Surrey Six Murder Accused Plead Not Guilty!
VANCOUVER – At the opening of the much-hyped Surrey six murders trial, the Crown outlined its case in describing the killings as part of a battle of the drug trade.
The bodies were found in two groups of three and Cory Lal was the real target as a rival drug trafficker according to crown. Five others were added to the bloody shooting to make sure there were no witnesses.
Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg were innocent bystanders, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lal’s brother Michael, Edward Narong and Ryan Bartolomeo were also killed.
When police arrived, they found the victims’ heads covered.
Matthew Johnston, Cory Haevischer and Quang Vinh Thang (Michael) Le are now on trial for various charges, while a co-accused has already pleaded guilty and another, notorious gang leader Jamie Bacon, is scheduled for trial next year.
Crown counsel Mark Levitz says the three men on trial were associated with the Red Scorpions gang, led by Le and Bacon, who planned to kill Corey Lal after he failed to pay $100,000.
Levtiz says witness testimony, video surveillance, cellphone records and other evidence will show the three men on trial had the motive and opportunity to carry out the killing.
Later in the week, alleged drug kingpin Corey Lal’s sister Jourdane Lal and girlfriend Patricia Urbanska refuted allegations that he was a big time drug dealer, saying there was nothing much out of the ordinary about the real target Lal.
They said they only knew the 21-year-old Lal, who lived with his mother in the Vancouver area, with no car and without a taste for expensive things.
Lal apparently worked at his brother’s mechanic shop. He had the sort of tumultuous romance that any young man might, with regular break-ups followed by inevitable make-ups, said Urbanska.
He had been in trouble with the law at least once before, but he was no drug kingpin, she said.
Prosecutors, however, painted a much darker picture of Corey Lal the drug trafficker, who was deep enough into the world of crime that he was considered an important rival to the leaders of the region’s most violent gangs. His enemies, prosecutors allege, attempted to extort him for $100,000 and then ordered a hit on him when he failed to pay, reported Canadian Press
The trial also heard that Raphael Baldini had rented unit 1505 until the condo changed hands to someone introduced to the building’s managers as Baldini’s cousin, Chris, in the spring of 2007.
Jourdane Lal testified her brother had previous legal troubles related to drug trafficking with Narong, who she described as her brother’s best friend, although her testimony did not explore his criminal record in detail.
