.”
“Most of the individuals involved in this drug war or turf war are young people, and the city of Surrey and the RCMP have done an excellent job of putting programs in place to try and get ahead of that. Certainly, prevention is much cheaper than enforcement. So that’s what we will continue to do.”
But he also said he wouldn’t be afraid to make changes in strategy if necessary.
“I am certainly open to change. There is no point in making change if it’s not required. But I think any police chief, anyone in my position, needs to take a step back and be open to hearing feedback and take a look at what’s working and not working. If it’s not working, we need to change it,” McDonald said.
“We will provide a public safety model in Surrey that will be the envy of all.”
Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, the officer-in-charge of the RCMP in B.C., chaired the selection committee, which also included Hepner and other city staff.
“We have identified a dedicated and forward-thinking police leader with a strong and diverse background,” Callens said. “He has the commitment and drive to establish lasting community relationships and ensure a collaborative approach is taken to keep this community safe.”
McDonald said Surrey has now deployed an additional 100 police officers over the last year, and almost 300 since 2014.
“It’s always simple to say that more boots on the ground will produce a higher level of public safety or more service,” he said. “But as we all know, the cost of policing is rising and we need to look at ways to more effectively and efficiently deploy our resources.”
When a man was critically injured in a bicycle drive-by in Kelowna in August, I thought it was a strange event. Police announced soon afterwards that a suspect had been arrested. His name is Tyrone Reynolds McGee and he has a criminal history on the Lower Mainland for trafficking, assault and other charges. He was even mentioned in a civil forfeiture case against a Surrey drug house, having been arrested nearby with $495 that police seized as drug proceeds.
But this story became even more interesting when I learned that the victim was a man named Reginald Purdom, who is a key witness in a US drug conspiracy case targeting another B.C. man – Kevin Donald Kerfoot. Just two weeks before Purdom was shot, Kerfoot lost the latest round in his 10-year battle to avoid extradition to the U.S.
Man shot in Kelowna drive-by is key witness in U.S. drug smuggling case
A man seriously injured in a bizarre drive-by shooting in Kelowna in August was supposed to be a witness in a U.S. drug case implicating another B.C. man.
The Vancouver Sun has learned that Reginald Purdom, who pleaded guilty in 2006 in Washington state to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy, was the victim of the Aug. 2 targeted shooting.
He is listed as a key witness for the U.S. government in a drug conspiracy case in which Surrey resident Kevin Donald Kerfoot is charged.
Kerfoot has been fighting his extradition to the U.S. for more than a decade.
U.S. wanted poster for Kevin Donald Kerfoot.
Just two weeks before Purdom was gunned down, Kerfoot lost his latest bid in the B.C. Court of Appeal to halt his extradition. He’s now sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Asked Thursday whether he knew Purdom had been shot, Kerfoot said: “I’ve heard something, but I know nothing about it.”
He refused to comment on the status of his extradition case or whether the shooting would impact it.
“I have no comment to any of this,” Kerfoot said before hanging up the phone.
It was just after 10 p.m. when a man on a mountain bike approached Purdom’s black Lincoln Town Car outside the Sonic car wash just off the highway in West Kelowna.
The cyclist pulled out a 40-calibre handgun equipped with a silencer and started blasting through the driver’s window.
Purdom, 48, was hit eight times in the chest, leg and hand. As the gunman attempted to reload, Purdom managed to drive the car forward, striking his attacker before crashing.
Police arrived at the chaotic scene and located a suspect nearby with the help of a police dog named Ice.
Tyrone Reynolds McGee, 29, is now facing seven charges, including attempted murder and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm.
He has previous convictions across Metro Vancouver for assault, trafficking and unauthorized use of a credit card. At the time of the shooting, he was on a driving prohibition handed to him by a Port Coquitlam judge last April. He remains in custody but is scheduled for an Oct. 17 bail hearing at the Kelowna Law Courts.
Kelowna RCMP media officer Const. Jesse O’Donaghey recently told The Sun that “the investigation remains ongoing.”
Scene of targeted shooting in West Kelowna Aug. 2 that left Reg Purdom with serious injuries
Purdom’s role as a witness in the U.S. court case against his former friend has been the subject of several court rulings in B.C.
He implicated Kerfoot in statements to U.S. agents after getting caught on Oct. 5, 2005, with a bag containing more than 24,000 ecstasy pills.
Hours earlier, Purdom drove a powerboat across the international border into Washington state to pick up 41 kilograms of cocaine and drop off a black bag full of ecstasy.
What he didn’t know is that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had already been tipped to the cocaine by a confidential informant.
The day before, DEA agents had pulled over the truck of Washington resident Randall Canupp, who was en route to meeting Purdom with the neatly wrapped bricks.
Canupp admitted he had the cocaine in the vehicle and agreed to work with police.
He told agents that three days before, he met Purdom and a man initially identified only as “Kevin” in Peace Arch Park “to discuss the transport of cocaine into Canada from the U.S.” court records said.
Kevin — later identified through cellphone records as Kerfoot — had arranged the meeting, during which it was agreed that Purdom would dock the boat at Sandy Point in Whatcom County to pick up the coke.
Canupp told police he was to “meet with Kevin’s California source of cocaine” in Marysville, Wash., to pick up the load for Purdom.
The agents went undercover to accompany Canupp to meet Purdom. The B.C. man handed over the ecstasy and began to load the containers of cocaine on the boat when he was arrested.
Once the cuffs were on, Purdom also agreed to co-operate, calling some of Kevin’s U.S. contacts to arrange deliveries while the agents listened in. He also identified Kerfoot as the mastermind of the drug smuggling operation.
Charges were laid against Kerfoot on July 20, 2006, a month before Purdom pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 54 months in jail.
As Purdom languished in a New Mexico prison, Kerfoot fought “tooth and nail” against his extradition.
Purdom wrote to the U.S. judge who sentenced him, decrying the fact that he couldn’t get a transfer to a Canadian jail until Kerfoot landed in the U.S. to face the charges.
The B.C. Supreme Court decided in August 2009 that the case was strong enough against Kerfoot to order his committal for extradition. He appealed the ruling.
Purdom, meanwhile, completed his sentence and returned to Canada in September 2009.
On May 18, 2010, he filed an affidavit for Kerfoot’s lawyer, recanting his earlier testimony. The other key witness, Canupp, died of cancer about two weeks later.
