53 killed in Mexico casino attack

arson attack on a casino in the northern Mexican industrial city of Monterrey sparked a massive fire and killed at least 53 people, the governor of the state of Nuevo Leon said.
Governor Rodrigo Medina announced the grim toll in an interview with the Televisa network, adding that the vast establishment, the Casino Royale, had been set ablaze using some kind of flammable liquid "like gasoline."
President Felipe Calderon condemned the attack, calling it an "abhorrent and barbaric act of terror" in a message on Twitter and expressing his solidarity with the people of Nuevo Leon, of which Monterrey is the capital.
Casinos in Monterrey have recently been targeted because some owners have refused to pay protection money demanded by criminal gangs linked to the country's booming drugs trade, local media have reported.
Medina said the attack was carried out by six men who arrived at the casino in two vehicles around 4 pm (2100 GMT) Thursday.
Some men entered the casino "and screamed out 'everyone hit the floor,'" a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity told Mexican media.
"I don't know if there was a weapon that makes such a noise, but an impressive explosion followed -- I never want to go through something like that again," said the witness, who fled to the rooftop with a friend to escape the flames.
The state head of civil protection, Jorge Camacho, said that the death toll was so high because many people hid in bathrooms and offices when they heard the explosions instead of heading to the emergency exits, and were trapped by the flames. Most of the victims had died of smoke inhalation, he said.
It took firefighters four hours to control the flames, and Medina warned that more bodies could be found inside the casino.
Calderon ordered interior minister Francisco Blake to Monterrey to head the government probe into the attack.
Only a few years ago, Monterrey had been seen as one of Mexico's safest cities.
But Nuevo Leon state and its capital, which is home to four million people, have seen an increasing amount of drug-related violence, with more than 70 people killed in Monterrey last month alone.
Nearly 850 people were killed in the state in the first half of the year, compared to 278 murder victims for all of 2010, according to a tally by the national newspaper Reforma.
More than 41,000 people have died in violence linked to Mexico's organized crime gangs since Calderon launched a military crackdown on them in December 2006, according to media counts and official figures.

 

GANGSTER who lost £60,000 in a break-in ordered a revenge hit in which an innocent dad was murdered.

GANGSTER who lost £60,000 in a break-in ordered a revenge hit in which an innocent dad was murdered.
Painter and decorator Hugh Porteous was at a block of flats when three masked men burst in.
The dad-of-two was only at the building in Greenock, Renfrewshire, to pick up work gear but was attacked and stabbed.
Two other men, aged 40 and 43, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Yesterday, sources told the Record that Hugh, 49, had stumbled into a gangland hit.
One said: "There's a big-time gangster in Greenock who is notorious for money laundering and selling counterfeit fags and booze.
"He lost £60,000 in a break-in and ordered a revenge hit on this address. The painter and decorator clearly wasn't the intended target but he got caught in the crossfire."
The Record and the police know the identity of the gangster.
Yesterday, Hugh's family were struggling to come to terms with the killing. He lived nearby with his wife Margaret and is part of a respected family.
Vicious The killers are believed to have escaped along Neil Street into Fergus Road.
The area was cordoned off until Tuesday afternoon while forensic cops combed the scene.
Det Insp Maxine Martin appealed for witnesses.
She said: "We believe the men involved were targeted and it was not a random attack. It was vicious and violent."
Yesterday, the two injured men were "stable" in hospital.

 

Notorious B.C. gangster Jonathan Bacon, 30, was quietly laid to rest earlier this week, according to police sources.

Officers watched from the sidelines Monday to ensure the private funeral was peaceful. No larger memorial service is expected.

Bacon, a member of the violent Red Scorpions gang, was gunned down in the middle of the afternoon on Aug. 14 outside the Delta Grand Okanagan hotel and casino in Kelowna, B.C.

Two other gangsters, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach, were wounded in the brazen attack, along with two women — Lyndsey Black and Leah Hadden-Watts — all of whom were in a white Porsche Cayenne that was strafed in broad daylight in the popular tourist area.

Hadden-Watts was paralyzed as a result of the shooting. Riach fled the scene and hasn't been found.

Hadden-Watts, 21, is the niece of Michael James (Spike) Hadden, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels Haney chapter.

Police have not yet made any arrests in the assassination and fear reprisal killings will be carried out.

Bacon and his younger brother Jamie survived several earlier attempts on their lives.

The Red Scorpions have had a high-profile dispute over the last five years with the rival United Nations gang that has resulted in several shootings, including some fatalities.

In just 10 years, the Bacon brothers of suburban Abbotsford moved to the pinnacle of the violent B.C. gang scene that is underpinned by vast amounts of drug money.

Jarrod Bacon, 28, is scheduled in court next month on charges of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Jamie, 26, is currently in jail for weapons and drug charges and is awaiting trial for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the infamous Surrey Six slayings, one of the worst incidents of gangland violence in B.C.

Among the dead in the 2005 incident in a high-rise apartment were two people who were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time when a gang hit went down.

Socialite gangster held in shooting is pal to models

MAJOR criminal arrested after gardai opened fire on his accomplice, is a well known socialite on the Dublin nightclub scene, it emerged today.

The 30-year-old from Lucan -- who is facing a possible life sentence in relation to separate Tiger Kidnapping charges -- is still being questioned at Naas Garda Station today.

MODELS

The Herald can reveal that the gangster has a number of female models as friends and is even close to a well known media personality.

