Accused UN gang killer in court after spending decade on run
Alleged United Nations gang killer Conor D'monte made a brief appearance by video in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday after being returned to Canada from Puerto Rico.
D'monte was charged in 2011 with the first-degree murder of rival Red Scorpion gangster Kevin Leclair as well as conspiracy to kill Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon.
But the now-46-year-old Vancouver native fled the country and remained a fugitive until he was arrested in Puerto Rico in 2022, where he had been living under a fake name.
B.C.'S anti-gang agency said Friday that it had worked closely with the U.S. Marshals Service and border agencies in both countries, as well as the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, to get D'monte returned to Canada.
Chief Officer Manny Mann of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said in a statement that his agency “and our police partners from around the globe spent many years looking for Conor D'monte. Just like other fugitives, including Rabih Alkhalil who is also one of Canada's most wanted, CFSEU-BC and police will not stop until we catch those wanted for violent crimes.”
Alkhalil is a convicted killer from the rival Wolfpack gang who escaped from Port Coquitlam's North Fraser pretrial jail in July 2022 and has never been found.
D'monte's next court appearance is scheduled for April 3.
After his arrest in a San Juan suburb on Feb. 25, 2022, D'monte challenged his extradition from the U.S., but lost in November. He then appealed the ruling, claiming that the information provided by Canada did “not satisfy the due process standards applicable in this case or reach the necessary probable cause threshold. This court should decline to certify extradition.”
But he dropped the appeal in January and agreed to return to Canada.
In a statement he released two months ago, D'monte said that he disappeared only because of threats against him and his family.
“I left Canada 13 years ago not to avoid trial and run from this allegation, but to escape certain threats, putting the lives of my young children and family in extreme danger,” D'monte said.
He also said that he understands the serious charges he is facing, but that he hasn't had his day in court.
“It is crucial to remember that a cornerstone of a fair and just society is the presumption of innocence and that an allegation is not a conviction. My story, like many, is complex and multi-faceted, and I am confident that the truth will emerge in due course,” D'monte said.
Leclair, a former member of the UN gang who had joined the rival Red Scorpions, was gunned down as he left a restaurant in Langley's Thunderbird Mall on Feb. 6, 2009.
UN hit man Cory Vallee was convicted of first-degree murder in the case in 2018. Other UN gangsters pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kill various Red Scorpion targets over several months in 2008 and 2009.