Final arguments focus on revenge plots for execution of gangster Jonathan Bacon

Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Larry Ronald Amero have been on trial in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver since June 29, 2021

Final arguments are underway in a gangrelated Vancouver murder trial that began before a jury in June last year and was expected to run for about six months but has had a number of delays.

Two men — Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Larry Ronald Amero — have been on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver since June 29, 2021.

Alkhalil has pleaded not guilty to the Jan. 17, 2012 first-degree murder of Sandip Duhre at the Sheraton Wall Centre.

Amero has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to murder Duhre. Alkhalil and Amero also pleaded not guilty to conspiring with others to murder Sukh Dhak between Aug. 6, 2011 and Aug. 8, 2012.

In closing submissions that began Tuesday and are being presided over by Justice Miriam Maisonville, the Crown told the jury that the main evidence concerning motive in the crimes was the high-profile Kelowna shooting on Aug. 14, 2011 which claimed the life of gangster Jonathan Bacon.

The trial heard that Bacon was one of five people, including Amero, who were in a Porsche Cayenne that was sprayed with bullets outside the Delta Grande Hotel in Kelowna. Amero, the driver, was seriously injured in the shooting.

The Crown had previously said the two accused were members of a group called the Wolfpack that was engaged in a rivalry with Duhre and Dhak and the crimes they committed were in retaliation for the Bacon killing.

In Tuesday’s submissions, the Crown said that to a “large extent,” the case was about identification and that CCTV video from the Wall Centre would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Alkhalil was one of the people in that video footage.

The prosecution said one of the critical issues on Alkhalil’s murder count was whether Alkhalil was a party to the murder since he obviously had not shot Duhre himself. Alkhalil either aided the shooter, or abetted the shooter, or both, according to the Crown.

The Crown’s theory, which they said would be proven with the aid of going through video in some detail, is that Alkhalil aided the shooter by acting as a spotter. Duhre died after being shot multiple times in the head execution style.

“The shooter had the skill and the composure to walk right up to Mr. Duhre in a public place, in a busy public restaurant, in full view of other people about, shoot Mr. Duhre multiple times and escape, without being immediately apprehended,” Crown counsel Mark Sheardown told the jury Wednesday.

Encrypted BlackBerry messages seized by police were strong evidence of a plan to murder Duhre and to murder Dhak, said the Crown, telling the jury that even if they were not satisfied Alkhalil sent incriminating messages on the devices, Alkhalil could still be found guilty of murder as an aider on the basis of video and the surrounding evidence alone.

The Crown’s theory on abetting is that the murder of Duhre was a paid hit, and Alkhalil was involved in payment for the hit.

Regarding the Duhre murder conspiracy charge involving Amero, the Crown said a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an indictable offence and that Amero conspired with others to murder Duhre.

The encrypted messages involving Amero are the main body of evidence on that count, added the Crown, which said it will show Amero was involved in payment for the hit.

The messages will also be the main body of evidence proving the Dhak murder conspiracy charge against Alkhalil and Amero, said the Crown.

The defence is expected to begin their final submissions today or Monday.