Pubdate: Thu, 27 Dec 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Keith Fraser
Page: A4

VERNON GANG LINKED TO SEVEN SLAYINGS

GREEKS: New details emerge about drug ring involved in B.C.'s longest
criminal jury trial, cops say

They were convicted in three drugrelated slayings, but police suspect
they were also involved in four other murders.

In November, five members or associates of the Greeks gang in Vernon
were found guilty of three grisly deaths following the longest
criminal jury trial in B.C. history.

But what the jury didn't hear was the full extent of their crimes,
police say.

During the course of a lengthy probe, an RCMP task force uncovered
evidence of four other murders, making a total of seven murders in 11
months, that they believe are also linked to the Vernon gang.

When asked whether he was certain the gang was to blame for the four
additional homicides, RCMP Insp. Al Haslett, the lead investigator in
the case, said there was "no doubt about it."

Jeffrey Drake, the first of the seven victims, was involved in the
drug trade and was murdered in the summer of 2004 as a result of a
drug ripoff, Haslett said. Drake was beaten to death and the gang
disposed of his body down an embankment by Okanagan Lake, said Haslett.

A second victim, Belinda Scott, was a girlfriend of Ron Thom, who was
shot to death in November 2004, one of the three murders dealt with at
trial.

"We believe that she in fact witnessed something or had some
information and they did not want her to ever have to talk to police
about it," Haslett said. "She was taken from Vernon, down to the Hope
area and she was murdered down there, very soon after the Ron Thom
murder ... "

Robert Hewison was set up by the gang in March 2005, lured out of a
nightclub and then shot.

"He had a falling out, and all to do with the drug culture," said
Haslett. Though Hewison's murder was not one of the three murders on
the indictment, the jury heard some details of his slaying.

Also slain in March 2005 was Stanley Polak, who was involved in the
drug trade, not working for the Greeks but definitely buying drugs
from them, said Haslett.

"He just got on the wrong side of them and he just got set up
literally and murdered. We found his body located up in the bush later
on. It was a pretty vicious killing. He was murdered with a weapon."

No charges have been laid in the Drake, Scott and Polak
murders.

Charges were laid in the Hewison murder, but a permanent publication
ban imposed at trial precludes reporting on those details.

In addition to Thom, the murders of Greeks drug-runner Dave Marnuik
and Thomas Bryce were also dealt with at trial.

After Marnuik vanished with a small amount of drugs and money, the
Greeks hunted him down and beat and tortured him to death in the
Vernon building they called "the office." His body was dumped in a
remote location outside Vernon and set on fire.

Bryce, who had allegedly threatened the Greeks, was lured to a Vernon
beach where he was beaten with a baseball bat and his body driven over
by a vehicle. He died 17 days later.

Dale Gordon Sipes and Leslie Podolski were found guilty of firstdegree
murder in the Marnuik killing. Sheldon Richard O'Donnell was found
guilty of second-degree murder and gang leader Peter Manolakos was
found guilty of manslaughter in Marnuik's slaying.

Sipes O'Donnell and Manolakos were found guilty of first-degree murder
in Thom's slaying. Douglas Corey Brownell was found guilty of
manslaughter in Thom's slaying.

O'Donnell was found guilty of second-degree murder in Bryce's slaying
and Brownell guilty of manslaughter on that count.

Though Haslett believes the Greeks were responsible for the four
murders not on the indictment, those cases are not likely to see the
inside of a courtroom. That's due largely to the successful outcome of
the three murder cases that did go to trial, he said.

And Haslett said the key prosecution witnesses, whose credibility and
reliability were challenged by the defence, "can only go through so
much and this was a very long trial."

The task force, comprising at one point 50 officers, was launched in
September 2005. By that time it was common knowledge in Vernon who the
Greeks were, said Haslett.

"You walk up to any civilian on the streets, they would have told you
about the Greeks, their drug activities. There was no secret that they
were responsible for these murders. And it was no secret as to where
they hung out."

But people were fearful of the "vicious" drug organization, which was
flooding the streets with crack cocaine and heroin and, in that
culture, people were reluctant to come forward as witnesses, he said.

Police focused on "the office" - a gang hangout where they knew a
number of the beatings and murders had occurred.

"We started gathering evidence around there through different search
warrants and surveillance ... ," said Haslett. "From there on, we
started approaching witnesses and getting information as to what they
were up to, in a timely fashion, as well as a history of all these
murders."

A group of four key prosecution witnesses, who can't be identified due
to a permanent publication ban imposed by the trial judge, B.C.
Supreme Court Justice Bill Smart, emerged during the probe.

"We had to approach them, let them understand what is coming down the
pike, what is going to happen to the whole group, that this group is
going to jail, no matter what," said Haslett. "At the end of the day,
this group was going to be dismantled and people were going to jail."
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