Accused killer in Lapu Lapu Day tragedy to appear in B.C. court Friday
As Vancouver tries to move to a new normal after Saturday's mass killing at a Filipino festival, accused killer Kai-ji Adam Lo will make his next appearance in court Friday afternoon.
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Lo, who is facing eight counts of second-degree murder, was supposed to be back in Vancouver provincial court May 26, but Damienne Darby of the B.C. Prosecution Service said the date change was requested by Lo's lawyer, Mark Swartz.
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Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison confirmed Thursday that Lo had a valid B.C. driver's licence despite his history of mental-health interactions with police.
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Postmedia News reported that just the day before the vehicle rampage, Lo contacted Richmond RCMP and told an officer he was worried that someone was throwing things in the back of his vehicle. The call was documented in the police database PRIME, where VPD officers saw it after Lo was arrested.
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Addison said that of the surviving victims 13 remain in hospital — four in critical condition and two in serious condition.
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'All of the streets have now reopened,' he said. 'We really thank everybody for their patience and understanding, particularly people who live in the neighbourhood, particularly people who have businesses in the neighbourhood that were impacted by the rather large closures that were there.'
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Investigators are still looking for more witnesses and want the public to turn over any video or photo evidence they have. The VPD said the community support centre set up on East 43rd Avenue will remain open all weekend from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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VPD Insp. Jeff Neuman said Thursday that additional resources will be in place for this weekend's BMO marathon, as well as other events and protests scheduled in the city. Four hundred officers will be working, including 200 'deployed to the marathon,' Neuman said. Both heavy-vehicle and light-vehicle barriers will be in place.
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Addison also provided information about the VPD's mental-health services, which include an investigative unit with 21 constables and two sergeants, as well as the Car 87 program — a joint initiative with Vancouver Coastal Health, where eight officers are partnered with nurses to respond to mental-health crises.
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Vancouver Sun
21 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Supreme Court of Canada quashes B.C. sex conviction, extends 'rape shield' law
The Supreme Court of Canada quashed a sexual-assault conviction against a B.C. man in a precedent-setting decision that strengthened the 'rape shield' law, ruling that even a complainant's lack of a sexual past can't be brought up in court. In a 9-0 unanimous decision released Friday, the court overturned a decision by B.C.'s Appeal Court in which Dustin Kinamore was found guilty of one count of sexual assault. The top court ordered a new trial. The B.C. Prosecution Service is reviewing the decision before deciding if it will be retried, said spokeswoman Damienne Darby in an email. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'The decision brings needed guidance,' including that such evidence needs to be approved by a judge before it is introduced at a trial, she said, adding such evidence can, if it meets certain criteria, still be included at trial. The decision would affect any current trials but she wasn't aware of any in jeopardy because of the ruling, she said. The B.C. Supreme Court and the Appeal Court had both allowed prosecutors to introduce the complainant's texts, which were sexual in nature but also told Kinamore that she did not want to have sex with him. Section 276 of Canada's Criminal Code, known as the rape shield law, limits the defence's use of evidence about a complainant's sexual history in court. The trial and appeal court judges had ruled that the prosecution's use of the complainant's sexts, which included that she was a virgin, weren't subject to Section 276 because they weren't about sexual activity but about sexual inactivity. The Supreme Court of Canada disagreed, concluding prosecution 'applications are subject to the same substantive admissibility and procedural requirements that apply to defence-led evidence,' law, wrote Chief Justice Richard Wagner. It said a complainant's sexual inactivity can 'evoke distinct myths and stereotypes that these rules seek to eliminate.' Kinamore's lawyer, Matt Nathanson, said in a text that he was pleased with the ruling and that its significance goes far beyond his case and has 'broken new ground' on sexual assault law that promotes 'consistency and fairness' for both parties because the prosecution has to apply to introduce that evidence in the same way that the defence does. He said Section 276 has long recognized that myths and stereotypes about complainants shouldn't be used to attack their credibility and now, 'for the first time,' the court says 'inverse' myths and stereotypes shouldn't be used to 'unfairly enhance their credibility either.' It is wrong to suggest complainants are more likely to have consented because of sexual history, and 'it is now wrong to suggest that a lack of previous sexual activity means they are less likely to have consented,' he said. Kinamore, then 22, met the complainant, then 16, in May 2020 and texted each other for months, up to Aug. 3, 2020, when they met at his apartment, according to the decision. She said he sexually assaulted her, and he said the sexual activity was consensual and didn't go as far she said it did because he stopped when she said to stop, it said. At trial, the prosecution introduced text exchanges, some explicitly sexual, without having a hearing known as a voir dire to test their admissibility. In many of them, she made it clear she wasn't interested in a sexual relationship with the accused and some referred to her virginity, and both the prosecution and the defence relied on the evidence, Wagner's judgment said. The Appeal Court ruled the texts were admissible because the complainant's messages expressing she wasn't interested in sex 'fell outside the exclusionary rule governing a complainant's sexual history,' according to Wagner's decision. In dismissing that, Wagner wrote that inadmissible evidence was used by the trial judge in her reasons to assess the credibility of the accused and the complainant and she 'relied heavily on this evidence in her reasons for finding Mr. Kinamore guilty.' A new trial was needed because 'her error was not harmless,' Wagner wrote. Relying on a complainant's past sexual inactivity 'remains grounded in false assumptions' that 'undermine the fairness of a trial by distorting its truth-seeking function,' he said. Screening evidence protects the complainant's dignity and privacy, he said. He also said the 'increasing complexity of sexual offence trials' add to the overburdened system and his ruling would will 'assist in minimizing unnecessary cost and delay.' Hilla Kerner of the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter said it's unfortunate in this case because the conviction was overturned, but she welcomed the guidance from the higher court to speed up long trials. Consent is at the core of any sexual assault case, Dalya Israel of the Salal Sexual Violence Support Group, formerly Women against Violence Against Women, said in a text. 'When courts focus on context over consent, even well-meaning approaches, including those led by the Crown, can unintentionally reinforce the very myths the legal system is meant to reject,' she said.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Bullet holes and police raids: Former real estate agent investigated for allegedly subletting to criminals
A former Lower Mainland real estate agent is under investigation by B.C.'s real estate regulator after his name allegedly turned up last year as the 'tenant' for multiple properties linked to a major Vancouver Police Department (VPD) gang investigation. According to documents obtained by CBC News, VPD investigators contacted the B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) when Qun (Michael) Li's name surfaced during raids on Vancouver and Burnaby suites linked to a Quebec-based criminal group trying to establish a foothold in Vancouver. A search warrant claims the Burnaby resident — who also works as a driving coach — was also listed as the tenant on record in a separate RCMP investigation related to a suite where the actual occupant allegedly fired a stray bullet fired through a neighbour's wall. And at least five homeowners have turned to the courts to evict Li from their properties in the past year — including two landlords who complained their suites were rented without their knowledge to sex workers. "I feel stressed every time I think about his issues," says Richard Zhou, an apartment owner who got a B.C. Supreme Court order to remove Li's possessions from his Burnaby condo last year after taking him to the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB). "I'm helpless. The police cannot help me. The strata manager cannot help me. I think the landlord in Canada is on the weak side. We don't have too much power to kick the tenants out," said Zhou. 'A possible co-opted realtor' Li told CBC News in a brief phone call he was "not interested" in commenting on the allegations spelled out in a warrant to search his phone obtained in March. The document says the 45-year-old — who was first licensed in July 2015 — is suspected of breaching B.C.'s Real Estate Services Act by bringing the real estate industry into disrepute and failing to report his rental management property services. He has not been charged with any criminal offences or any offences under the Real Estate Services Act. The BCFSA's investigation began with an email from the VPD's organized crime section last August. "I have been made aware of a possible co-opted realtor whose name has popped up in a large drug trafficking investigation involving an organized gang originating out of Quebec but has quickly established themselves here in the Lower Mainland," the email said. The court documents say police provided two further emails "which identified six specific properties related to either VPD or Burnaby Royal Canadian Mounted Police related drug investigations." "Qun Li was listed as the tenant on record at each of the six properties at the time of the police search warrant executions for the investigations." Vancouver police publicized raids last year on the rental properties in Burnaby and Vancouver as part of an investigation into Zone 43 — a Quebec-based gang accused of drug trafficking in the Downtown Eastside. Five men were arrested after a 14-month investigation and seizures yielding $150,000 cash, two handguns and 24 kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. The BCFSA search warrant claims "a well known organized crime figure and drug trafficker was living" in one of the suites. Another was allegedly being used to stash drugs. The court documents claim the actual owners of the suites either believed Li would be living in their units or that he would act as a real estate agent to rent them out. The owner of a property in Burnaby where VPD allegedly found firearms, currency and evidence of drug trafficking claimed Li "lied to him about living with his cousin" after responding to an advertisement on a Chinese website. The search warrant says five men ended up living in the unit instead. A silver bullet fragment 'underneath his bed' The subject of a Burnaby RCMP file linked to another of Li's rentals was in provincial court in Vancouver this week, making an appearance from his new home: North Fraser Pretrial Centre. Jordy Engelo faces charges — including careless use or storage of a firearm — in connection with an RCMP investigation into a report of suspicious circumstances, made by the tenant of a neighbouring suite who noticed bullet holes in his unit's walls. CBC News has obtained a copy of a separate search warrant connected with that investigation, which claims the neighbour "woke up, went to the living room and located a hole in the wall." "Upon further investigation [the neighbour] discovered that the keyboard of his computer had some impact damage (4 keys), and the bedroom wall had been penetrated through," the search warrant says. "[He] inspected the bedroom and later located a silver bullet fragment, on the floor, underneath his bed." Police detained Engelo, who was allegedly found in the company of a 17-year-old female, who was released into the custody of her legal guardian. Engelo's bail hearing is scheduled for next week. Real estate agent Weny Wu told CBC News she rented the suite after seeing Li's business card. "He signed an agreement and he said he wanted to move in with his nephew, who's coming to Vancouver," Wu said. "Later, when something happened — the police incident happened to this unit — we finally realized that he did not actually live there by himself. He let it to other people." 