Kerfoot’s appeal was allowed and his case was sent back to B.C. Supreme Court for reconsideration.
Purdom filed another affidavit in December 2013, in which he said he had fingered Kerfoot under duress from U.S. authorities and insisted that it was all a lie.
He alleged he was threatened with a life sentence if he did not co-operate. He said he would never return to the U.S. and would not testify against Kerfoot, in person or by video link.
Despite recantations, a B.C. Supreme Court ordered Kerfoot surrendered to the U.S. a second time in October 2014. Again Kerfoot appealed.
They noted that Purdom “gave a statement under oath before an American judge, stating that he worked for Mr. Kerfoot in the drug conspiracy.”
And they said Purdom could face legal consequences in the U.S. if he “does not testify voluntarily.”
The appeal court also noted “it is not uncommon for witnesses, particularly accomplices, to recant their statements.”
Kerfoot filed his application to the Supreme Court of Canada the same day as the Court of Appeal ruling.
His lawyer Kirk Tousaw did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, said: “We continue to seek Mr. Kerfoot’s extradition to face trial for the charges against him. The assault on Mr. Purdom does not change that.”
Purdom could not be reached for comment.
But his father, Reg Sr., told The Sun that he was “devastated” when he got called by the hospital about his son’s shooting. He said it was touch and go for a few days, as Purdom fought for his life.
“He is still recovering,” he said.
Reg. Sr. admitted his son has made mistakes in his life, but that he was doing well before the targeted shooting.
“I couldn’t believe it. It’s a nightmare. At least he’s alive. That’s the biggest thing. It’s a miracle he’s alive,” he said. “He is all I got left.”
Oct. 5, 2005: Reginald Purdom, Randall Canupp and two others are arrested in Washington state and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy.
July 20, 2006: Four counts related to conspiracy and distribution of cocaine and ecstasy are laid against Kevin Donald Kerfoot.
Aug. 17, 2006: Reg Purdom pleads guilty to two counts and is sentenced to 54 months in jail and two years supervised release.
July 11, 2007: Extradition proceedings begin in Canada against Kerfoot.
May 28, 2008: Purdom writes to U.S. Federal Court Judge John C. Coughenour from jail in New Mexico concerned about the delay in Kerfoot’s extradition and its impact on his ability to get transferred to a Canadian jail given that he’s a witness in the U.S. case.
Aug. 4, 2009: A B.C. Supreme Court judge orders the committal of Kerfoot for extradition.
Sept. 4, 2009: Purdom completes his U.S. sentence and is deported to Canada.
Feb. 18, 2010: The Canadian Minister of Justice orders Kerfoot surrendered to the Americans.
May 18, 2010: Purdom signs an affidavit recanting prior statements to U.S. authorities implicating Kerfoot.
May 2010: Randall Canupp, the other key witness against Kerfoot, dies in the U.S.
Jan. 21, 2011: The B.C. Court of Appeal sets aside the justice minister’s order surrendering Kerfoot and sends the case back to the B.C. Supreme Court because of a change in the available evidence with one witness recanting and the other dying.
Dec. 15, 2013: Purdom signs a second affidavit recanting his prior statements and saying he was under duress when he implicated Kerfoot to U.S. authorities.
Oct. 3, 2014: The B.C. Supreme Court orders Kerfoot surrendered to the U.S. a second time.
July 14, 2016: The B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses Kerfoot’s bid to overturn the earlier order committing him for extradition and the justice minister’s order to surrender him to the U.S.
July 14, 2016: Kerfoot files an application with the Supreme Court of Canada seeking leave to appeal his case.
Aug. 2, 2016: Reginald Purdom is seriously injured in a targeted shooting outside a Kelowna car wash.
Eleven days after two Hells Angels and two of their associates were convicted for their roles in a massive drug importation conspiracy, a date has been fixed for their application to throw out the charges due to the delay in the case.
Lawyers for HA members David Giles and Bryan Oldham, as well as associates James Howard and Shawn Womacks, were back in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday so Justice Carol Ross could determine when their application will be heard.
It has now been fixed for Nov. 21. The application comes after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in July called R. v Jordan in which accused dial-a-doper Barrett Richard Jordan had his case thrown out because the highest court ruled that the 49 months it took for his trial to start violated his constitutional rights.
The SCC said that except for where exceptional circumstances exist, Provincial Court cases should go to trial within 18 months, while superior court cases (as in cases that go to B.C. Supreme Court in this province) should go to trial within 30 months.
We will likely now see a lot of these challenges here in B.C., given how long some of this big gang cases have taken to get to trial.
Already, lawyers for accused Surrey Six killer Jamie Bacon have said they plan to file an application to have his charges stayed because of unconstitutional delays in the case.
So it will be up to Crown prosecutors to lay out what “exceptional circumstances” they feel exist in that case and others to justify the time the prosecutions have taken to get to trial.
The trio – two from the Hells Angels Westridge chapter and one with the Nomads in Red Deer – were originally charged with attempted murder after the June 7, 2015 beating of a Greek man in Corfu.
The victim later died and the accused had their charges upgraded to the more serious murder counts.
Dustin Swanson, a prospect in the Edmonton-based Westridge chapter, is charged with intentional homicide.
Fellow Westridge member Nick Dragich and Brent Koziak, of the Nomads chapter in Red Deer, are both now charged with `collaboration’ homicide for allegedly assisting Swanson in the fatal beating.
Homicide detectives announced Monday that the victim of Sunday’s slaying in Langley is high-ranking Hells Angel Bob Green, who has been with the notorious biker gang for more than 20 years.
I pieced together as much as I could about Green’s life for the story below and will no doubt do a follow-up story tomorrow. So if you know anything, please contact me at 604-219-5740 or email me at kbolan@postmedia.com
Here’s my story:
Senior Hells Angel Bob Green murdered in Langley
He started as a bartender at the Drake Hotel on Powell Street and rose to become one of the most powerful Hells Angels in B.C.
Now homicide investigators are trying to piece together the hours before high-ranking biker Robert Keith (Bob) Green was found murdered in Langley Sunday morning.
Green, 56, had been a member of the notorious biker gang for more than 20 years — first as part of the Hells Angels East End chapter, then later moving to the elite Nomads chapter.
More recently, he was part of the Mission City chapter.
