Pubdate: Sat, 11 Apr 2009 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Brian Hutchinson IN B.C., THE BODY COUNT KEEPS RISING Despite Stellar Police Work, Drug Wars Continue The streets should feel a little safer now, thanks to some stellar police work that led to arrests last week of three alleged killers, and to surprise guilty pleas from one of their associates. Dennis Karbovanec was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, after he admitted to having murdered three of six men killed in a 2007 massacre in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb. Those murders are thought to have kicked off a tit-for-tat gangland killing spree that continues to terrorize B. C.'s Lower Mainland, and which has left a number of rival thugs and their family members dead. The feuding has captured the attention of foreign media. The Independent, in London, published a long piece on Vancouver last weekend in which it referred to the city's "blood-spattered streets littered with shell casings and corpses." Police have cer tainly stepped up their efforts. The speed of Karbovanec's arrest and conviction on second-degree murder charges was stunning, and is still unexplained. Could it be that Karbovanec had a crisis of conscience and decided to "come clean" to investigators? That's what his lawyer suggested on Thursday in a Surrey courtroom before the 27-year-old was led away by sheriffs. More likely, Karbovanec was ratted out by a fellow associate of the Red Scorpions, a group of second-tier criminals with suspected links to the drug and weapons trades. The public doesn't know what led police to Karbovanec, in part because a publication ban imposed by a B. C. court prevents media from sharing certain details of events, and because three other men must return to court and may be tried for their alleged roles in the massacre. One of those men is Jamie Bacon, charged last weekend with first-degree murder in the death of Corey Lal, one of the Surrey Six. Mr. Bacon is also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He is the youngest of three brothers, all known to police and to the community at large. And not for their good deeds. Notorious and infamous: These two mild adjectives are often used to describe the Bacon family. Jamie, 23, Jarrod, 26, and Jonathan, 28, have been rolling through B. C.'s court and penal systems for a decade, and are allegedly key figures in the Red Scorpions gang. Neighbours, journalists, even police exercise extreme caution with the Bacons, who don't take kindly to scrutiny. Their mother, Susan, is a local credit union worker. Their father, David, is a public school employee placed on leave. The Bacons live in Abbotsford, about an hour's drive east of Vancouver, in a well-off neighbourhood. A peaceful, desirable place, until the family's presence brought gunfire, constant fear and 24-hour police surveillance. David once grabbed at a reporter's arm, reached for her notebook and called her a "maggot" when she asked him to comment on gun and trafficking charges faced by Jonathan, and on the 27 unrelated weapons charges laid against both Jarrod and Jamie. That was a year ago, about seven months after the Surrey massacre. Jarrod and Jamie were placed under house arrest. Their movements to and from the family's comfortable Abbotsford house were restricted and closely monitored. Months later, Abbotsford police installed video cameras outside the Bacon house. The cameras served several purposes: To help calm the neighbourhood; to keep an eye on the Bacon boys; and to discourage other criminals from approaching them. Jonathan had already been shot and wounded once, on the family driveway. Two months ago, with the gangland revenge killings underway, police warned of a plot "to murder Jarrod, Jamie and Jonathan Bacon." No matter. Jamie filed a complaint against the police, alleging they had violated his rights while conducting their surveillance and giving the family protection. The tables turned with Jamie's arrest and first-degree-murder charge. He remains in custody and faces the possibility of a very long stretch in prison. He last served time in 2007, for theft. Two other alleged Red Scorpions are also charged in connection with the Surrey Six massacre. Cody Rae Haevischer, 24, and Matt Johnson, 24, are each charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Jonathan and Jarrod Bacon are not alleged to have participated in the Surrey murders. Thanks to other charges pending, their movements are restricted -- they can no longer lease or operate armoured vehicles, for example -- but both are still able to move about the Vancouver area. On Tuesday, Jonathan drove his father's black pickup truck to and from the courthouse in Surrey where Jamie, dressed in red remand garb, appeared on his first-degree-murder and conspiracy charges. Jarrod was also on hand; he had to make a scheduled appearance on the 27 separate weapons charges that he and Jamie still face. That matter was put over until May 12. Jarrod was free to walk from the courtroom, and back into society. His parents accompanied him. We will be seeing them all again soon. The streets may feel safer. But the body count keeps rising. Another four homicides were reported in metro Vancouver in the past two weeks. At least two were targeted hits. Two drug runners killed in Abbotsford were Red Scorpions associates, according to the Vancouver Sun's ace crime reporter, Kim Bolan. The fourth murder victim was a completely innocent woman, the sister of former Vancouver councillor and mayoral candidate Peter Ladner. Wendy Ladner-Beaudry's body was found near a popular Vancouver nature trail. There have been no arrests related to these four slayings. And two days ago, a corpse was found on the grounds of an East Vancouver elementary school. Police are treating that death as suspicious. Parents of children who attend the school are treating it as dangerous. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom