Gangland killer wins chance for early parole

A man convicted of first-degree murder in a high-profile gang case has won the right to have a jury decide whether he should get early parole under the “faint hope” law.

A jury found Simon Kwok Cheng Chow, now 51, was one of the men behind the gangland execution of Bindy Johal associate Vikash Chand in October 1998.

Chand was shot several times as he changed a licence plate at the Rags to Riches car lot in Burnaby.

Chow admitted he knew of the murder plot, but claimed he was not involved in it.

Payments made to the killers were for a drug deal, he told the jurors who convicted him in 2001. Chow was sentenced to a mandatory life term with no parole for 25 years. He unsuccessfully appealed his conviction to both the B.C. Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Chow applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for the chance to have a “faint hope” hearing, where a jury can decide to reduce a killer’s parole ineligibility period to as little as 15 years.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Greyell ruled this week that Chow should have a jury hear his case.

Greyell said Chow based his application for the faint hope hearing “on his personal growth and insights arising from his incarceration” and the fact he has been a model prisoner.

Three others (George Wasfi, Sameer Mapara and Shane Kelly Shoemaker) were also convicted in the Chand murder. Shoemaker was found to be the shooter, while Wasfi and Mapara were part of the plot.

Johal was shot to death two months after Chand was slain, while gang associate Bal Buttar was paralyzed in a 2001 shooting. He died several years later.