“He has been in the thick of the underworld and crime and gangsterism his whole life,” a retired biker cop said Monday. “He is one of the most influential high-profile B.C. Hells Angels. He had his hand in a bunch of different territories, regions in the province. He had influence on the island, up north and into the Prairies.”
Police were called to the 23700-block of 72 Avenue just before 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is investigating the death on Oct. 16, 2016, of senior B.C. Hell’s Angel Bob Green. [PNG Merlin Archive]
They found Green — a North Burnaby resident — dead from “injuries consistent with foul play,” Cpl. Meghan Foster, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said.
Sources say he was shot.
“Mr. Green was a well-established member of an organized crime group, and it is believed that his homicide was not random. Currently, investigators are encouraging witnesses that fled the scene to step forward,” Foster said.
“While the motive for this homicide hasn’t been confirmed, the risk associated with this lifestyle is one that remains consistent. IHIT is looking to identify the individuals who fled the scene as they may have imperative information, but also to ensure their safety isn’t compromised.”
Foster wouldn’t say if police have a suspect in the murder.
Green had plenty of enemies made over decades in the criminal underworld, police sources said.
“He was a ruthless guy in the underworld and he would exact territorial presence with violence and he would broker underworld deals over the years and always maintain that profile,” the retired cop said.
But he was also generally friendly and polite in his interactions with police.
“He was always out on the town and maintained a very high-profile. And for the most part, he was friendly to deal with, unless he got pissed,” he said.
Green loved to party and to show up at big events — like UFC matches and Canucks games.
“He loved going out. And loved his poker games. Loved his drinking and carousing. He is not reclusive. He is very engaging. A crazy hockey fan,” the retired officer said.
Postmedia has learned that Green was shot at a party — possibly after some kind of argument and that a suspect has contacted police. The suspect may have connections to the 856 gang- named after a phone prefix in Langley.
Green is close to members of the gang.
Green, who is married and has children, has lived for years near fellow Nomads in the Capitol Hill area of Burnaby, in a house assessed at $1.3 million.
A second former law enforcement officer said the murder “will cause quite a stir. It’s not that often that a Hells Angel in this province gets murdered.”
“They do go missing, and they occasionally get killed, but it is rare.”
Green got to know the Hells Angels who owned the Drake when he worked there. He became a full-patch Hells Angel in the mid-1990s, after being a member of a feeder club called the East Enders.
“He was a member of the original East Enders. They formed that little support club down on the Burnaby flats,” the second former cop said.
From the “puppet club,” Green joined the East End Hells Angels, as a hang-around and then a prospect before becoming a full-fledged member and getting his death-head patched vest in the mid-1990s.
Several years later, Green split off with other East End chapter members to form the Nomads chapter as the B.C. Hells Angels extended their reach in the province.
A company Green owned with two other Nomads, called 666 Holdings, purchased a property on Grant Street in Burnaby in 2005 where the Nomads opened their first clubhouse.
666 Holdings amalgamated with a newly-formed company called Grant Street Holdings Ltd., of which Green remains president.
But the Nomad’s clubhouse was sold in February 2014 after the B.C. government filed a civil forfeiture suit against three other Hells Angels clubhouses.
After the Sun reported on the sale, Green emailed to complain about some comments posted on the Sun’s site that purportedly were from him.
He denied writing the comments and asked for them to be deleted. But he also declined to comment on the reason for the clubhouse sale.
After the Nomads’ clubhouse closed, Green transferred to the Mission chapter.
“With Bob Green now out there, it completely elevated the profile of that chapter in the underworld and within the Hells Angels themselves,” the first retired cop said.
Green was also once the manager of the controversial North Burnaby Inn, which was thrown into the political spotlight in 1999 when the RCMP raided it and shut down the Lumberman’s Social Club poker room for illegal gambling.
Hells Angels spokesman Ricky Ciarniello failed to respond to an emailed request for comment.
Others close to Green, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, said he was one of the most generous people they had every met.
And they said he loved being around his family as much as he loved being with his Hells Angels brothers.
They predicted his funeral will be the biggest-ever procession of Hells Angels in the province.
Even the first retired cop stressed the importance of Green to the bikers across B.C.
“You look up Hells Angel in a dictionary and there is Bob Green,” he said.
Murdered and missing Hells Angels and associates in B.C.
• Robert Keith (Bob) Green, of the Nomads chapter, murdered in Langley on Oct. 16, 2016.
• Juel Ross Stanton, former East End Hells Angel, gunned down in Vancouver on Aug. 12, 2010. No one has been charged.
• William (Billy) Moore, president of HA puppet club Renegades, executed in Prince George in March 2005. The murder remains unsolved.
• Donald William (Donny) Roming, a member of the Nomads chapter, was shot to death outside a Vancouver nightclub on March 9, 2001. A suspect in the case was later murdered.
• Manuel (Manny) Valenti, a Hells Angel associate, fatally shot in front of his wife on Oct. 5, 2000. The murder remains unsolved.
• Cedric Baxter Smith, Vancouver Hells Angel, disappeared from Langley in May 2008 and is believed slain. The disappearance remains unsolved.
• Ernie Ozolins, who had just quit the Haney Hells Angels, gunned down on June 2, 1997, along with girlfriend Lisa Chamberlain at Ozolins’ s West Vancouver house. The murders remain unsolved.
• Rick (Blackie) Burgess, Haney Hells Angel, vanished on Jan. 7, 2002. He was declared legally dead in 2004, but the case remains unsolved.
• Michael (Zeke) Mickle, president of the Nanaimo Hells Angels, disappeared April 30, 1993. He reportedly owed fellow Angels a large amount of money related to a cocaine deal. Still unsolved.
Sources were telling me Monday that a young man involved in Langley’s 856 Gang had been arrested in the murder of Hells Angel Bob Green.
Now Jason Francis Wallace, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder. Sources also confirmed that he turned himself into police – a smart move considering what happened to John Rodgers back in 2001 after the murder of Hells Angel Donald Roming outside a Vancouver bar. Rodgers was shot to death a short time later.
Property on 72nd Avenue where Hells Angel Bob Green was murdered Sunday
Langley gang member charged with murder of Hells Angel
The man accused of killing Hells Angel Bob Green was out on bail at the time of the shooting on drug trafficking charges that he faces with Green’s cousin.
Jason Francis Wallace, 27, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Green on a rural Langley property Sunday morning.
Cpl. Meghan Foster, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, would not disclose Wallace’s gang links.
But just a year ago, B.C.’s anti-gang agency described Wallace as a member of the 856 Gang after he was arrested with Langley resident Leonard Pelletier, 49.
Pelletier is a cousin of Green, the high-ranking Hells Angel found dead about 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the 23700-block of 72nd Avenue.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is investigating the death on Oct. 16, 2016, of senior B.C. Hell’s Angel Bob Green.
The murder is believed to have stemmed from a dispute at an all-night party.
Foster said she couldn’t comment on whether Wallace had turned himself in.
“I can’t speak to the details of what led up to Mr. Wallace’s arrest,” she said.
“While police are learning some specifics of what took place preceding the homicide, the motive remains unclear.”
She said investigators are trying to find witnesses who fled the scene before police arrived and found Green dead.
“They may have paramount information that will assist in piecing together what occurred,” Foster said.
At the time of Green’s slaying, Wallace was out on $1,000 bail after being arrested with Pelletier on several charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking in June 2015.
The charges stemmed from a 2014 investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit into drug trafficking activities by the 856 Gang.
Officers searched a rented apartment in the 4600-block of 236th Street in Langley and discovered large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, OxyContin, and a cocaine-cutting agent, as well a 20-ton press used to create bricks of cocaine.
The gang takes its name from the telephone prefix for Aldergrove and has expanded into other parts of B.C. and Alberta in recent years.
Wallace has a long and violent history in B.C.
He pleaded guilty eight years ago to aggravated assault for stabbing a student after a high school graduation party in Langley. He got a 21-month conditional sentence.
“The attack was completely unprovoked and the victim did not know his assailant,” RCMP Cpl. Diane Blaine said at the time.
Wallace had originally been charged with attempted murder for the stabbing.
Jason Francis Wallace, 27, is seen at age 18 when he was charged in connection with a stabbing at a grad party.
He was also charged, along with Pelletier’s son Caylen and a third man, in 2010 with trying to run over a pedestrian with a truck in a parking lot near a community police office. In that case, Wallace and Pelletier were eventually acquitted on all charges, including attempted kidnapping. Their co-accused Craig Ivan Dennis was convicted only of theft.
Wallace and Green had several friends in common who were lamenting the tragic shooting on Facebook Monday.
Three police cruisers remained at the scene of the fatal shooting throughout the day Tuesday, blocking the long driveway right beside railway tracks just north of the TransCanada Highway.
The property has a quonset hut, at least one trailer and several semis parked on it. It appears to be part of a larger acreage.
Foster said the property was on the radar of Langley RCMP prior to Green’s murder.
Police block entrance to property where Bob Green was killed
Green was in the Hells Angels for more than 20 years and was described by police sources as a leading underworld figure.
But to his devastated friend Debra Atherton, he was “a wonderful man with a big heart who absolutely loved his family and was always showing people pictures of his kids.”
She said that when her husband died in a motorcycle accident several years ago, “Bob was there for me and my baby whole-heartedly. ”
“He would take us on his family trips, include us in his Christmas festivities and all other holidays, he treated my daughter like one of his own and that was something she desperately needed when we lost her dad. Bob was there for me until I didn’t need him so much anymore,” she said in an email. “Through the years he has always been there for me and never judged me for my mistakes, always had a big smile and warm hugs when we saw each other. He was one of my dearest friends.”
It was back in September 2014 when Mission firefighters responded to a call about smoke plumes coming out of a building on Horne Street. They found a suspected drug lab and called in the RCMP.
There were whispers that the building was owned by a Hells Angels. In fact, I went out to see the building a couple of months after the mess was cleaned up. It was empty at the time. On a rear window, I found a sticker for the ILWU (which of course anyone could have put there.)
The land title showed the building was owned by a numbered company of which Haney Hells Angel Justino Pace was one of two directors.
Last spring, the B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture filed a suit to get the proceeds of the sale of the building turned over by its owners. At the time, Pace told my colleague Keith Fraser that he was annoyed to be named in the suit because the building had been rented and he had no idea what was going on there.
Hells Angel forfeits interest in property where police found meth lab
Just a few months ago, Hells Angel Justino Pace told a reporter he was “annoyed” that the government was suing him over a rented property where police found a drug lab.
Now Pace has agreed to forfeit his share of the Mission property, according to the B.C. director of civil forfeiture.
The government agency said that under a consent order filed recently in B.C. Supreme Court, the Civil Forfeiture Office received about $23,000 in net proceeds from the sale of the building.
The single-level, 3,150-square-foot industrial unit at 7191 Horne St. was sold for about $229,000. Most of the cash went to pay off a mortgage.
Pace told Postmedia News in March that it was unfair for the government to name him in the civil forfeiture suit because he had no idea that his tenant was operating a meth and ecstasy lab in the building.
“I don’t understand why they named me as a defendant when I’m not even charged,” said Pace. “I’m so annoyed. I’m annoyed right now just thinking about it, that they could even do this.”
Pace’s woes began in September 2014, when a fire broke out on the property and the local fire department responded.
Firefighters saw white smoke pouring from the building and chemicals consistent with a synthetic drug lab and called in the RCMP.
Police said at the time that it was one of the largest illegal drug labs in B.C. history.
The RCMP’s specialized drug lab unit dismantled the lab, over several days, recovering significant quantities of MDMA, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine.
No one was charged, but Mission RCMP sent the file to the Civil Forfeiture Office, which filed the lawsuit against the numbered company that owned the building. Pace is listed as its secretary.
The suit said that Pace’s company financed the purchase of the property in 2008 in part with a mortgage and that it had been used to facilitate unlawful activities that might include storage, concealment, production and trafficking of controlled substances and laundering the proceeds of unlawful activity.
Pace also told Postmedia that he “was so shocked by things that came out of that place.”
“I didn’t even think they could put so much stuff in there.”
Solicitor General Mike Morris said the office “has always taken drug lab cases seriously.”
“The public safety value of doing so has never been greater, when you consider how prevalent fentanyl is among street drugs today,” Morris said in a statement Tuesday.
“This particular forfeiture is noteworthy for the sheer volume of volatile chemicals involved, which put both the public and first responders in great danger.”
The City of Mission spent several hundreds of thousands of dollars cleaning up the Horne Street property.
Pace is a member of the Haney chapter of the biker gang.
