In the wake of a court decision on the murderer of Kevin LeClair, police are renewing calls for tips to help locate a fugitive ex-gang leader charged in the same killing.
Cory Vallee鈥檚 appeal of his first-degree murder conviction was denied on Thursday, Jan. 13 by the B.C. Court of Appeal. Vallee will remain behind bars serving his sentence.
But Conor D鈥橫onte, another U.N. Gang member, remains at large and is wanted for murder in the case. He was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 2011.
LeClair was gunned down in the parking lot of a Walnut Grove shopping centre on Feb. 6, 2009, by an assailant eventually determiend to be Vallee.
Vallee was apprehended and convicted in 2018.
The attack was part of a gang war between the U.N. Gang and their rivals, the Bacon brothers and the Red Scorpions. LeClair had been an associate of the Bacons.
D鈥橫onte, another senior gang member, is believed to have fled Canada as far back as 2011. In 2019, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, a squad of police that targets gang activity in B.C., announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
READ ALSO: $100,000 reward for B.C. gangster extended to United States
At the time, D鈥橫onte was believed to be somewhere in Los Angeles.
D鈥橫onte was the leader of the U.N. Gang starting around 2008, when its previous leader, Clay Roueche, was arrested on drug charges in the United States.
Trials of other gang members showed that under D鈥橫onte鈥檚 leadership, the gang began to lose its cohesiveness. After he fled the country, the next leader became a police informant.
The CFSEU is still looking for D鈥橫onte or for any clue as to his whereabouts, and is encouraging the public to come forward with new tips.
鈥淐FSEU-BC will continue to coordinate a collaborative police effort in British Columbia to ensure those involved in criminal organizations and who put lives at risk will be brought before the courts to face justice,鈥� said Assistant Commissioner Manny Mann, chief officer of CFSEU.
Persons charged with a criminal offence are considered not guilty until the charges are proven in court.
Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
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