B.C.’s high court Jan. 28 upheld murder convictions for two men involved in the notorious 2007 Surrey Six mass murder. The murders saw six people executed in a Surrey highrise apartment in 2007, . . .
They were then shot. In 2014, Cody Rae Haevischer and Matthew James Johnston were both sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on six counts of first-degree murder. The pair was also found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit murder. “None of the grounds of appeal that would have resulted in a new trial are upheld, and the verdicts of guilt are affirmed,” the BC Court of Appeal said in a short statement. The court said appeals are allowed to the extent of quashing their convictions and remitting the matter to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the applications for a stay of proceedings for abuse of process.”
VANCOUVER - Two men found guilty of British Columbia's most notorious gang killings will be allowed to argue the case should be thrown out because their
VANCOUVER The guilty verdicts have been upheld for two men serving life sentences in connection with the province s deadliest gang shooting, a B.C. Court of Appeal judge ruled Thursday. A judgment posted online provided few details about the decision, saying that the reasons are being withheld for now because there is an order sealing the court file to protect confidential information. However, the judges wrote, None of the grounds of appeal that would have resulted in a new trial are upheld, and the verdicts of guilt are affirmed. An abbreviated version of the reasons will be posted when available.
The conspiracy itself was by its nature so dangerous, so callous and so fraught with risk that it in fact resulted in six deaths, rather than one, she said. Each man had a chance for sober second thought, she said, but despite recognizing others would be collateral damage they carried out the plan. The behaviour of both offenders in this regard was, in normative terms, off any scale that could be used. Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were each found guilty in October of conspiracy and six counts of first-degree murder. The sentences pronounced Friday were automatic and expected, but the proceedings provided an opportunity for the presentation of nine victim-impact statements.