He was taken into custody on Sunday evening after a loaded handgun and a large quantity of cash was found in his car just seconds after an associate drove another car at two detectives.

 

man linked to the United Nations gang has been charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates

 man linked to the United Nations gang has been charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates, the Vancouver Sun has learned.

Amir Eghtesad, 29, appeared in Vancouver provincial court Monday afternoon after being picked up Sunday evening in the case.

Judge Raymond Low remanded Eghtesad in custody until Thursday afternoon, when he is to appear in B.C. Supreme Court on a direct indictment.

Eghtesad faces a single count of conspiracy to kill the former Abbotsford, B.C., siblings and their gang associates between Jan. 1, 2008 and Feb. 17, 2009.

The latest arrest comes more than two years after several other UN gang members and associates were charged with plotting to murder the same targets.

And last January, two other UN members — Conor D’Monte and Cory Vallee — were added to the indictment but remain at large.

The UN trial is expected to begin in 2012. And while Eghtesad is facing the same charge, it is unclear if he will go to trial with the other accused in the case.

Crown Ralph Keefer said outside court that the prosecutor will consider how to proceed.

“We only just received material from the police,” Keefer said.

And lawyer Matthew Nathanson said “although the offence my client is charged with is a serious one, it is important that there not be a rush to judgment in this case.”

“My client is presumed to be innocent and I intend to vigorously defend him against this allegation in court,” Nathanson said.

Eghtesad was held Sunday night in Richmond, B.C., though no details of his arrest came out in his brief appearance.

Nathanson was granted a publication ban on submissions he made.

The arrest came a week after the eldest Bacon brother, Jonathan, was gunned down as he drove away from the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna, B.C., with four others, who were all wounded. No one has been charged in the murder and gang tensions remain high across the province.

In addition to Eghtesad, D’Monte and Vallee, the others charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons are Barzan Tilli-Choli, Jon Croitoru, Daniel Russell, Karwan Saed, Dilun Heng and Yong Sung Lee. All have been in custody since their April 2009 arrest. An unindicted co-conspirator in the case is UN gang founder Clay Roueche who is serving a 30-year sentence in the U.S. for marijuana and cocaine smuggling and money laundering.

The Crown has alleged that the conspiracy came during a bloody gang war between the UN and the rival Red Scorpions, then led by the Bacon brothers.

Eghtesad has been charged with 18 driving offences over the last decade and an assault count, but nothing as serious as the charge laid Monday.

NOTORIOUS criminal is recovering in hospital today after being shot in the stomach in a leafy Wicklow town

Gardai are still trying to establish a motive for why Philip 'Philly' O'Toole was shot at around 12.45am on Thursday in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.

He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin after the incident where his condition is described as stable.

Sources say that O' Toole (31) is refusing to co-operate with gardai.

gunman

"He said he would rather die on the side of the road than help gardai with their enquiries," said a source.

O'Toole, from Fassaroe in Bray, Co Wicklow, is understood to have wrestled with the gunman before being shot in the stomach.

The Herald can reveal that O' Toole -- who has multiple previous convictions -- is a major crime figure in Bray, Co Wicklow with strong connections to a local drugs gang. Local sources say he had just returned to Bray in recent months, having spent some time in England. He has received warnings in the past that his life was under threat.

O' Toole was arrested by gardai investigating the shooting of Finglas criminal Glen McGrath (41) outside the Cappagh House pub in Finglas last December.

McGrath -- a former associate of slain gangland boss Paul 'Farmer' Martin -- survived but was left in a critical condition after being shot three times the chest and stomach.

The pub shooting is linked to a bitter prison row between gangsters from Finglas and Bray. O'Toole was one of eight people arrested. All were later released without charge.

Senior sources have rubbished claims that a group called the Criminal Action Force were involved in the shooting.

"Mr O' Toole has many enemies -- and every avenue is being explored. But no one has any knowledge of any Criminal Action Force," said a source.

cocaine

O' Toole has numerous previous convictions and in March, 2008, he received a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a sawn off shotgun in Santry, north Dublin, in April 2007.

O'Toole told gardai that he had been holding the gun for another person but was on his way to dispose of it.

His barrister told Dublin Circuit Court that he was acting under the direction of another person whom he feared.

The barrister added that O'Toole was struggling with cocaine and alcohol abuse.

working to seize $7M in criminal property

Nearly $7 million in real estate, cash, jewelry and other allegedly ill-gotten assets are frozen in Manitoba right now as a result of the province’s criminal property forfeiture process.

The NDP government first introduced the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act in 2003 as a way to deter crime by allowing the province to seize the assets of convicted gangsters. However, that version of the law was never once used because it put the onus on police to facilitate the process — something Winnipeg police refused to do.

The law was re-written in 2007, creating a standalone provincial unit to manage the seizures and court process. Since then 25 cases have been successfully resolved, resulting in $1.62 million worth of reclaimed assets.

“We haven’t lost one yet,” said Gord Schumacher, Manitoba’s director of criminal property forfeiture. “So far it’s been a tremendous success.”

The money from the sale of the seized assets pays for court costs and other expenses related to the process, with the remainder used to compensate victims of the crimes in question and subsidize policing.

“About a month ago we sent $153,000 back into the police community,” Schumacher said.

Any property that’s used for, or purchased thanks to, illegal activity can be seized.

“Once we make the decision to go after a house, it’s because we know the owner knew what was going on,” Schumacher said. “In many cases they don’t even know we existed, but I don’t really feel sorry for them.”

 

Gang boss tells Mexican state AG he wanted to kill him

Oscar Osvaldo Garcia Montoya, the suspected leader of the La Mano con Ojos gang, tells Mexico state Attorney General Alfredo Castillo in a video released by prosecutors that he planned to kill him because he believed the official had betrayed him after supposedly taking a pay-off.

"I would have killed you, I would have found you and cut you into pieces," Garcia Montoya told Castillo, who questioned the gang leader following his arrest last week.

Garcia Montoya confessed to participating in 300 murders and ordering 600 other hits.

The gang leader told the AG that he felt betrayed after an unidentified emissary took Castillo $400,000 to seal a supposed deal.

Garcia Montoya acknowledged that the emissary lied and told him he had handed over the money and documents to Castillo.

The man was murdered once the truth came out, the gang leader said.

"That stuck in my head, and that's why I took it personally against you," Garcia Montoya told Castillo.

"I would have found you, I would have killed you, I would have found you and I would have cut you into pieces," Garcia Montoya said in response to a question about what would happened if he had not realized that his emissary had stolen the money intended for the pay-off.

Garcia Montoya said he worked for Beltran Leyva cartel boss Arturo Beltran Leyva until his death in December 2009, later going to work for gunman Edgar Valdez Villarreal and Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez.

Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," and Alvarez Vazquez have both been arrested.

La Mano con Ojos is based in the central state of Mexico, which surrounds the Federal District and forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area, Garcia Montoya, who claims to have served in the marine corps and as a police officer, said.

"I was trained to kill," Garcia Montoya says during his videotaped interrogation, adding that he took courses on explosives and military tactics.

The videotaped interrogations of suspected criminals are often made public in Mexico, with many of the subjects freely confessing to the crimes they committed.

La Mano con Ojos controls drug dealing in Huixquilucan, located in the Mexico City metropolitan area, officials said.

The gang, known for beheading its enemies, has been fighting for control of the drug trade in the cities of Naucalpan, Atizapan, Tultitlan, Cuautitlan Izcalli and a section of the capital.

A total of 18 men and two women have been killed by the gang in Mexico state since November 2010, officials said.

A man's headless body was left hanging off the Paseo Interlomas bridge in Huixquilucan, one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico state, on Monday.

The body was strung up by the legs and the head was left inside a trash bag on the bridge, Huixquilucan police chief Gerardo Oyervides told Efe.

"A sign with a message supposedly signed by the La Mano con Ojos criminal organization was found" on the bridge, the police chief said.

 

Philadelphia man already serving life goes on trial in two more killings

Philadelphia man whom police once described as a hit man for drug dealers, and who is already serving two life sentences, went on trial Tuesday, charged with murder in two more killings.
Malik Collins, 24, and Anthony Collins, 28, are charged with shooting two people in a parked pickup truck the night of March 18, 2006. The killings in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Brewerytown were the result of a turf dispute between drug dealers, Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo said.

The Collinses were connected with a local drug gang and killed Johnny Harmon, 39, because he was selling drugs on the gang's turf, Zarallo said. A neighborhood resident, Latoya Bostick, 18, was an innocent victim, Zarallo said.

"Her only crime was that she thought Johnny Harmon was cute," Zarallo told jurors in the Court of Common Pleas.

More than a dozen shots were fired into the cab of the truck about 11 p.m., said Zarallo, and each victim was hit five times. They were pronounced dead within the hour.

Defense attorneys Samuel C. Stretton, for Anthony Collins, and Michael E. Wallace, for Malik Collins, cautioned jurors that the defendants had to be presumed innocent. The two chief witnesses against the Collinses have criminal records, and one cut a deal with federal prosecutors in return for helping in the city case, Zarallo acknowledged.

Malik Collins was convicted of the two earlier murders in 2008, according to court records.

He was arrested in 2006 after 15th District police officers Kirk Dodd and Williams Smith had a robbery victim call a cellphone stolen by two men.

A man answered, and the victim said he would pay $100 for return of the phone.

When two men appeared to collect the cash, police were waiting.

One of those arrested was Malik Collins, who was carrying a 9mm pistol.

Malik Collins grew up around the 3000 block of Thompson Street in Brewerytown and was convicted of murder in two 2005 killings.

The trial is expected to last about a week. The Collinses face life sentences if they are found guilty of murder in the 2006 killings

 

87, gangster in wheelchair faces at least 35 years in prison

87, Samuel Volpendesto's first criminal conviction will no doubt be his last.

After what prosecutors say has been a decades-long association with the Chicago Outfit — one that included numerous arrests but no convictions — the octogenarian faces at least 35 years in prison when he enters a federal courtroom in his wheelchair Wednesday.

The silver-haired Volpendesto slumped in his seat for most of his monthlong trial beside reputed mob boss Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno, scowling and wincing as prosecutors played recordings of him bragging about building a bomb that blew out the windows and front door of the headquarters of a rival to Sarno's video poker racket in 2003.

It was Volpendesto's raspy voice talking to wired-up informants that provided much of the evidence linking Sarno to the bombing. But on the recordings, Volpendesto also wistfully recalled the mob's glory days hanging out with gangland figures who were contemporaries of Al Capone.

But his attorney, Beau Brindley, insisted that Volpendesto began his life of crime only when he reached retirement age and after decorated service in World War II and work as a sculptor.

It's hard to say which tales have more blood-and-guts truth to them: Volpendesto on government recordings talking about watching a notorious mob hit man grinding up a corpse or his wartime accounts of saving crewmen on a sinking destroyer off Japan.

Brindley insists his client exaggerated his criminal past to impress his criminal friends. But Volpendesto's recollection of his war heroism has been consistent, he said.

"He certainly loves to tell stories. What you hear on these tapes were what informants wanted to solicit from him," Brindley said Tuesday. "These (World War II) stories are ones … that are on his mind right now."

In the undercover recordings, Volpendesto boasts about the 2003 bombing and complained about not getting any compensation from Sarno.

Volpendesto also is recorded reminiscing about gangland figures like storied hit man Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano, who was gunned down in 1973. Volpendesto told an informant about walking in on DeStefano as the mob enforcer ground up the body of a murder victim with a meat grinder.

In a court filing, Brindley includes similarly gory detail describing a mission from Volpendesto's four years of combat duty in a forerunner of the Navy SEALs, a harrowing rescue of crewmen trapped inside a sinking destroyer as the ship was under attack by kamikaze planes.

"The ship was listing and sinking, but some men were still alive, trapped in a pocket of air in the galley," Brindley wrote. "(Volpendesto) and his unit swam up into the body of the ship underwater … The water inside the ship was red. Bodies hung from the ceiling and floated in the water. While he was working, the destroyer was hit again by a suicide kamikaze plane."

The ship was successfully towed out of harm's way, and Volpendesto was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroism, Brindley said. After the war, Volpendesto returned to Chicago but struggled to make a living as a sculptor, paying the rent by working at a knife factory, then as a cabbie and limo driver, the attorney said.

When he was fired by the limo company because he was too old to insure as a driver, Volpendesto began hocking his possessions and then working for the mobsters who ran the pawn shops, according to Brindley. Some of them were acquaintances from the neighborhood, he said.

But prosecutors and informants painted a picture of a man who remained active in the Outfit despite his advancing age. Co-defendant Mark Polchan ran several pawn shops, using them as fronts for the sale of stolen merchandise that included jewelry stolen by a robbery crew that included Volpendesto's son, Anthony.

In the 1990s, Volpendesto also was alleged to have been running a Cicero strip club and was charged with two of his bouncers for allegedly beating an FBI informant unconscious with a baseball bat. The charges, however, were dropped.

According to testimony at trial last year, Volpendesto also served as a wheelman in an armed robbery of a jewelry store in Michigan in 2003, gave the gang a tip that led to a $650,000 score later that year, and fired shots at a drug dealer who came home to find the crew robbing his Chicago apartment — all while he was pushing 80.

"Frankly, I find all that very hard to believe," Brindley said. "I would have liked the jury to get to know the man other than what was on these tapes."

 

Police say several men with gang connections were involved in a late-night shooting Monday in Surrey

Police say several men with gang connections were involved in a late-night shooting Monday in Surrey, just two days after a prominent gangster was killed in Kelowna.

RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said one man sustained minor injuries after an unknown man fired several shots inside an SUV around 10:30 p.m. in the Guilford area of Surrey, outside Vancouver.

“At this point, our victim and his associates are uncooperative and, based on their identity and our intelligence on their background, they are known to have gang affiliations,” said Thiessen, adding this was a targeted attack.

The suspect fled in an unknown vehicle and no arrests have been made.


“We have no reason to believe this is any way related to the Kelowna incident that happened two days ago, but we’re certainly looking at that, but nothing that indicates that’s the case here,” said Thiessen.

Jonathan Bacon, who was known to be the boss of the Red Scorpions gang, was gunned down in a brazen shooting at Delta Grand Okanagan Resort on Sunday. Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach were also wounded.

“We’re well aware of the public sensitivity of what has occurred in the last number of days in regards to these open-air shootings and we understand the public’s concern, but we’re doing everything we can to try to gain enough information to stay ahead of these shootings,” said Thiessen, who said he fears there could be more shootings but that he hopes “that will not be the case.”

Deported gangster spills underworld’s secrets

Interrogation of deported gangster Santosh Shetty has provided vital clues about the murder of Chotta Rajan aide, Farid Tanasha, last year. On June 2, 2010, Tanasha was shot dead by eight men at his Tilak Nagar residence. Mumbai police rounded up the gang, which claimed to have been


deputed by another Rajan aide, Bharat Nepali, for the job. However, the cause for feud between two comrades from the same gang wasn’t ascertained.
Highly-placed sources in the crime branch, where Santosh is presently being grilled, told HT that Tanasha’s proximity to Rajan had made Nepali insecure. Nepali, who was holed up in Bangkok along with Shetty, was peeved that Rajan would not reply to his calls for months.

On the contrary, he would answer calls made by Tanasha or Abu Sawant —Rajan’s mafia manager — within a day. “Tanasha and Sawant’s clout dried up Nepali’s extortion channels. That is why he eliminated Tanasha,” Shetty told interrogators.

Shetty reportedly revealed that a section of corrupt officials in Bangkok police had facilitated Rajan’s escape from the hospital where the don was recuperating after being shot at by rival Chhota Shakeel’s men in September 2000. Rajan paid USD 1 million to a senior intelligence officer in Bangkok police for facilitating his escape to Cambodia.

In 2009, a team from Rajasthan police went to Bangkok on Shetty’s trail after he kidnapped a marble dealer from Chandresiya, Rajasthan for a Rs1 crore ransom.

“Shetty was living in an apartment opposite the building where the Rajasthan police was lodged, but the Bangkok police never gave away his location. This was perhaps because Shetty gave a 20% share of the ransom money to the local police,” police sources said.