'I decided to sell' Apart from the files involving police activity, five separate homeowners have taken Li to the RTB in the past year — resulting in decisions against him that landlords have enforced through B.C. Supreme Court orders. Like many of the people who rented to Li, Zhou claimed he advertised his suite on a Chinese language social media site. He said he did not give Li permission to rent the unit to someone else. The BCFSA's search warrant says Zhou told investigators Li "immediately sublet the suite to a prostitute for the first month." Another of the homeowners who went to the courts, Pedro Chie, told CBC News a sex worker also appeared to be entertaining clients out of the Whalley condo Li rented from him in Surrey, B.C. Chie said he suspected as much after being called multiple times to fix a washing machine that wasn't actually broken and finding evidence a female smoker was living in his suite — not the former real estate agent. According to an RTB decision, Li fought Chie, arguing that he "told the Landlord at the start of the agreement that they would have friends staying in the rental unit." But the RTB sided with Chie after Li admitted he was "living elsewhere on a periodic basis" — leading to the conclusion the unit was being sublet contrary to the rental agreement. "I decided to sell the apartment," Chie says. "All is messy. I have to pay money to clean up everything." Zhou says the whole experience has also cost him dearly both emotionally and financially — leaving him with $2,400 worth of fines levied by the strata after a constant string of complaints. He says he now prefers to rent to non-Canadians, because "they want to behave better." 'I am sorry' An internet search of Li's phone number turns up old advertisements for apartment rentals on Chinese websites and a posting on a John Howard Society affordable housing list from 2016 for a shared space. According to the BCFSA search warrant, Li surrendered his real estate licence within days of being contacted by the regulator in early March. "I am sorry I did not [report] my rental apartments to my manager, as the apartment is under my personal name," Li allegedly wrote in an email to the BCFSA's investigator. "I am willing to return and suspend my realtor licence to BCFSA from today. I suffered lots of stress recently and in the last few years, because some people I subleased did not pay rent or caused damages or other problem." The BCFSA confirmed in an email that its investigation into Li's activities is still ongoing. The regulator says that under the terms of B.C.'s Real Estate Services Act, former licensees can still be sanctioned for activities that took place while they were in good standing. The search warrant also includes a copy of Li's apology to his managing broker, who wrote a statement explaining that the company's real estate agents work on "an independent contractor basis."
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Judge upholds obstruction conviction for B.C. Mountie in Dale Culver case
A provincial court judge has ruled that the guilty verdict stands for an RCMP officer convicted of obstruction of justice in the case of an Indigenous man who died in police custody in 2017, clearing the way for sentencing. A statement from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association says Judge Adrian Brooks dismissed the attempt by RCMP Const. Arthur Dalman to have the proceedings stayed, rejecting Dalman's claim that his Charter rights were breached. The B.C. Prosecution Service has confirmed the ruling, which communications counsel Damienne Darby says was released on May 29. Dalman was found guilty last July of obstruction of justice for ordering witnesses to delete video footage taken at the time Dale Culver was arrested in Prince George. The civil liberties association says officers used pepper spray during the 'violent' arrest and Culver died about 30 minutes later after complaining of breathing difficulties. The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. recommended charges in 2020 after finding reasonable grounds to believe two officers may have committed offences related to the use of force and three others may have obstructed justice. But the civil liberties association says manslaughter charges against two officers were stayed last year, one obstruction charge was stayed and another officer was acquitted of obstruction, leaving Dalman as the only officer convicted in the case. The reasons for Brooks' judgment have not been released, and Darby said in a statement on Monday that Dalman's next appearance is on June 19 to set a date for a sentencing hearing. Culver was from the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Nations. He was 35 years old at the time of his death. An RCMP release from the time said police had received a report about a man casing vehicles and found a suspect who tried to flee on a bicycle. The civil liberties association, meanwhile, said after Culver's death that it was aware of reports from eyewitnesses that he 'was taken forcibly to the ground by RCMP members immediately after exiting a liquor store, apparently unprovoked.' The group shared a statement from Culver's daughter, Lily Speed-Namox, following the judge's decision to uphold Dalman's conviction this week. The family has waited 'eight long years' for accountability, Speed-Namox says. 'I have somehow managed to remain positive about my feelings that eventually someone would be held accountable. 'Even if it's because Dalman lied under oath to 'protect' his fellow officers. How many people have to die before people realize that the justice system is broken?' In the earlier decision finding Dalman guilty of obstruction of justice, the same provincial court judge, Adrian Brooks, found the officer deliberately lied and his evidence was 'so fraught with illogical missteps … and so contradictory when compared with reliable evidence, that it (was) not worthy of any belief.' Culver's cousin, Debbie Pierre, says in a statement that Brooks' latest decision upholding Dalman's conviction marks a step toward accountability. 'But true justice goes beyond one decision. My vision is for a system where Indigenous lives are protected — not silenced — and where police are trained to de-escalate, not destroy. 'This is not just about Dale; it's about transforming a justice system that continues to fail our people. We will not stop until that change is real.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025.
