First of all, Happy New Year to all Real Scoop readers! I took a week off to enjoy the holidays, but will get caught up on comments and am posting a story that ran yesterday in the newspaper.
I’m sure people followed the shocking story of sex assault and other charges laid against a senior Vancouver Police detective named Jim Fisher. Here’s the story my colleagues did. We will definitely provide updates on this case.
Every year, I try to tally all murders and suspicious death every year as I think it’s important to keep track of them and see if there are any trends.
In fact, murders across the region were up in 2016 to 67 from 60 the year before. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team takes control of murder cases in all RCMP jurisdictions from Pemberton to Boston Bar, as well as in four Lower Mainland municipalities – West Vancouver, Abbotsford, New Westminster and Port Moody. Vancouver Police investigate murders in the city, while Delta Police also probe their own files.
Here’s my story:
Murder numbers from Whistler to Chilliwack rise in 2016
Murders across the region were up marginally in 2016 and included shocking cases such as the tragic stabbing of an Abbotsford schoolgirl and the execution and dismemberment of a gang associate.
Overall there were 67 slayings or suspicious deaths this year in the area stretching from Whistler to Chilliwack — compared to 60 in 2015 — according to data compiled by Postmedia News.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team — B.C.’s largest murder squad — conducted 52 investigations involving the suspected slayings of 54 people in 2016, Cpl. Meghan Foster said. In 2015, IHIT opened 39 files involving 43 victims.
IHIT investigates murders for all Lower Mainland RCMP detachments as well as municipal forces like West Vancouver, Port Moody, New Westminster and Abbotsford.
Both Vancouver and Delta Police forces investigate their own homicides.
In Vancouver, there were just 11 murders in 2016, down from 15 the year before, Const. Brian Montague said.
And in Delta, investigators are still probing two suspicious deaths from 2016 — neither of which has been confirmed as a murder, Sgt. Sharlene Brooks said this week.
In the most recent case on Dec. 11, a 53-year-old Delta man died after a fight outside the Rose and Crown Pub in Tsawwassen. His name has not been released.
Brooks said the death “remains classified as a suspicious death until autopsy — toxicology and pathology — information comes back.”
And the second Delta file involves the death of Surrey resident Robinder Virk, whose remains were found on March 3 inside a known drug house in the 2000-block of Tsawwassen Drive.
The 32-year-old had been reported missing on Jan. 11, after last being seen Jan. 3.
While Delta Police initially called his death “suspicious,” the force later issued a news release saying it had been determined to be a murder.
However, Brooks said there is still no definitive cause of death for Virk and that the death continues to be classified as suspicious.
IHIT faced some of the most challenging cases — including sets of found remains where the identity of the victim has not yet been confirmed.
Probably the most shocking case was the random attack on 13-year-old Letisha Reimer in a hallway at Abbotsford Secondary on Nov. 1 when she was fatally stabbed and a classmate was wounded. The attack was captured on video. Police arrested drifter Gabriel Klein, 21, who is now charged with second-degree murder.
And there were gangland shootings as well, including the October slaying of high-profile Hells Angel Bob Green in Abbotsford. His alleged killer, 856 gang member Jason Wallace, turned himself in to police the next day.
The Green murder was followed by the brutal death of 856 gang associate Shaun Alan Clary, who was found in pieces on a rural Langley road. No one has yet been charged.
Foster said that “homicide investigations are complex and lengthy in nature, and every investigation endures its own unique hurdles. The support IHIT employees, investigators and support staff receive from our victim’s families and partner agencies play a key role in every positive outcome.”
In about one-third of IHIT’s files, the names of victims were not released in 2016, even when investigators were appealing to the public for more information and no one had been charged. Yet in 2015, IHIT publicly identified all but three confirmed murder victims in the region.
When asked earlier this year about the shift to anonymity, Staff Sgt. Julie Gagnon, who works at RCMP national headquarters, said names of victims would only be released when “necessary to further an investigation.”
Vancouver Police are still withholding the name of their most recent victim for investigative reasons, Montague said.