 

Jon Bacon Gunned Down; Larry Amero Shot Several Times

Jonathan Bacon, the eldest Bacon brother and long-time Red Scorpion, was shot dead Sunday in a targeted attack that left six victims outside a busy Kelowna casino. And his friend, Larry Amero, of the White Rock Hells Angels, was seriously injured after being targeted in the same attack.

Kelowna RCMP was not confirming the names of those shot, but various sources told me Jon Bacon was dead and Amero was struck several  times. And I have also heard that the niece of an HA chapter, was also shot and severely injured.

No doubt this will bring about retaliatory strikes.

Police do not have suspects and with such high-profile targets, it could be anyone. But obviously, the United Nation has had the most public and longest-running dispute with the Bacons and the Red Scorpions. And they don't like the Hells Angels for the most part.

UN gang member Michael Newman was beaten in Kent last month in an attack believed to have been ordered by a Red Scorpion leader also incarcerated there.

Here's our story so far:

While I am still on leave, this is an important story and I am re-opening my blog and filing a story. Amero is pictured with a friend below and this is a shot of Bacon outside the Abbotsford court house when he had his charges thrown out in June 2008. Of course the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial and that was to go ahead in February 2012.

 

Jonathan Bacon, one of British Columbia's most notorious gangsters, was shot dead Sunday in a brazen daylight attack outside an upscale Kelowna hotel.

The RCMP are taking "swift and extraordinary measures" to find those responsible for a deadly attack that claimed the life of a man outside an upscale hotel in Kelowna, B.C.

Witnesses have told police that the violence began when a white Porsche SUV was driving away from the Delta Grand Okanagan at about 2:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

That's when a vehicle pulled up behind the SUV and gunmen started shooting.

The SUV drove for a short distance as the gunfire rang out.

A suspect vehicle, described by the RCMP as a "silvery green SUV," sped away from the scene.

CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat reported that at least four people were taken to hospital in the aftermath of the violence. Police say that no bystanders were injured in the brazen attack.

One man who had been riding inside the Porsche SUV died as a result of the shooting. Police have yet to release his name.

Media reports have identified the slain man as Jonathan Bacon, an infamous B.C. resident whom police have publicly alleged is a gangster.

Police say they are still piecing together the precise sequence of the events that took place outside the hotel, which was reportedly witnessed by dozens of people.

Molgat said the shooting has left Kelowna residents on edge.

"With bullets flying around a crowded area, there's nothing about this that has people feeling safe," Molgat told CTV's Canada AM on Monday morning.

Police say they do not believe the general public is at risk as a result of the slaying outside the hotel. But investigators are determined to hunt down the people involved in the deadly attack.

"The public needs to know that swift and extraordinary measures are being taken in order to ensure that those responsible will be found and brought to account before the courts," RCMP Const. Steve Holmes said in a statement released on Sunday night.

Six people, including Bacon, were taken to Kelowna General Hospital around 3 p.m. after at least one masked gunman opened fire on a vehicle in the parking lot of the Delta Grand Hotel, which houses the Lake City Casino.

One of the injured men is Larry Amero, a full-patch Hells Angels member from White Rock. As of Sunday evening, Amero was clinging to life, a senior police officer told The Province.

It appears the Hells Angels and a splinter group of the Red Scorpions gang were meeting in the area. Police do not know who the shooter is yet, but fear retaliation could lead to an all-out gang war.

B.C. Ambulance spokeswoman Kelsie Carwithen confirmed that paramedics responded to a call in the 1300-block Water Street at 3 p.m. Sunday and transported six patients - one in critical condition - to hospital.

The Province has learned that one of the victims is a niece of a senior Hells Angel. She was shot in the leg.

Bacon was to stand trial this fall in B.C. Provincial Court for 15 weapons and drug charges.

He and his brothers, Jamie and Jarrod, have been linked to a number of crimes in the Lower Mainland. Jamie Bacon is currently in prison, awaiting trial for first-degree murder in the Surrey Six shootings of 2007.

Kelowna RCMP Const. Steve Holmes said the victims were leaving the Delta Grand Hotel parking lot at 2: 45 p.m. Sunday in a white Porsche sport utility vehicle when the shooters drove up behind them.

Witnesses said up to two men wearing masks and black clothing exited the vehicle and opened fire on the victims' SUV, which then travelled a short distance before coming to a halt. Police are searching for a Ford Explorer SUV that was spotted racing from the scene.

Kelowna RCMP are asking any witnesses to the shooting to come forward, though Holmes said the public should have confidence that the RCMP will find those responsible.

"Police believe that the general public is not at risk," Holmes said.

"This kind of incident is quite rare in Kelowna, but when it happens it

is shocking and traumatic to those in the community. The public needs to know that swift and extraordinary measures are being taken in order to ensure that those responsible will be found and brought to account before the courts."

GOODFELLAS gangster Henry Hill is to visit the North for a special screening of the movie about his life.

The former Mafia mobster was played by Ray Liotta in the famous 1990 gangster flick by Martin Scorsese, which told the story of how the American turned supergrass to shop some 50 fellow crooks.
Hill, now 68, was then placed into a witness protection programme giving him and his family new identities.
The one-time wiseguy, who was at the heart of some of America’s darkest Mafia circles in the 1960s and 1970s, was forced to lie low for years while his former mobster pals wanted him dead.
Now he is coming to the North for a special one-off meet-and-greet event.
Hill will join fans for a private screening of the film Goodfellas, before hosting a question and answer session.
He’ll also put on display some of the artwork he produces, and pose for photographs.

There are still mobsters who want Hill killed, and Neil Jackson, the event’s promoter, said careful discussions were held with the former gangster before arrangements were made.
Neil said: “As far as I am aware he doesn’t have a price on his head over here so we are not worried in any way about that.
“We spoke about it and he’s quite confident that he’s going to be ok.
“But there will be a number of people for and against the event because of that. It will stir different emotions in some people.
“Some people will want to learn more about him and listen to his stories, but some people probably will think he’s a grass and won’t want anything to do with him.
“Whichever way you look at it, I think it’s a fascinating story.”
A venue for the event, to be held on October 26, is yet to be finalised but the Star and Shadow cinema in Byker, Newcastle, is earmarked for the screening.
Twenty one years to the day since Goodfellas was released in Britain, the discreet event will be Hill’s first visit to the North and his only UK appearance.
Tickets are priced at £90 and include the screening, Q&A session and photograph.

Police release image of Croydon riots murder victim

Police have released this image of Croydon riot murder victim Trevor Ellis.

The 26-year-old was found shot dead in a car in Duppas Hill road at about 9.20pm on Monday, August 8 by police officers.

The father of four was taken to St George's Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head but was pronounced dead the next day.

A post-mortem gave cause of death as a gunshot wound.

Police said Mr Ellis had travelled to the Croydon area earlier on Monday in the company of a group of friends.

It is believed the group became involved in an altercation with a group of approximately nine individuals.

This altercation ended with a car chase involving three vehicles which started in Scarbrook Road, Croydon, passing along the A232 flyover into Duppas Hill Road where Mr Ellis was shot.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who witnessed the pursuit which involved a dark coloured estate car and silver hatchback - believed to have been driven by the group of nine - and a dark coloured hatchback, in which Mr Ellis was a passenger.

An incident room has been opened under DCI Neil Hutchison (Trident).

 

Gangster brought back from Bangkok

A team from the Mumbai Police Crime Branch brought fugitive gangster Santosh Shetty to the city from Bangkok on Friday morning in “a complex and delicate operation”, with top Crime Branch officers promising that they would go after other gangsters running operations in the city from safe havens outside the country.

Shetty, a former aide of gangster Chhota Rajan, was wanted in connection with dozens of serious offences across the country, including the murders of advocate Shahid Azmi and close Rajan aide Farid Tanasha in Mumbai.

According to the Crime Branch, Shetty has now also revealed that he carried out the murder of Bharat Nepali, another former Rajan gang-member and Shetty’s own business partner, in Pattaya in 2010.

“We have successfully conducted an international operation and brought back fugitive gangster Santosh Shetty to face justice in Mumbai. He was brought by officers from the Anti-Extortion Cell early this morning from Bangkok, where he had been seeking refuge in a safe haven. He is one of the most dreaded and wanted criminals in the country. The Crime Branch had been planning and conducting this operation for almost six months,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

 

Whitey Bulger's companion charged with harboring gangster

federal grand jury in Boston on Thursday indicted James "Whitey" Bulger's longtime companion, Catherine Greig, with harboring and concealing a fugitive.

Greig and Bulger lived for years hiding in plain sight in a Santa Monica apartment. Bulger had fled from Boston, wanted in connection with 19 homicides and on other charges.



The Boston Globe said the indictment contends Greig "conspired to take steps to prevent Bulger’s discovery and arrest, after knowledge of the fact that a warrant had been issued for his apprehension."

After they were arrested, Greig sought to be released from custody -- something prosecutors opposed.

During a court hearing last month, FBI agent Michael Carasza said Greig had used fake ID cards regularly, including for the purchase of medication for herself and Bulger. The  FBI showed videotape of Greig getting prescriptions at a Santa Monica drugstore.



Authorities are trying to figure out how Bulger -- one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives -- was able to live fairly openly in Santa Monica. One key question is whether he got financial help. The FBI found more than $800,000 in cash inside the walls of the apartment.

In an interview with the FBI on a flight from Los Angeles to Boston, Bulger said he "previously stashed money with people he trusted." But he did not say whether anyone is hiding assets for him now, according to court records.

 

Manchester's most notorious suspected gang boss, Dominic Noonan, has been arrested after being seen allegedly helping to orchestrate the wave of violence and looting