The Civil Forfeiture Office has another long-running court battle involving three Hells Angels clubhouses.
The government is seeking the forfeiture of the bikers’ clubhouses in Nanaimo, East Vancouver and Kelowna in a case that began in 2007.
The Hells Angels have counter-sued the government, arguing that civil forfeiture legislation is unconstitutional.
I remember covering the bizarre set of circumstances around a home invasion near Quebec and 20th in Vancouver in December 2008. Some men had broken into a suite in a house brandishing firearms. It was around 7 or 8 am and kids were on their way to school when the gunmen fled, crashing their vehicle into several cars in the neighbourhood.
Vancouver Police had been surveilling the men and caught them soon after the home invasion. They had links to the United Nations gang. One of them was Ibrahim Ali, who was later convicted and sentenced to almost four years in jail.
Vancouver Police looking for suspects in 2008 home invasion linked to the UN Gang
Ali was arrested again last spring after the tragic hit and run of a young woman in Burnaby. Now he’s pleaded guilty to his most recent charges.
UN gangster pleads guilty to fatal Burnaby hit and run
A United Nations gang associate has pleaded guilty to a fatal hit and run last spring that caused the death of a young woman.
Ibrahim Ali, 25, appeared in provincial court in Vancouver last Friday and entered two guilty pleas, to dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm.
He is due back in a Vancouver courtroom on Thursday to fix a date for his sentencing.
Emily Sheane, 25, was killed on March 9 near BCIT in Burnaby when her small car was T-boned by a Range Rover that ran a red light and sped away.
Sheane, an employee of Joe Fortes restaurant in Vancouver, was driving home from work at the time.
Ali and his companion, Nicole Vrban, were arrested at a motel near Creston several days after the Sheane’s death.
Police had been called about a suspicious couple covered in mud who had checked in to the Skimmerhorn Inn, admitting to having been in a car accident. The man was also covered in blood.
Both Ali and Vrban had warrants out for their arrest at the time.
Vrban had been charged in January 2016 with robbery and assault with a weapon for an alleged knife attack on a man in Vancouver. Ali was facing charges of resisting a peace officer in February 2016. He was also driving while prohibited.
Vrban was not charged in connection with Sheane’s death. She is due in provincial court in Vancouver on Friday to face her earlier charges.
Sheane’s family couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. Friends and co-workers raised more than $30,000 for the family on a Go Fund Me page after her death.
Ali has been convicted several times in recent years. In February 2012, he was sentenced to almost four years in jail for his part in a dramatic gunpoint home invasion three years earlier.
Ali was arrested because police were intercepting calls of several UN Gang members in an unrelated investigation and heard details of the home invasion.
He was captured on the wire saying it would be better if their target was home. “We’ll beat him at the door,” Ali said.
According to the sentencing decision at the 2012 trial, Ali was born in Turkey in November 1990 and moved with his family to Canada as a toddler, becoming a citizen in 1996. He graduated from Burnaby South Secondary.
Even as a teen, he had run-is with the law, the sentencing judge noted. He was convicted for assault and uttering threats in 2007 and in 2010 he was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition.
Ali also filed lawsuits against both the federal and provincial governments after he was assaulted in custody by gang rivals.
Homicide investigators are at the location where human remains were found in Abbotsford this weekend.
Abbotsford Police were called to the 30900-block of Downes Road about 2 p.m. Saturday after an area resident located what appear to be human remains in a wooded area on a rural property.
Sgt. Judy Bird said major crimes detective and the forensic identification team were called in.
The case has now been turned over to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT Tip Line at 1-877-551-4448 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Abbotsford Police were also called to the 27600-block of Signal Court about 8 p.m. Saturday after reports of shots fired.
“An area search was conducted and a residence was identified as the location of a confirmed shooting. The house received damage to the exterior of the residence. Fortunately, the two occupants in the residence were not injured,” Bird said.
“APD Patrol Division officers conducted neighborhood canvasses and searched the area to locate any persons or possible vehicles that may have been involved. The occupants of the residence are cooperative. The motive for this incident is unclear at this time.”
I first got an anonymous call a few months ago telling me Kelly Ellard had gotten pregnant while serving her sentence for the 1997 murder of Reena Virk in Victoria.
It was interesting but nearly impossible to prove. The caller had no idea who the father was or how this had happened.
But I keep digging and found someone who did know who that dad was. That allowed me to get some confirmation through his parole records.
Now inmates are entitled to have Private Family Visits every couple of months if they meet the criteria. These visits happen in cottages or separate buildings on a prison’s grounds. Ellard was allowed to have these last spring after getting to know Darwin Dorozan over more than a year of writing and regular visits.
These visits are to promote normalcy and help inmates be better prepared for the real world when they get out.
That is important. But bringing a child into the world in prison seems like a really harsh and uncertain beginning.
Ellard is eligible to apply for parole again in the spring. We’ll see what happens.
Notorious B.C. killer Kelly Ellard gets pregnant while serving life sentence for murder
She is one of B.C.’s best-known killers – found guilty of brutally beating and drowning a teenage girl under a Victoria bridge in 1997.
Now Kelly Marie Ellard is about to become a mother.
Despite serving a life sentence in prison for killing 14-year-old Reena Virk, Ellard is now about eight months pregnant, Postmedia News has learned.
The father?
A man with gang links who was out on day parole when he was allowed the intimate visits with Ellard in the spring.
Darwin Dorozan, 41, was granted full parole in August, but it has since been revoked after an alleged breach.
The Parole Board of Canada said in its Aug. 3 ruling releasing Dorozan that “there are concerns about your relationship with your girlfriend, who is pregnant.”
Ellard, 33, is not identified as the girlfriend in the documents, but Postmedia News has confirmed with several sources that she is Dorozan’s pregnant girlfriend.
Dorozan was given credit by the two-person panel for being “open and accountable about the relationship,” the parole ruling says.
But the ruling also said Dorozan “will likely face significant stress relating to the birth of your child.”
Dorozan is serving a seven-year, two-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to 11 counts of break and enter and break and enter with intent. Dorozan broke into several homes in 2010 and 2011 to steal things to finance a heroin addiction, the board noted.
“Some of the residences were occupied and during a confrontation with a male victim, you sprayed him in the face about five times with bear spray.”
