Almost six years after six men were shot execution-style in a Surrey penthouse apartment, three of their accused killers are set to go to trial Monday.
And for families of the victims 鈥� including two uninvolved bystanders 鈥� the wait for justice has been agonizing.
Steve Brown鈥檚 brother-in-law Ed Schellenberg was fixing fireplaces in the Balmoral Tower on Oct. 19, 2007 when he was shot to death on the 15th floor.
鈥淓d went to work one day and never came home,鈥� Brown said in an interview this week, adding that he鈥檒l be in the courtroom Monday with family members for the start of the trial.
鈥淢y wish is that the evidence gets out there in the public realm,鈥� he said.
Eileen Mohan鈥檚 son Christopher was the other victim randomly grabbed and shot to death along with four young men involved in the drug trade.
Mohan has spoken out for years about her quest for justice for her 22-year-old son, who lived with her in an apartment across the hall from the person believed to have been the target of the gangland slaying.
Mohan has saved her holidays for five years so she can take the time from work to attend the trial.
鈥淎 lot of families don鈥檛 have the opportunity to do what I鈥檓 going to do on Monday, which is go and represent my son in court,鈥� Mohan said. 鈥淚 need to know what happened. I need to see each person who is accused in this horrible massacre that took my son鈥檚 life.鈥�
Families of the other four victims 鈥� brothers Michael and Corey Lal, who were 26 and 21, respectively, Eddie Narong, 22, and Ryan Bartolomeo, 19 鈥� have been less vocal publicly since the murders.
But they are also expected to be at B.C. Supreme Court Monday for the opening statement by Crown prosecutor Mark Levitz.
Samantha Hulme, who speaks for the attorney-general鈥檚 criminal justice branch, said this week that the first of two Surrey Six trials is expected to last up to a year. The date for a second trial for accused killer James Kyle Bacon has not yet been set.
Cody Rae Haevischer, 29, Quang Vinh Thang (Michael) Le, 28, and Matthew James Johnston, also 29, are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder in connection with the slayings.
Le is facing a single count of murder for allegedly killing Corey Lal. Haevischer and Johnston face six counts of murder for each of the victims.
At the time of their arrest, police said the accused were members of the Red Scorpion gang and had a dispute with victim Corey Lal over drug trafficking territory.
All three have been in jail since their arrest in the spring of 2009. In fact, Haevischer is facing additional charges related to an alleged jailhouse assault on Oct. 22, 2010.
The Surrey Six case has been in months of pre-trial hearings before Justice Catherine Wedge, who is presiding over the judge-alone trial.
Wedge, who was appointed to the B.C. Supreme Court in April 2001, is a former union lawyer. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a law degree in 1980, after years of competing for Canada as an equestrian 鈥� including in the 1976 Olympics.
In addition to Levitz, prosecutors Catherine Murray, Geoffrey Baragar, Daniel Loucks, Matthew Stacey, Louise Kenworthy, Alex Henderson, Kathleen McIntosh and Heather Guinn have been working to prepare the case for trial, Hulme said.
On the defence side, Brock Martland and Michael Tammen are representing Johnston, Simon Buck and Alexander Willms have been retained by Haevischer, while Le is represented by Christopher Johnson, Shelley Sugarman and Andrew Nelson.
The 91原创 Sun will provide daily coverage of the trial, which could last up to a year. But there will be some restrictions due to publication bans that have been imposed. The Sun and other media outlets have challenged the bans during pre-trial hearings.
Mohan said she knows it will be tough sitting through months of graphic evidence and witness testimony.
She also said she has confidence in the judicial system and the case prosecutors have put together.
鈥淭he spirit of justice has to kick in in this case, especially when my innocent son鈥檚 life was stolen right from the doorstep of his home,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat for me is unacceptable. That is where you have to feel most secure and most safe.鈥�
