Witness part of murder plot, defence hints
Man was shot in face just months after shooting at Richmond party he hosted
A Crown witness admitted in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday that he has a criminal conviction for violence and was shot in the face just months after hosting a fatal Richmond dinner party.
Jack Qin, who owns a Richmond money exchange business, booked the reservation at the Manzo restaurant on Sept. 18, 2020 for a large group that included alleged money launderers Paul King Jin and Jian Jun Zhu.
Just after 7:30 p.m., a gunman fired seven shots through the restaurant's window, killing Zhu and wounding Jin.
Richard Reed is charged with the first-degree murder of Zhu and the attempted murder of Jin. The Crown has said that Jin was the intended target that night and that Reed was offered $6,000 to kill him.
But defence lawyer Kevin Westell noted Thursday that as the first guests arrived that night, Qin redirected Zhu to a triangular table in front of the window where the fatal shots would soon be fired.
“You are encouraging him to sit at the table you are pointing to,” Westell said after playing a CCTV video from inside the restaurant that night.
Qin said through a Mandarin interpreter that he sat Zhu at that table because he was a respected guest at the dinner.
Westell asked Qin directly if he was involved in the murder plot.
“You and others hired someone to execute this very diligent hit,” Westell said.
Replied Qin: “I don't think so.” Westell asked Qin if he liked Zhu. The witness said he neither liked nor disliked the murdered man.
“I have been to his birthday celebration in Hong Kong,” Qin told Justice Jeanne Watchuk.
“Earlier on, we hung out together. He was rather a generous person. Between us, we had loaned money. We paid those loans and he usually would not charge us interest.”
Westell also asked Qin details about his own shooting in April 2021.
Qin said he was in a vehicle leaving a “clubhouse” on Marine Drive in Vancouver when someone opened fire, hitting him in the face. At the time, Vancouver police said the victim of the targeted hit was in critical condition. He testified Wednesday that clubhouses were unlicensed gambling sites.
Qin said Thursday that he believes he survived because he is “a good person.”
“Do you believe you were shot by somebody else in retaliation for Mr. Zhu's death?” Westell asked.
Replied Qin: “I really don't know, but I don't think so.”
And Westell suggested “the plan was never for Mr. Jin to get hit.”
Qin said he didn't understand what Westell was suggesting.
“Whoever was present, whoever was there — everyone was exposed to such a danger,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Qin admitted he was convicted of possession of a firearm in Richmond in 2016.
He said he bought the gun at a casino “for fun” and had it inside his car door when police pulled him over for impaired driving. He got a conditional sentence.
And he agreed with Westell that he was also convicted in 2022 of forcible confinement and assault with a weapon.
He said the victim was a person who had come to his currency exchange with false documentation and defrauded him of $450,000.
He later threatened the person with a knife, tied them up and held them in the business for 20 hours.
The trial continues.
You are encouraging him to sit at the table you are pointing to. ... You and others hired someone to execute this very diligent hit.