Finally Friday, in his fourth day on the stand, an ex-UN gangster testified about Cory Vallee, the man charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons, and the murder of Kevin LeClair.
The witness, who can only be called D, said Vallee was brought to UN leader Clay Roueche by Johnny “K-9” Croitoru.
He said Roueche wanted someone unknown to police in B.C., and to the Bacon brothers and their associates.
This witness has one more day under direct examination, then four days under cross-examination by defence lawyers for Vallee.
Ex-gangster testifies he gave gun to ‘hitman’ Cory Vallee
A former United Nations gangster says he provided a handgun to accused killer Cory Vallee, who he described as a “hitman” hired by the gang.
The man, who can only be identified as D, said he was surprised when Vallee seemed excited about the Colt semi-automatic gun, given Vallee’s purported line of work.
He said he gave the gun to Vallee at an apartment that UN gang leader Clay Roueche had arranged for Vallee while the gang was at war with the Bacon brothers.
“He took it and was admiring it. He was very happy about it. He had a big smile. He thought it was very cool,” D told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon. “I thought it was a little bit strange that he was so excited by it.”
Cory Vallee
Asked to explain why he thought Vallee’s reaction was unusual, D said: “My understanding was that this was an individual that had done these kinds of jobs — that of being a hitman — before for the biker gangs in eastern Canada somewhere.”
“And I assumed that someone with that kind of repertoire — if you will — would have seen a lot of guns and wouldn’t really think much of a firearm.”
No one had seen (Vallee), no one was familiar with his face. He was not on law enforcement radar
In his fourth day on the stand at Vallee’s trial, D described the increasingly violent conflict with the Bacons and the UN.
He said he provided information about the Bacons to Vallee, including details of a Langley restaurant and gym they frequented.
Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons over several months in 2008 and 2009, as well as the first-degree murder of Bacon associate Kevin LeClair in Langley in February 2009.
D testified Friday that Roueche wanted an outside hitman because he would not be recognized by law enforcement or known to the Bacons.
“No one had seen him, no one was familiar with his face. He was not on law enforcement radar,” he testified.
An undated handout photo of Kevin LeClair, who was gunned down Feb. 6, 2009, in Langley.
“(The Bacons) had not seen him before to the best of our knowledge, and that gave him a significant advantage if he wanted to carry out an act of violence against them.”
Before the UN could strike, one of their own was gunned down on the steps of an Abbotsford home on May 8, 2008.
Duane Meyer had been a popular member of the UN and close to Roueche at the time of his death, D testified.
“Clay was visibly upset and sad about it. It was a person he respected and was close to.”
Meyer’s murder made the UN realize it had underestimated the Bacons and their associates, D said.
“The murder of Duane Meyer showed a significant level of ability and intelligence in our enemy that I myself and others in our group … did not believe existed before that,” D testified.
D said until then he had thought of the Bacons as “cowboys … shooting ’em up kind of thugs, not having the level of intelligence or tactical know-how to execute a murder of this scale so efficiently.”
“This displayed they were smarter than that. They had the ability to gather intelligence on members of the UN and act on that intelligence in a smart way.”
He said the UN’s hunt intensified, leading to the mistaken murder of stereo installer Jonathan Barber, who was driving one of the Bacon brothers’ vehicles when he was fatally shot in Burnaby.
D said he was with UN gangster Elliott (Taco) Castaneda at an Abbotsford bar when Castaneda got a BlackBerry message about the Burnaby murder.
Elliott Castaneda of Abbotsford was shot dead in Guadalajara, Mexico. [PNG Merlin Archive] Elliot Castaneda
The trial continues.
