Evidence ‘overwhelming’ at gangland murder conspiracy trial: prosecutor

Powerful evidence that three men planned to kill a rival Calgary gang member should overcome any doubts about their one-time colleagues' credibility as a witness, a Crown prosecutor told court Wednesday.

While prosecutor Adam May admitted the witness — a onetime associate of Henry Nguyen, Trong Nguyen and Bryan Balla — is a confessed killer who has lied to authorities in the past, his testimony was backed up by recorded conversations and other evidence.

“There is a wealth of independent evidence that corroborates the witness evidence,” May told Court of Queen's Bench while making final arguments in the conspiracy to commit murder trial.

The Crown alleges the three planned to kill FK member Vinh (Fat) Truong in September 2012 while he visited a Calgary-area cemetery.

The men had been part of a bloody gang war in the city that led to at least 25 homicides between 2002 and 2009.

May said conversations between the three, recorded by police both before and after the Sept. 9 date on which Truong was to be murdered, show the accused were planning the crime. He also said police video surveillance and physical evidence such as latex gloves, which he said were intended to avoid leaving fingerprints in a car to be used in the crime, strongly indicated guilt.

“That evidence is overwhelming,” said May. “You have the admissions of all the accused in the purported scenarios … surveillance video certainly shows concrete plans to kill Vinh Truong.”

Trong Nguyen's lawyer, Adriano Iovinelli, has argued those conversations were merely “s-talk” and that the witness, identified only as A.B., was under pressure from law enforcement to provide evidence against the three accused.

“I've referred to Mr. Truong as a meal ticket,” said Iovinelli.

But May argued the accused's own words confirmed A.B.'s testimony, among other evidence.

He also said there was plenty of motivation to kill Truong.

Truong was convicted of trying to gun down FOB members Tyler MacDonald and Matthew Chubak on Dec. 31, 2007, outside a Sandstone home.

“Vinh Truong wasn't targeted out of the ether,” May told court.

The defence is to deliver its final arguments Thursday.