Another Guilty Plea In The Surrey Six Gangland Murders

SURREY – An alleged gangleader involved in the killing ofsix people, including two innocentbystanders, has pleadedguilty to conspiracy to commitmurder in connection to theexecution deaths of six peoplein a Vancouver-area highrise.Quang Vinh Thang (Michael)Le’s plea on Thursday comesmore than eight years after themass killing in a 15th-floorapartment in Surrey, southeastof Vancouver and marks a dramaticturn at a trial that hasoffered a rare, and at timesgruesome, glimpse into theregion’s gang underworld.Le had been on trial since lateSeptember along with MatthewJohnston and Cory Haevischer,who are each charged with conspiracyand six counts of firstdegreemurder. That trial isexpected to continue, reportedCTV news.Another person has alreadypleaded guilty, while allegedgang leader and co-conspiratorJamie Bacon is expected tostand trial next year.The trial was disrupted thisweek, but details of Le’s imminentplea were banned frompublication until Thursday’shearing. Le will be sentencedDec. 13.The six victims were killed onOct. 19, 2007, in what theCrown has described as a hit ona rival drug trafficker namedCorey Lal.The Crown contends five morevictims were added to the bodycount to ensure there were nowitnesses. Among them were55-year-old fireplace repairmanEd Schellenberg and 22-yearoldbuilding resident ChrisMohan, who had no connectionto the world of gangs anddrugs.According to the Crown’s theory,Le and Bacon, the allegedleaders of the Red Scorpionsgang, attempted to extort$100,000 from Lal.