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   From: yb@nyetsissies.ru   
      
   METRO VANCOUVER -- From a gangland execution in North Delta Jan.   
   2 to the slaying of a man in Maple Ridge on Dec. 19, the year   
   has been a busy one for Lower Mainland homicide investigators.   
      
   Sixty people were murdered or died under suspicious   
   circumstances in 2015 in the region stretching from Whistler to   
   Chilliwack, according to data compiled by The Vancouver Sun.   
      
   The violence started early in the year when gangster Arundeep   
   Cheema was gunned down in the driveway of an associate in North   
   Delta. Like many other gang cases, his murder remains unsolved.   
      
   “It remains an active investigation but there have been no   
   arrests at this time,” Delta Police Acting Sgt. Sarah Swallow   
   said Wednesday.   
      
   The region’s largest murder squad — the Integrated Homicide   
   Investigation Team — opened 39 files in 2015, with the number of   
   confirmed victims or suspicious deaths totalling 43.   
      
   IHIT’s Sgt. Stephanie Ashton said not all of the cases have been   
   made public.   
      
   “In some cases these files are not confirmed homicides or didn’t   
   require public notice,” she said.   
      
   Vancouver Police had 15 victims of homicide in 2015, the highest   
   number since 2011. There were just nine murders in the city in   
   2014, six in 2013 and eight in 2012, Const. Brian Montague said.   
      
   Charges have been recommended or laid in 10 of the 2015 deaths,   
   Montague said.   
      
   VPD’s unsolved cases from the year include the fatal stabbing of   
   Scott Singh, 24, and Tony Pelletier, 37, at the West Hotel on   
   March 14 and the gangland shooting of Duy Ly Nguyen on Sept. 27   
   in a crowded shopping plaza at Oak and King Edward.   
      
   Also unsolved to date are the back-to-back murders on July 26   
   and July 27 of 15-year-old Jason Nguyen and 20-year-old Samir   
   Mokhtar. Both were targeted.   
      
   IHIT investigations this year have already resulted in charges   
   being laid in 15 murders.   
      
   In other cases, like the tragic May 7 murders of Emily Janzen,   
   her mother Laurel and aunt Shelley, the suspect is dead. Her dad   
   Randy confessed on Facebook to the triple slaying and was later   
   found dead.   
      
   Other suspects were arrested but released, and haven’t yet been   
   charged.   
      
   Ashton thanked the public for aiding investigations by providing   
   critical information.   
      
   “As a result of the support we receive from the public, our   
   investigators are often able to move forward to reach charge   
   approval and that was the case in many of our files from 2015,”   
   Ashton said. “However it is also one of our biggest challenges.   
   Sometimes for any number of reasons people don’t want to talk   
   with the police. It is our goal to continue to foster positive   
   relationships with the public so that they can see the benefits   
   of supporting our investigations.”   
      
   In many of the region’s murders, police have possible motives   
   from day one.   
      
   But in other cases, they have appealed for people to come   
   forward if they have any knowledge about a murder.   
      
   Earlier this month, IHIT asked for witnesses in the targeted   
   Nov. 21 murder of Surinderpal Hehar, a community volunteer and   
   dad to young children. He was gunned down minutes after getting   
   picked up at his Surrey home for a night shift on the docks.   
      
   Ashton said that “a motive for this murder has not been   
   established,” even though it was targeted and Hehar, 47, was the   
   intended victim.   
      
   Murders in the region are investigated by different agencies,   
   depending on where they happen.   
      
   IHIT probes all cases in cities with RCMP detachments, as well   
   as those in New Westminster, Port Moody and Abbotsford, working   
   with their municipal forces.   
      
   Delta Police and Vancouver Police investigate murders within   
   their boundaries while the VPD helps West Vancouver Police with   
   its homicide files.   
      
   No murder was more shocking in 2015 than the fatal shooting of   
   Abbotsford senior Ping Shun Ao on a sunny summer evening Sept. 2.   
      
   The 74-year-old was in the side yard of his family’s Abbotsford   
   home on Promontory Court when he was struck by a bullet meant   
   for a neighbour caught in a local gang war.   
      
   No charges have yet been laid in the murder, which shook the   
   Fraser Valley community.   
      
   Land title records show Ao’s family sold their house just weeks   
   after the murder and moved away.   
      
   kbolan vancouversun.com   
      
   twitter.com/kbolan   
      
   Metro Vancouver homicides in 2015:   
      
   Jan. 2: Arundeep Cheema, North Delta (Delta PD)The 24-year-old   
   Surrey resident was shot while seated in his vehicle in the   
   driveway of a North Delta home he was visiting. Police said   
   Cheema was known to them and the attack was targeted.   
      
   Jan. 6: Jeffery Scott Nasa-Dyke, Vancouver (VPD)The 49-year-old   
   man’s body was discovered at an apartment near Triumph and   
   Nanaimo Street. A man living in the home was found by patrol   
   officers near Wall Street and Dundas. He was taken into custody   
   without incident. Kenneth Conrad Izzard, 29, was charged with   
   manslaughter. The accused and the victim were known to each   
   other and the homicide appeared to be drug related.   
      
   Jan. 12: Stuart David Ellis, Chilliwack (IHIT)Fraser Valley   
   Mounties were called to a car crash on Hazel Street and found   
   the 39-year-old lone occupant of the SUV had been murdered. The   
   Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it was a targeted   
   attack.   
      
   Jan. 20: Damon William Campbell, Whistler (IHIT)The 45-year-old   
   Port Coquitlam resident was found unresponsive in a hallway of   
   the Aava Hotel in Whistler after an altercation. He died after   
   police arrived. IHIT is investigating his death, while the   
   Independent Investigations Office is looking into the actions of   
   an officer at the scene.   
      
   Feb. 11: Lorne Joseph Melting-Tallow, Vancouver (VPD)The 49-year-   
   old man was found bleeding and unresponsive about 4 a.m. on a   
   sidewalk in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He was the city’s   
   second homicide of the year.   
      
   Feb. 15: James Enright, Burnaby (IHIT)The 27-year-old North   
   Vancouver man was stabbed to death as he tried to help his   
   friend during a scuffle at the Edmonds SkyTrain station in   
   Burnaby. Police were called to the station at 12:47 a.m. in   
   response to a report of a fight. They found an injured man, who   
   was taken to hospital, but later died. Police said “this was a   
   situation where Mr. Enright was in the wrong place at the wrong   
   time, he died because he tried to help someone.” Jesse Evan Ali   
   Sellam, 22, was charged with second-degree murder and 18-year-   
   old Taitusi Funaki Vikilani faced charges of manslaughter and   
   assault causing bodily harm.   
      
   Feb. 19: Trevor Johnson, Abbotsford (IHIT)The 35-year-old man   
   was stabbed to death at a gas station in Abbotsford. The victim   
   was taken to hospital with critical injuries at about 10 p.m.   
   Police arrested 30-year-old Abbotsford resident Thavone Junior   
   Carlson, who faced a charge of second-degree murder in the   
   incident. The victim met the suspect at the gas station, a fight   
   broke out and Johnson was allegedly stabbed.   
      
   Feb. 23: Alexander Renney, Richmond (IHIT)The body of the 20-   
      
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