VANCOUVER — The once-dreaded Indo-Canadian gangster Bal Buttar, who bragged that he was behind the killing of notorious gangster Bindy Johal, died last weekafter suffering an infection in a long-term care facility.
Buttar, once a high flying hit-man for hire, became a blind quadriplegic after he himself was the target of a gangland shooting.
Buttar family quietly held funeral services for Buttar, 35.
Buttar, who was paralyzed in an August 2001 Vancouver shooting, turned to a Vancouver Sun reporter in 2004 and confessed to a string of gangland hits.
He admitted to reporter Kim Bolan that he arranged the execution of Bindy Johal, his own crime boss at the time, fearing Johal would turn on him if he didn’t kill first. Buttar claimed he found God and wanted to steer kids away from the path he had chosen. And he said he didn’t fear the consequence of his confessions because his severe medical needs meant he couldn’t go to jail.
He was never charged in any of the murders.
Buttar claimed to be reformed but his reformation didn’t last long. In 2007, despite being bed-ridden and hospitalized, he attempted to arrange a hit-man for an acquaintance who wanted to kill her husband. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty in that case.