Noonan, 45, was detained yesterday morning on suspicion of disorder after footage emerged of him apparently speaking to a gang of looters during the riots.
Witnesses told The Daily Telegraph that the alleged gang boss stood on the corner of King Street speaking on his mobile telephone throughout the trouble, flanked by two teenage boys dressed in black suits.
Amateur footage emerged yesterday showing him dressed smartly in a dark suit, addressing a group of looters who were carrying a plasma screen TV. The young men smile in response and appear at ease in his company.
Noonan's teenage companions were seen sending out text messages throughout the disturbances, witnesses said.
Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said yesterday that he believes the looting was "organised and orchestrated".
One witness said: "They were all wearing suits, which meant they stuck out like a sore thumb from the looters in hoodies baseball caps.
"The young boys spent the whole time texting.
"Noonan was talking seriously into his mobile phone and occasionally stopping to speak to the looters."
The violence in Manchester erupted at around 5pm on Tuesday evening, with groups of youths driving around the city targeting mobile phone shops, electrical stores, designer fashion outlets and jewellers in what appeared to be coordinated manoeuvres.
Many of the youths involved in the violence, including the drivers of some of the cars, were seen speaking on mobile telephones.
As the crowd grew, firebombs were thrown at shops and windows were smashed. Shards of glass carpeted streets along with bricks and rubble used to pelt riot police and firefighters.
As many as 2,000 youths, many of whom were armed with sticks, wore ski masks and hoods to cover their faces as they rampaged through the city centre. Several shops were set alight, including Miss Selfridge on Market Street, while at least two cars were burnt out.
But despite the ferocity of the violence, much of the looting appeared to be more systematic than has been seen elsewhere, with the thugs carefully targeting specific shops and clearing out the items of the highest value.
The windows Svarovski and Links, the jewellery stores, were kicked in and every single glass cabinet was smashed and emptied of bracelets and necklaces, platinum cufflinks and diamond rings.
Forensics officers were yesterday dusting a grand piano in Dawsons music store for fingerprints after looters tried and failed to carry it off. They succeeded in stealing several expensive keyboards.
More than 100 buildings were targeted and 113 arrests were made, including an 18-year-old man suspected of setting light to Miss Selfridge.
Noonan was the willing subject of Donal McIntyre's 2007 documentary 'A Very British Gangster'.

 

The murder trial of five Murupara Mongrel Mob members in the High Court at Rotorua has been hit by another hiccup.

One of the senior defence counsel involved, Herman Roose of Tauranga who was acting for David Te Wharerangi Rewi, suffered a heart attack overnight and is in Waikato Hospital.

His illness stalled the start of today's proceedings and when they resumed junior counsel Alistair Burns carried on in his stead until a new senior counsel could be appointed.

Before the lunch break Justice John Priestley announced senior Rotorua practitioner Andy Schultz had agreed to replace Mr Roose. Mr Schulze has been acting for another man who pleaded guilty to charges relating to the same trial and is waiting to be sentenced.

On trial with Rewi, 25, are Neville Duff, 33, Joshua-Lesley White, 18, Jerome Taker Routine and Hemi Winton, both 19.

On the murder count they are jointly charged with Norton Tahoe, 19, who pleaded guilty earlier this month.


Another man, Jarrod Tumoana Rewi, 19, has been discharged on the murder charge but has pleaded guilty to the one relating to participating in an organised criminal group. The accused are jointly charged with him on that matter.

A criminal group charge against Abraham Jozef Eurera Roberts, 24, was withdrawn after the Crown indicated it would not be offering any evidence against him.

The Crown alleges Kaine Lewis, of Kaingaroa, was murdered at Murupara on October 3, 2009. The criminal group charge spans October 2 and 3 of the same year.

The trial stalled a second time this morning when there were technical difficulties with a video link to a pathologist giving evidence from the United States. It delayed proceedings by a further half hour.

The trial has been bedevilled with hold-ups from the outset, with some observers claiming it is jinxed. Its opening was delayed for a week by legal argument, then late last week a pipe broke in the ceiling above the High Court room. The breakage came during the lunch break when the court room was empty but the trial was unable to proceed in that part of the Rotorua courthouse. This week it is continuing in a smaller district court jury trial room.

Although it had no impact on the trial Justice Priestley's associate suffered a family bereavement during the trial's first week and had to return to Auckland.

Today's interrupted video link evidence was being given from Denver by Dr Mike Frank Arnall who was working in Auckland at the time of Mr Lewis' death and had carried out the post mortem examination on him.

He told the court it was his view that Mr Lewis died from a fractured skull after suffering brain bleeding and swelling.

When the link was restored Dr Arnall concluded his evidence in chief but his cross-examination has been delayed until next week to allow Mr Schulze time to catch up on proceedings.

The trial will resume on Friday.

Matriarch of Australia's underworld, Judy Moran, has been sentenced to 26 years in jail for the murder of her brother-in-law.

The 66-year-old was convicted in March for her role in killing Des "Tuppence" Moran, who was shot dead in a Melbourne cafe in June 2009.

Moran has previously lost two husbands and two sons to gangland killings.

Moran is one of Australia's most infamous gangland figures, and her trial attracted worldwide attention.

'Deliberate and brutal'
Correspondents say Moran, who is in poor health, appeared shocked by the sentencing and shouted out her innocence.

Sentencing judge Lex Lasry said Moran's crime was "appalling".

"This was a deliberate and brutal killing. There is of course no sign of remorse on your part," he said.

Geoffrey "Nutts" Armour, the man Moran paid to carry out the killing, was also sentenced to 26 years.

A second gunman, Michael Farrugia, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed in December for four years.

underworld boss poses such a high escape risk in the prison system that he has been placed in a special security unit, described as a 'prison within a prison'.

Bodybuilder Colin Gunn, 41, who is serving 35 years for the revenge murders of an enemy’s parents is also under 24 hour surveillance.

The crime boss spends 22 hours in the concrete cell at Belmarsh jail which was originally built in 1991 to house IRA prisoners.

A source told the Mirror: 'He’s so dangerous his lock-up is like Silence of the Lambs.'

Trained officers, who have been instructed to call him 'Mr' after he complained that he was not treated with enough respect, can enter through airlock doors monitored by video surveillance.

Unable to mix with other prisoners, he also has his own exercise yard.

Gunn, who amassed a £15million fortune from drugs, extortion and violent crime, was originally held in Long Lartin, Worcestershire.

He was transferred to the South East London jail last year after fears he plotting an escape, but it is believed he is still planning to get out.