The VPD has also dealt with shocking murders in 2016. While responding to a call about an abduction on Sept. 17, officers found Xuan Vanvy Bacao and Samantha Le murdered inside their Dieppe Place house. They also found their four-year-old child hiding.
Within days, police had rescued the victim kidnapped from the house and arrested Shamil Amir Ali, 22, Harinam Ananda Cox, 21, and Gopal Figueredo, 24. All were charged with kidnapping, extortion and aggravated assault, but not murder.
Then in November, the VPD said warrants had been issued for three more suspects — Ellwood Thomas Bradbury, Matthew Scott Stewart and Erlan Lizandro Acosta on charges of kidnapping and aggravated assault.
Montague said this week that all three suspects remain at large. So far, no charges have been laid in the double-murder, he added.
Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop
Murders/suspicious deaths in the region in 2016 by investigating agency:
Integrated Homicide Investigation Team
Dec. 4 | Lucito Santos Castillo
Castillo, 42, was found just before 10:30 a.m. in an apartment complex suite located in the 20100-block of 56th Avenue in Langley. Castillo was also known as Cheeko or RJ.
Nov. 28 | Unidentified person
The burned body was found in a shelter along Lynn Creek near Keith Road. When police arrived, it was quickly determined the individual was a homicide victim. Police were trying to identify the body.
Nov. 25 | Greg Lupel
Police and ambulance attendants were called about an unresponsive male near the Safeway located at 88th Avenue and 152nd Street in Surrey. The man, later identified as Greg Lupel, 27, died at the scene. IHIT took over the file as the death was labelled suspicious.
Nov. 8 | Unidentified man
The man was killed in a late-night altercation in New Westminster. Police were called to a home at 3:40 a.m. to assist the B.C. Ambulance Service with a male victim who sustained injuries during an altercation. He later died from injuries. A suspect was arrested at the scene. Police say the homicide does not appear to be random.
Nov. 1 | Bradley Allan Nielsen
The 53-year-old man was found dead in a Maple Ridge scrapyard. Police believe it was a targeted attack, although the motive remains unclear. He was last seen alive on Oct. 31.
Nov. 1 | Letisha Reimer
The 13-year-old girl was fatally stabbed in the foyer of Abbotsford Secondary School. A 14-year-old girl was also injured. Police and school district officials have said a homeless man walked into the school and attacked the girls before staff confronted and restrained him. The attack appeared to be random, police said. Gabriel Klein, 21, faces one charge each of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Oct. 28 | Ashim Raza and Vikram Toor
Raza, 19, and Toor, 24, were found in the Fraser Heights area of Surrey suffering from gunshot wounds. One of them was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was taken to hospital, where he later died. Police believe the shooting was independent from the gangland violence that had rocked the Lower Mainland in previous weeks.
Oct. 24 | Rickey Gordon Melanson
Burnaby RCMP responded to a report of a double stabbing at a homeless camp in the area of Rumble Street and Griffith Drive. Melanson, 48, was pronounced deceased at the scene. A second man survived. Samuel James Calladine has been charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault. Calladine and Melanson had known each other for years, and had set up their tents in the ravine, police said.
Oct. 23 | Shaun Alan Clary
The mutilated body of the 27-year-old gang associate was dumped on a rural Langley road. Postmedia News confirmed with sources that he is affiliated with the Langley-based 856 gang. Police were looking at whether Clary’s death and other violent attacks across Metro Vancouver were in retaliation for the earlier slaying in Langley of Hells Angel Bob Green.
Oct. 22 | Unidentified person
Abbotsford Police were called to a wooded area in the 30900-block of Downes Road after human remains were found. IHIT was called in.
Oct. 16 | Bob Green
Hells Angel Bob Green was shot dead during an all-night party at the clubhouse of the 856 gang in Langley. Jason Wallace of the 856 gang turned himself into police the next day and has been charged with second-degree murder.
Oct. 9 | Kevin William Knuff
Knuff, 56, was found dead in a ravine near a Burnaby homeless camp on the west side of North Road, south of Highway 1.