Ellard had three trials before she was convicted in 2005. She was first found guilty in 2000, but the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a new trial. The second time around, the jury couldn’t reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. She was convicted of second-degree murder after her third trial.
Though she was 15 when she killed Virk, Ellard was raised to adult court and was sentenced to life with no hope of parole for seven years.
Last May, the Parole Board of Canada denied Ellard day parole, saying that while she was finally admitting some responsibility for Virk’s death, there was “ongoing minimization” of her crime.
And the two board members told Ellard that they were concerned about her admitted drug use inside prison, as well as “your lack of insight into why you committed the murder and your sense of entitlement with respect to parole.”
The ruling made reference to Ellard’s relationship with Dorozan, though he wasn’t named.
“You have family support and the support of your boyfriend,” the board members said. “Your boyfriend is a federal parolee but in community assessment No. 6 he is assessed by (the Correctional Service of Canada) as a positive source of support.”
The parole board did note the progress that Ellard has made in recent years in jail – quitting her drug habit, improving her education and working in the prison’s library.
Postmedia has also learned that Ellard and Dorozan got to know each other as pen pals, writing for more than a year before being allowed to have a private family visit.
The Correctional Service of Canada refused to comment on Ellard or her pregnancy.
“The Privacy Act prevents us from discussing the specifics of an offender’s case,” CSC communications adviser Audrey Jacques said.
But, speaking generally, she said all federal inmates are eligible for private family visits if they and their visitors meet certain criteria.
The visits take place in a separate building within the confines of a prison complex and can occur every two months for up to 72 hours at a time.
No one is commenting on what will happen to the baby once it’s born given both parents are in prison.
Kelly Ellard, convicted with second-degree murder in the drowning and beating death of Reena Virk.
Ellard’s mother, Susan Pakos, refused to comment when contacted by Postmedia.
“I have no comment on that whole subject and I would appreciate it if no one ever contacted me or my family again,” Pakos said. “I am not confirming whether it is true or not.”
She said both her family and the Virks “have been through a lot and should be left alone.
“I wish the media and everyone would just let this case rest and everybody just get on their lives,” Pakos said.
The Correctional Service provides pregnant inmates with prenatal and postnatal care, Jacques said.
Some of that care takes place within the prison. But the Service “relies on community services to provide other specialized care, including the services of obstetricians and gynecologists. Arrangements are made at an outside hospital for childbirth,” she said.
Babies can stay with their incarcerated mother under the “mother-child residential program,” which began in 1997, Jacques said.
“The program is intended to foster positive relationships between federally incarcerated women and their children by providing a supportive environment that promotes stability and continuity for the mother-child relationship and to assist in the rehabilitation and successful reintegration of these women offenders,” she said.
She said cases are assessed on an individual base.
“The best interests of the child are the pre-eminent consideration in all decisions relating to participation in the mother-child program, including the safety, security and health of the child,” Jacques said.
Jacques said that inmate visits with family members and friends can be limited “if there are risks to the security of the penitentiary and the safety of staff, inmates and visitors.”
“Positive contact with family and friends is very important in the successful reintegration of offenders,” she said.
Darwin Dorozan in 2011 police photo
Now that Dorozan is back in jail, he and Ellard would not be allowed to meet up because a Correctional Service policy says “an inmate is not eligible to participate in private family visits with other inmates.”
Dorozan’s parole was revoked in mid-August, with police alleging they spotted him with a criminal associate in violation of his parole conditions.
Yet just weeks earlier, the board granted the long-time criminal full parole, noting how well he had done since being released on day parole in February 2015.
The board said he was making healthy decisions and dealing with stress, including the death of his brother in late 2015.
“You dealt with recent, serious challenges appropriately and have demonstrated a willingness to accept feedback and rely on your supports.”
The story I broke today about convicted killer Kelly Ellard has certainly gotten a lot of attention. We had tens of thousands of people read the story online. Many have offered opinions. Some think it’s wrong for this baby to be born to an incarcerated mom. Others think the story is nobody’s business but the people directly involved.
B.C. killer Kelly Ellard’s prison pregnancy spurs calls for policy review
Conservative MP Tony Clement said the federal government should review the policy that allowed infamous killer Kelly Ellard to get pregnant while serving a life sentence for murder.
Postmedia News revealed Monday that Ellard, 33, is in the late stages of pregnancy after being allowed a conjugal visit in a B.C. prison with her federal parolee boyfriend last spring.
The boyfriend, Darwin Dorozan, 41, has since been returned to prison for an alleged breach of his parole.
Under Correctional Service of Canada rules, all inmates are eligible for private family visits if they and their visitors meet the criteria. The visits can occur every two months for up to 72 hours in a separate building on prison grounds.
Correctional services would not comment on the specifics of Ellard’s case due to privacy laws.
But Clement said despite the policy allowing the intimate visits, “common sense has got to prevail as well.”
“I just think that they’ve got to apply the rules with common sense,” Clement said. “They have created a situation by allowing this to happen that now requires further intervention to assess the newborn’s health and wellness and ability to thrive, not just survive.”
Clement said a child advocate should be appointed to represent the interests of Ellard’s unborn child.
“I think the whole thing should be reviewed. And the policy should be reviewed. And obviously the particular circumstances of this particular newborn will have to be also reviewed by a child advocate who is an expert to this field,” said Clement, who earlier this month dropped out of the Conservative leadership race.
He said the difficult circumstances surrounding the case have “now created a very complicated situation with conflicting rights and responsibilities.”
Under a correctional services program, babies born to incarcerated mothers are allowed in some cases to remain with their mothers inside their institution under a program that began in 1997.
The baby’s father is serving a seven-year, two-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to 11 counts of break and enter. He stole items to support a heroin addiction, according to parole records.
Ellard was convicted in 2005 of the 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk, who was brutally beaten and drowned under a Victoria bridge.
Though she was just 15, Ellard was raised to adult court and sentenced to life with no possibility of parole for seven years.
Last May, the Parole Board of Canada rejected her bid for day parole, saying that while she had finally accepted responsibility for her role in Virk’s murder, she needed to do more work before being released in the community.
She is eligible to apply for parole again in 2017.
Virk’s elderly grandfather Mukand Pallan said Monday that he knew nothing about Ellard’s pregnancy until contacted by Postmedia.
He said he didn’t think the news “is anything to be proud of for her or her family.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Pallan said.
He also said having a child would likely help Ellard get parole when she applies again next year.
