Three men charged with murder of Langley teen
SURREY — Ever since his son Nicholas disappeared 19 months ago, Craig Hannon had held out hope that he would one day miraculously walk through the front door.
But those hopes were permanently dashed this weekend after police arrested three young men — Connor Campbell, 21, Bradley Flaherty, 20, and 20-year-old Keith Tankard — and charged them with the first-degree murder of 19-year-old Nicholas in February last year.
The arrests led police to Nicholas’s body, which was recovered in a heavily wooded area in the Morris Valley near Mission.
“We are devastated and we feel betrayed,” Craig Hannon said at a news conference in Surrey on Tuesday. “These three young men were welcomed in our home on many, many occasions.”
Nicholas was reported missing on Feb. 26, 2014, after his locked truck was found near Derby Reach Park in Langley’s Walnut Grove area.
His family had offered a $10,000 reward for any information on his disappearance.
In mid-April last year, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it had enough evidence to suggest Hannon had met with foul play.
IHIT Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound revealed few details of the arrest or motive Tuesday, other than the fact the four men had known each other.
“We believe this was a result of a conflict that turned violent and ultimately deadly,” Pound said.
She said she hopes the arrest will help the family start to heal.
“To have three people charged with first-degree murder is a huge success,” she said. “We acknowledge how difficult this is for Nicholas’s family. There’s always hope for families that their loved one is going to walk through that door. That didn’t happen this time.”
Craig Hannon, flanked by his wife, Wendy, choked back tears as he remembered Nicholas playing goalie or piggybacking his niece up and down the stairs.
“Never again will I be able to hug him and say ‘I love you buddy,’ ” he said. “He had a smile that lit up the room. Now that room won’t be as bright.”
The three accused appeared in Surrey provincial court on Tuesday.