Oct. 5 | Hee Sook Youn
Youn, 59, was found dead in her place of business on North Road in Burnaby. Police are trying to locate her former husband, 59-year-old Youngku Youn, who is a suspect in his wife’s murder.
Sept. 24 | Jonathen Patko
The 32-year-old with a criminal record was shot to death just after 2 a.m. near 243 Street and 102 Avenue in Maple Ridge. Dean Sahanovitch, 55, was later charged with murder.
Sept. 23 | Jason Leigh Zellmer
Just after 6:30 a.m., Coquitlam RCMP responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle in the 4900-block of Quarry Road. Near the vehicle, they found the body of Zellmer, a Surrey resident known to police. IHIT was called in.
Sept. 14 | Troy Clysdale
The 49-year-old was one of two men who suffered stab wounds in an incident in Whalley. The second victim’s wounds were non-life threatening. A male suspect, identified as 20-year-old Boni-Muhammed Mutawakel, was arrested.
Sept. 2 | Diane Kathleen Johner
Johner, 52, was in the 48000-block of Chilliwack Central Road with a 23-year-old man when the shots rang out. The man was taken to hospital in critical condition and Johner died at the scene. The man, a former MMA fighter from Abbotsford, had gang links but no criminal convictions.
Aug. 17 | Gurdev (Dave) Hair
Police were called to Abbotsford’s Crown Court, near Clearbrook Road, just after 9 p.m. They found Hair, 45, lying in a yard. He died in hospital. Hair was known to police. No arrests have been made.
Aug. 7 | Robert Harold Vidovich
The 55-year-old Coquitlam man died after a brawl outside a Port Coquitlam pub. Mounties were called to the 2000-block of Lougheed Highway just after 3:15 p.m. after reports of an altercation. Officers found Vidovich suffering from life-threatening injuries. He later died in hospital. Investigators said he was stabbed. James Meanny, 34, was later taken into custody.
Aug. 3 | John Michael Murphy
Surrey RCMP responded to a report of an altercation between two cellmates at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre about 7:30 p.m. Murphy, 25, died as a result of the injuries he sustained. Jordan Cole Burt, 22, was charged with second-degree murder.
July 31 | Sean Christopher Kelly
The 27-year-old man died after a shooting in Surrey. Surrey Mounties, responding to a call about an injured man, found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds in the 13900-block of Antrim Road just after 8 p.m. He was later pronounced dead. He had a lengthy criminal record, including firearm charges, drug possession for the purpose of trafficking and breaches of a court undertaking. The charges stemmed from incidents in Surrey and Delta.
July 23 | Jatinder (Michael) Sandhu
The 28-year-old Surrey man with no links to an ongoing gang conflict may not have been the intended target of the killer or killers who sprayed the vehicle he was in with gunfire around 10:20 p.m. Police said the shooting in the 14300 block of 90A Avenue is believed to be part of an ongoing gang conflict involving street-level players in the drug trade.
July 15 | Unidentified female
Coquitlam RCMP responded to a 911 call in the 1100-block of Eagleridge Drive and found an unresponsive 22-year-old female inside the home. She was later pronounced dead from injuries she sustained. The suspect was later found floating dead in Buntzen Lake after an apparent murder-suicide. IHIT did not release their names.
July 13 | John Robert Oliver Anderson
RCMP officers were called to a known drug house in the 8900-block of Glenwood Street in Chilliwack just after 11:30 a.m. They found Anderson, 40, in medical distress from injuries sustained in an attack. He died the same day. Two suspects, David (Yoda) McKay and Cydnie Markel-Rempel, fled the house and were later arrested. McKay was charged with murder and Markel-Rempel manslaughter.
July 10 | Unidentified female
Port Moody Police were called to a domestic dispute in the 3300-block of Dewdney Trunk Road about 1:30 p.m. They found the house engulfed in flames with two adults inside. The victim was found inside suffering extensive burns. She died later that day. Her husband has been charged with murder and arson. A ban has been put on his name.
July 2 | Brendan Aditya Chand
Chand, 27, was found lying near Bog Park in the 9700-block of 130th Street in Surrey just before 2 p.m. on July 3. Police believe he was shot the night before between 10:30 p.m. and midnight. Chand had a lengthy criminal record and was convicted of a 2011 shooting in Burnaby.
June 13 | Christopher Alexander Hurtado
The 29-year-old man died in a targeted shooting around 10 p.m. in Burnaby. He also used the surname of Serrano. A dark-coloured sedan was seen leaving the area. Hurtado was convicted of slitting a stranger’s throat in Vancouver during the Olympics. He was a gang associate and involved in the drug trade.
June 5 | Amar Singh Sandhu
The Richmond developer, 56, was sprayed by gunfire as he stood beside his black pickup truck in the parking lot of the Ironwood Plaza. Police are looking for a male suspect in his early- to mid-20s, about six feet tall, with a slim build. He was wearing a grey hoodie or coat, with medium to dark pants and possibly a baseball cap.
May 31 | Unidentified man
A 58-year-old man died after a fight with another man in Coquitlam at Brunette Avenue near Hillside Avenue just before 5:30 p.m. Police said the altercation was diffused quickly, but the man died at the scene. His name has not been released. The second man, 31, was taken into custody but police said charges couldn’t be supported at the time.
May 12 | Dane Stanway
Stanway, a 27-year-old Gibsons resident, was reported missing to police May 12, after he had not been seen for a week. Investigators determined it is likely he met with foul play because of his criminal lifestyle, so IHIT took over the case.
May 11 | Unidentified man
The body of a man shot several times was found by farm workers in a rural blueberry field near Boundary and No. 3 Roads. IHIT has not released the victim’s name.
May 3 | Unidentified man
The 49-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the Salish Plaza in downtown Chilliwack. Gerald Leslie Dolman, 63, has been charged with second-degree murder. Police believe the incident started after Dolman’s vehicle followed the victim’s car on Yale Road and that Dolman struck a cyclist while following the victim. The two cars collided in a parking lot at which point an altercation led to the death of the victim, whose name has not been released. It is believed the two men knew each other.
May 2 | Unidentified man
A 32-year-old man sustained a fractured skull in an altercation with a relative in Surrey. He was later released from hospital but returned on May 12 with bleeding in the brain and subsequently died. Mandeep Bhatti, 29, was initially charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was upgraded to manslaughter. IHIT has not released the victim’s name.
May 1 | Unidentified man
IHIT took over the investigation into the suspicious death of a 54-year-old man after an altercation outside a grocery store in Sevenoaks Shopping Centre on Sunday night in Abbotsford just before 8:30 p.m.
April 18 | David Williams
The 33-year-old Chilliwack man was killed in what police say appears to be a targeted shooting. Police say the attack was likely linked to a disagreement. He suffered several gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Daniel Joseph Fabas, 34, was identified as a suspect and as an associate of Williams. In August Fabas was charged with second-degree murder.
April 17 | Neil Leslie
Leslie died in hospital a few days after he was beaten in a living unit at North Fraser Pretrial Centre. Another prisoner, Zachariah Pakarinen, 27, has been charged with manslaughter in the attack.
April 4 | Ray Jopowicz
Jopowicz, 41, was found dead on the Byrne Creek Trail in Burnaby after police received reports the night before of shots fired in the 7300-block Sandborne Avenue. He had been convicted in the United States of cocaine distribution and had links to organized crime. No charges have been laid.
March 29 | Vikki Heppner
The 28-year-old woman’s body was found near Stave Lake in Mission. Ryan Jack Armstrong, a 29-year-old Burnaby man, has been charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a body. Police said it appears the two knew each other and that Heppner was targeted. Heppner had been accused of defrauding a GoFundMe campaign set up for a widow and her two kids.
March 21 | Unidentified woman
A 53-year-old woman contacted Mission RCMP on March 11 to report that she had been assaulted by a male two days earlier while walking through Fenn Park. Ten days later, RCMP responded to a residence in the 33000-block of 3rd Avenue for a suspicious death investigation. The woman who had complained about the Fenn Park assault was found dead. An autopsy found that the cause of death was consistent with injuries the victim sustained in the earlier assault in the park.