“I think they will let her out. We were expecting that last time when they rejected her parole. They said to her to try again next year,” Pallan said.
Because of the baby “they will probably let her out. That will help her to get out.”
He said his family doesn’t plan on attending her next parole hearing.
Nanaimo Hells Angel Fred Widdifield has had a tough time trying to get his extortion conviction of two years ago overturned.
In July, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld his conviction, rejecting his arguments that evidence of his involvement in the 2010 crime was “wafer thin.”
He filed a new application at the Court of Appeal hoping that the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the R. v Jordan case about unacceptable delay would help his cause.
But he learned Tuesday that the appeal court will not take another look at his case.
He could still seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Appeal Court won’t reopen case of Nanaimo Hells Angel convicted of extortion
Nanaimo Hells Angel Robert (Fred) Widdifield has lost a last-ditch bid to get B.C.’s highest court to take another look at his extortion and theft convictions.
The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld Widdifield’s convictions this summer in a unanimous ruling.
But the veteran biker then applied in September to reopen the appeal on the grounds that the delays in the case violated his Charter rights.
He argued that a July Supreme Court of Canada ruling — stating that lengthy delays in prosecutions violated the Charter — should be applied in his case.
“We conclude that this court has no jurisdiction to reopen an appeal that has been heard on the merits where an order dismissing the conviction appeal has been entered,” said the ruling, signed by Justices Mary Saunders, Nicole Garson and David Harris.
“We would grant the Crown’s application to quash Mr. Widdifield’s application to reopen his conviction appeal.”
In December 2014, a B.C. Supreme Court judge found that Widdifield was part of the plot to strong-arm a former friend into handing over money and property, including a yacht named Dream Chaser.
The longtime pal, identified only as J.H. in court, went to police in 2010 after being repeatedly threatened by another Nanaimo Hells Angel named Rajinder Sandhu, who claimed J.H. hadn’t repaid a $62,000 loan to a Nanaimo woman.
J.H. was told he would have to repay the debt, plus “a ‘stupid tax’ for his alleged unauthorized use of the club’s name and reputation.”
Fred Widdifield
After months of meetings and text messages, J.H. was forced to turn over his yacht, which he had purchased for $137,000.
Widdifield was with Sandhu during the subsequent sale of the boat. And Widdifield later hosted a meeting at his house during which J.H. was assaulted and ordered to pay even more money.
Widdifield is an original member of the Nanaimo chapter of the notorious bike gang, which started in July 1983 along with the Vancouver and White Rock chapters.
He was sentenced to five years in jail for the extortion conviction.
No one from the Correctional Service of Canada or the federal government will say what will happen to Kelly Ellard’s baby once it’s born in the next few weeks.
But the baby may get to stay with Ellard inside the Fraser Valley Institution where she currently resides.
There are currently six babies across Canada living with moms in their federal prisons under a 19-year-old program.
The program is positive for both the children and the moms, says the head of the non-profit Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver.
Kelly Ellard pregnancy: Babies in jail help moms’ rehab, says Vancouver non-profit
A federal program that keeps incarcerated mothers and babies together behind bars is a huge benefit to both the children and the inmates, says the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver.
Shawn Bayes said Tuesday that her non-profit agency is fully supportive of the Correctional Service of Canada program that allows some infants to live with their moms in special units on prison grounds.
“Moms themselves are screened to see if they’re eligible to participate in the program, and they can’t have been convicted of an offence against a child or one where there’s reasonable expectation where you could see they might endanger a child,” Bayes said.
The program is in the spotlight this week after Postmedia News revealed that B.C. killer Kelly Ellard got pregnant while serving a life sentence for beating and drowning 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997.
Ellard is expected to give birth in the coming weeks.
The CSC is not commenting on her case or what will happen to the baby when it’s born.
There are currently six babies living in federal women’s prisons across Canada, CSC communications advisor Sara Parkes told Postmedia News.
Bayes said the “Mother-Child Program” lets babies form an important attachment to their moms from the beginning.
“The parental role of caring and nurturing for a child is really foundational if you think of the benefits to a child that will occur. People call it healthy attachment,” she said.
“Good family connections don’t just have proven health benefits for children, but that family connection piece is really important for reducing recidivism, for ensuring that offenders do very well in their transition to the community.”
She said a B.C. social worker would go into the prison to assess any expectant mom to see if the program would work for her and the baby.
“That social worker’s job is to ensure the protection and the best interests of the child, and they will apply the law in B.C.,” Bayes said.
“All of the decisions here are being made in recognition of who is the primary focus, and the primary focus once that child is born is the child.”
Kelly Ellard, pictured outside Vancouver Supreme Court in 2002, is expecting her first child in the next few weeks. Ellard, now 34, is serving a life sentence for beating and drowning 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997.
If the mom is allowed to have the baby in prison, they are provided with a separate “house” on the grounds, Bayes explained. And other inmates with non-violent records can apply to be babysitters and support the new mom.
“You have to have people who can support and watch over that relationship,” Bayes said of the babysitters. “They are highly screened. I can’t emphasize that enough. This program is a very hard program to get into.”
She said moms inside prison sometimes have more support than impoverished women in the community who are trying to feed their families.
“It has better health outcomes for children because you have a mother who is not struggling in terms of nutrition,” Bayes said.
Ajax, Ont., resident Cash Walker has a different, very personal view: He’s against allowing infants to live in federal prisons with their incarcerated mothers.
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That’s because Walker was born in 1951 inside Canada’s first women’s penitentiary — the notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory — and subjected to violence that he believes has affected him his entire life.
“I am totally against it because no matter how good a mother is, she can’t control the environment that she is in. What if she’s holding the baby when a prisoner picks a fight with her, or what happens to the baby when you’re in solitary confinement?”
Cash Walker, born in the Mercer Reformatory in 1951, as an infant
He reached out to Postmedia this week after reading its report on Ellard getting pregnant after a private family visit with her federal parolee boyfriend.
Walker, who was later adopted after landing in the care of the Children’s Aid Society, only learned what happened to him in 2013 when he fought a successful court battle to get his late mother’s juvenile record.
That’s when he discovered that he spent his early months inside the Toronto prison that would later be investigated for beatings, torture and allegations of using experimental drugs on inmates.
Walker’s mother Muriel was sent to Mercer for being “incorrigible” — a 17-year-old who got pregnant out of wedlock.