March 20 | Unidentified woman
A 61-year-old Surrey woman was killed in a domestic altercation in a home. Surrey Mounties arrested Sukhvir Badhesa, 39, who faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and uttering threats. A 35-year-old woman was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
March 11 | Unidentified male
A Surrey man was found dead from gunshot wounds after his car crashed on 79th Avenue and 123 Street in Surrey. IHIT has not released the victim’s name.
March 10 | Two unidentified males
Two young men involved in the Townline Hill conflict, aged 21 and 22, died after being shot in the 33000-block of Hawthorne Avenue in Abbotsford. IHIT asked the public for help identifying a dark-coloured sedan that was driving erratically on Hawthorne Avenue at 9:20 p.m. IHIT has not released the names of either victim.
Feb. 27 | Adam Palsson
Ridge Meadows RCMP was called to the provincial jail just before 4:30 p.m. after Corrections staff reported that an altercation had resulted in one man’s death. Palsson, 27, was taken to Ridge Meadows Hospital where he was pronounced dead. No charges have been laid.
Feb. 24 | Unidentified woman
Chilliwack RCMP was called to a home in the 42000-block of Yarrow Road, where the body of a 51-year-old woman was found. Clayton Jacob Warkentin, 19, has been charged with murder. Although investigators aren’t revealing how Warkentin and the victim knew each other, they say that events leading up to the homicide suggest it was a result of domestic violence.
Feb. 7 | David Delaney
Delaney, a chef in Coquitlam who lived in Abbotsford, was found dead in his apartment on Center Street on Feb. 23. Arrested months later and charged with his murder is Shayne Daniel Duncan McGenn, 33. Sarah Margaret Sather, 33, was charged with accessory after the fact.
Jan. 26 | Unidentified woman
The 58-year-old victim was found in a home suffering from extensive injuries. A teenager has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death. North Vancouver RCMP was called to a home in the 300-block of East 1st street after a 911 caller reported hearing a dispute and possible assault. Police forced their way into the apartment after hearing sounds of a struggle. Officers then saw a man jump over the balcony. He was later arrested by North Vancouver RCMP.
Jan. 22 | Kevin Brunelle
The 36-year-old man was found dead in a Langley City hotel where he lived and worked. He was suffering from injuries, which he may have sustained during an assault the day before. After the assault, he was helped back to his room, and was not checked on until the following afternoon when he was found dead.
Jan. 22 | Yonatan (JK) Kassa
A shooting in Port Coquitlam left the 30-year-old dead. Coquitlam RCMP responded to reports of gunshots in the 2100-block of Rindall Avenue shortly after 9 p.m. Police found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds. He died at the scene. Police say it is believed the shooting was related to criminal activity. Kassa had gang links and convictions for drug trafficking and a violent home invasion.
* This list has 50 of the 54 deaths. IHIT has not released details of the other four cases.
Vancouver Police:
Dec. 6 | Unidentified person
Vancouver Police were called to a home near West 13th Avenue and MacDonald Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 where a body was discovered. Police have not released the name or gender of the victim but have said there is no concern to public safety.
Nov. 1 | Jia Hong Chen
Shortly after 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, two groups of men got into an altercation near the taxi stand at the Plaza of Nations at 750 Pacific Blvd. When officers arrived, they found two men with serious stab wounds. One of those men, 25-year-old Jia Hong Chen from Burnaby, died from his injuries. A 23-year-old man was wounded. A third man showed up at Burnaby General Hospital a few hours later with stab wounds.
Sept. 30 | Natsumi Kogawa
The body of the Japanese exchange student was found in a West End mansion. She had been reported missing by her boyfriend on Sept. 12. She was last seen in Burnaby five days earlier. William Victor Schneider, 48, was charged with indignity to a human body and is a suspect in her death.
Sept. 29 | Candace Young
Young, 61, was found just after 6:30 a.m. when police were called to an apartment near Rupert Street and Vanness Avenue. She was pronounced dead at the scene. John Hendricks Onland, 54, was arrested inside the apartment and has been charged with manslaughter.