One record he obtained was a letter from a doctor to the Mercer warden about injuries he sustained at the hands of prison staff.
Cash Walker and his mom Muriel before he was adopted as a five-year-old.
“The infant was admitted to our emergency ward with severe trauma to his head and arm. These injuries do not appear to be accidental,” the letter says.
While Walker accepts that things are likely much different today inside federal prisons for women, he still feels it’s too risky to allow babies to live there. He thinks his life-long struggle with mental illness is a direct result of what happened to him at Mercer.
“None of these people are in there for being Sunday school teachers. Good intentions for what it’s worth are not enough,” he said. “Lots of people have good intentions.”
It’s been a crazy day across the Lower Mainland as homicide investigators try to find out why a man with gang links was slaughtered, dismembered and dumped on Robertson Crescent in Langley.
Langley B.C. October 26, 2016 2016 R.C.M.P. and Forensic team continue to comb through the rural area of Robertson Crescent where as dismembered body was discovered earlier today. Mark van Manen/ PNG Staff photographer see John Colebourn\ Vancouver Sun / Province Halloween /News /Features stories and Web. 00045864A [PNG Merlin Archive]
My colleague John Colebourn has been working on that story all day. Here’s his report:
I was working on the targeted shooting in Burnaby and learned the injured man is a prospect for the White Rock chapter of the Hells Angels.
We don’t know if the dismemberment is linked to the Burnaby shooting or if either is linked to the murder 10 days ago of powerful Hells Angel Bob Green.
Green’s family and friends, including many HA brothers, met this evening at Forest Lawn Funeral Home for a viewing. He will be remembered at a celebration of life in Vancouver Saturday.
Hells Angels prospect hurt in targeted shooting in Burnaby
For the second time in 10 days, a person linked to the Hells Angels has been shot in Metro Vancouver in a targeted attack.
The Vancouver Sun has learned the victim of a shooting early Wednesday in Burnaby is a prospect with the Hells Angels White Rock chapter.
Mohammed Rafiq, 43, was shot in his car in front of his house in the 6000-block of Broadway Avenue about 1 a.m.
The shooting caused him to go off the road and smash into a neighbour’s house two doors away, narrowly missing a young woman inside.
Rafiq was pulled from his vehicle by paramedics and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Earlier this month, high-profile Hells Angel Bob Green was shot to death in Langley.
Jason Francis Wallace, of the 856 Gang, has been charged with second-degree murder in Green’s death and remains in custody awaiting his next court appearance.
He turned himself in to police the day after Green’s death.
Police sources say the shooting of two men involved in the Hells Angels so close together is very rare in B.C.
RCMP Sgt. Annie Linteau would not release Rafiq’s name, but confirmed that the victim “is well-known to police and is affiliated with an organized crime group.”
Sources confirmed his identity to Postmedia News.
“No one has been arrested in relation to this incident,” she said.
Occupants of the home that was struck were not injured as a result of this incident, but were severely shaken.
Linteau said police are making good progress in the Rafiq shooting.
“A number of police resources will continue to look at a possible motive for this incident and look at who could potentially be involved,” she said.
Investigators are mindful of other violent incidents “that have recently taken place in the Lower Mainland” and will “look at possible connections between these incidents,” Linteau said.
Burnaby Mounties have already been in touch with Langley RCMP, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit “to share information,” Linteau said.
As a prospect, Rafiq had been accepted into the Hells Angels and is working to become a full-patch member of its White Rock chapter.
Prospects wear black leather vests with a partial patch on the back. When they become a full-fledged member, they get their full patch featuring the Hells Angels death head logo.
Burnaby resident Ed Ko is thankful his 21-year-old daughter wasn’t injured by the accident after the shooting. She was in her bedroom when Rafiq’s black sedan smashed through its wall.
“I came running down here to check on my daughter. I couldn’t push the door open because there was debris or something pushed against it,” Ko said standing outside his damaged house Wednesday afternoon.
“I shouted her name and she was fine, she said.”
But he could still smell the fumes of the vehicle and feel the heat. And he could see that the car was on top of his daughter though miraculously not touching her.
“I was panicking. She was starting to panic, too.”
He used a sledgehammer to break the window before police took over.
“The constable said that OK. She’s coming out. She’s walking. That was a very, very big relief that she was coming out on her own,” Ko said later Wednesday as he watched workers patching up his the exterior wall of his house.
“It was very scary. I’m glad the car didn’t hit her.”
The shock of a shooting in the family-oriented neighbourhood is still sinking in.
“It’s very surprising. This is a really good neighbourhood,” Ko said. “It is very shocking that this think happened. It is just shocking.”
![Cody Haevischer. ** NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Feb. 12, 2009 . [PNG Merlin Archive] [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/09/cody-haevischer-not-for-distribution-feb-12-2009.jpeg?w=207&quality=55&strip=all)
![Abbotsford, BC - June 6, 2008 - Gang member Matt Johnston. (Photo: Rick Collins/ Special to The Vancouver Sun) DOC005 cell: 1.604.845.1264 [PNG Merlin Archive] [PNG Merlin Archive] ORG XMIT: POS2013012423134058 [PNG Merlin Archive] Matthew Johnston [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/09/abbotsford-bc-june-6-2008-gang-member-matt-johnston.jpeg?w=218&quality=55&strip=all)
![Surrey, B.C.- 02/03/ 08- A rally for public safety in memory of Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg, two innocent victims of a gang-style slaying on Oct. 19, 2007. Here, a photo of Ed Schellenberg. Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive] ORG XMIT: POS2015090317163781 [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/09/surrey-b-c-02-03-08-a-rally-for-public-safety-in-memory.jpeg?w=229&quality=55&strip=all)
![The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is investigating the death on Oct. 16, 2016, of senior B.C. Hell's Angel Bob Green. [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/10/the-integrated-homicide-investigation-team-is-investigating.jpeg?w=300&h=225)
![Langley B.C. October 26, 2016 2016 R.C.M.P. and Forensic team continue to comb through the rural area of Robertson Crescent where as dismembered body was discovered earlier today. Mark van Manen/ PNG Staff photographer see John Colebourn\ Vancouver Sun / Province Halloween /News /Features stories and Web. 00045864A [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/10/langley-b-c-october-26-2016-2016-r-c-m-p-and-forensic-t.jpeg?w=640&h=480)