Sept. 17 | Xuan Vanvy Bacao and Samantha Le
Vancouver police were called to a house on Dieppe Place, where officers found the body of Bacao, 24, and Le, 29. Officers also found a four-year-old child unharmed, but hiding in the home. Evidence gathered by police showed that along with the two murders, a man had also been kidnapped from the home. Police believed the murders and abduction were targeted incidents. Two days later police rescued the kidnap victim and took several people into custody.
Aug. 11 | Lauren Lindsay McLellan
McLellan, 28, died in hospital after a physical altercation with a woman outside Caprice Nightclub just before 2 a.m. Twenty-nine-year-old Samantha Nadine Doolan has been charged with manslaughter.
June 6 | Justin Pauwat Chan
The body of Chan, a 26-year-old Richmond resident, was found near the Fraser River. He was wrapped in black plastic and inside a sleeping bag near the Milltown Marina. Chan had links to gangs and the drug trade. Vancouver Police said his murder was targeted.
May 17 | Kennith King-Lok Leung
Around 10:30 p.m., police were called to the 500-block of West 27th Avenue after receiving multiple calls of shots being fired. When officers arrived, they found a silver vehicle on the sidewalk, and Leung, 23, fatally wounded in the driver’s seat. He is known to the police and the shooting appears targeted.
March 20 | Ryan Hardy
The 38-year-old man was fatally stabbed about 4:20 p.m. at Main and Hastings Street. He died later in hospital. No one has been charged yet.
Jan. 31 | Christopher Denis Kwik
The 40-year-old was the victim of a fatal shooting inside an apartment in the historic Edwards Block at 2425 Granville St., just before 11 p.m. Kwik was not a resident of the building. Kwik was charged days earlier with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was scheduled to make a first court appearance on Feb. 2. There have been no arrests.
Delta Police:
Dec. 11 | Unidentified man
A 53-year-old Delta man died after a fight outside the Rose and Crown Pub in Tsawwassen. Delta Police are calling it a suspicious death until the cause of death is confirmed. They initially took two men into custody for questioning, but no charges have been laid.
March 3 | Robinder Virk
The remains of the missing Surrey man were discovered inside a known drug house in the 2000-block of Tsawwassen Drive in Delta. Virk, 32, was reported missing on Jan. 11, 2016, and was last seen on Jan. 3, 2016. While police announced the death was a suspected homicide, the cause of death has not yet been determined and the case remains a “suspicious death.” No charges have been laid.
![PORT COQUITLAM, BC., February 12, 2017 -- Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) and RCMP on scene at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC., February 12, 2017. Investigators are searching the roof of the recreation centre and areas around the Hyde Creek Nature Reserve after a man was found with fatal injuries at 10pm on Saturday night. Police have not released any details of the incident.(NICK PROCAYLO/PostMedia) 00047841A ORG XMIT: 00047841A [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2017/02/port-coquitlam-bc-february-12-2017-integrated-homici2.jpeg?w=640)
![PORT COQUITLAM, BC., February 12, 2017 -- Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) and RCMP on scene at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC., February 12, 2017. Investigators are searching the roof of the recreation centre and areas around the Hyde Creek Nature Reserve after a man was found with fatal injuries at 10pm on Saturday night. Police have not released any details of the incident.(NICK PROCAYLO/PostMedia) 00047841A ORG XMIT: 00047841A [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2017/02/port-coquitlam-bc-february-12-2017-integrated-homici.jpeg?w=640)
![PORT COQUITLAM, BC., February 12, 2017 -- Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) and RCMP on scene at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre in Port Coquitlam, BC., February 12, 2017. Investigators are searching the roof of the recreation centre and areas around the Hyde Creek Nature Reserve after a man was found with fatal injuries at 10pm on Saturday night. Police have not released any details of the incident.(NICK PROCAYLO/PostMedia) 00047841A ORG XMIT: 00047841A [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2017/02/port-coquitlam-bc-february-12-2017-integrated-homici1.jpeg?w=640)