It is believed that as despite being locked in the high security cell, he still exerts control over the prison.

 

It is claimed that he intimidates staff so much so that on one occasion he sent back his dinner because it didn't have gravy and some was found for him.

A surveillance dossier complied by intelligence officers revealed that Gunn had identified a fault with the audio-visual system as an ideal time to flee.

He developed a code to use when talking to visitors through a glass screen on telephones.



Gunn is under 24 hour surveillance and monitored by video but is suspected of plotting an escape


It was also noted that  two of visitors questioned staff about security, one holds a pilot license and two more claimed to lose their passes.

Gunn was jailed in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland in 2004,

The grandparents were found shot dead at their bungalow in the Lincolnshire village of Trusthorpe on August 8,

An inquest at Lincoln Crown Court heard that the shooting was a 'revenge' attack after Mrs Stirland's son, Michael O'Brien, shot 22-year-old Marvyn Bradshaw dead outside a Nottingham pub in August 2003.




Murdered: John and Joan Stirland were found shot dead at their seaside bungalow in 2004

MAN gunned down in a suspected gangland feud after he allowed his attacker into his house may have known his killer.

The man -- named locally as Darren Falsey (37) -- was discovered with gunshot wounds in his rented Ashbourne Court home in Carrigaline, Co Cork yesterday.

The grim find was made when his partner returned from a shopping trip around 3pm.

It is believed the victim may have known his killer -- and opened his front door to unwittingly allow the attacker into the house.

He sustained at least one gunshot wound and was found lying in a pool of blood in a downstairs room.

After discovering her partner's body when she returned from shopping, the distraught woman immediately alerted paramedics and the gardai.

However, efforts to revive the victim failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman and Mr Falsey's children were last night being comforted by relatives and friends.

Gardai suspect that the killer may have had the house under surveillance yesterday morning -- and immediately called to the front door once Mr Falsey's partner and the children had left.

Togher gardai launched a murder investigation last night but stressed they were keeping an open mind about the precise motive behind the killing.

Senior officers, including Assistant Commissioners Willie Keane and Mick Finn, visited the scene last night and were briefed by Inspector Billy Duane and detectives leading the probe.

A special incident room has been set up in Togher garda station.

Mr Falsey was known to the gardai and is understood to have been associated with a major drugs gang on Cork's southside.

It is unclear whether the killing is linked to a drugs debt or a territorial feud between rival gangs.

The victim -- who is originally from Waterfall outside Cork city -- was described by Carrigaline neighbours as quiet, friendly and well-known for his interest in sports.

"I knew he was really into football and I'd see him every so often down town going into the bookies or calling into the pub when a big match was on. But he was a nice enough fella," one neighbour said.

Another woman said the family were friendly but largely kept to themselves -- and that Mr Falsey was devoted to his children and could regularly be seen playing with them in the garden.

Suspicious

Yesterday, a children's table football game was by the side of the detached estate house and a toddler's tricycle was parked in the hallway.

Gardai commenced door-to-door enquiries to determine if anyone heard or spotted anything suspicious between 1pm and 3pm yesterday when the shooting is believed to have occurred.

Inspector Billy Duane appealed to anyone with information, no matter how trivial, to contact gardai at any of the numbers listed below.

"Any piece of information may be vital and we particularly would like to talk to anyone who was walking or driving in the Ashbourne Court or Ferney (Road) areas at the time," he told the Irish Independent.

"We are treating this as a suspicious death. The body was found inside the house and the dead man was the only person there at the time."

The area was sealed off at 3pm and technical bureau experts later conducted a detailed examination of both the house and gardens.

No firearm was recovered from the scene and gardai are still trying to determine the type of vehicle used by the killer.

The body was expected to be transferred from the house to Cork University Hospitallast night, where a full post-mortem examination will be conducted today by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster.

Gardai are also examining CCTV security camera footage from business premises in the area to try to determine vehicle movements at the time.

GANGSTER Colin Gunn has continued to plot his escape from prison over the past five months

GANGSTER Colin Gunn has continued to plot his escape from prison over the past five months, according to new intelligence information.

The man behind the murder of Lincolnshire couple John and Joan Stirland is now one of just two Category A prisoners in the country assessed as being an "exceptional" escape risk.

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‘EXCEPTIONAL’ ESCAPE RISK: Colin Gunn, who organised the killings of Joan and John Stirland.
• •
Gunn, 44, who is serving a minimum 35 years for conspiracy to murder, had been challenging this – but his risk status was upheld by the Government just weeks ago.

He was transferred to the top- security Belmarsh jail in London last year, following concerns from prison officers about him planning a "daring and viable" escape from HMP Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire.

But now it has been revealed that the prison authorities think Gunn has been continuing his plotting over the past five months in his new jail.

Newly released documents say that intelligence gathered since March of this year includes Gunn sending a letter to another prisoner saying audio-visual security equipment was down – and that it would be an ideal time to escape.

He also talked in code on the telephone and tried to make a three-way telephone call. In addition, a close associate and visitor had a pilot's licence and access to an aircraft.

The documents reveal how two visitors questioned staff about who was on the Special Secure Unit, and appeared to check the security on the unit.

Other visitors had twice claimed to have lost their passes – one of which was never recovered.

Gunn used the mail system to leak details about an internal escort to the press and he also tried to "ostracise, dictate to or manipulate members of staff".

Gunn, of Rise Park in Nottingham, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years in 2006 for conspiring to murder the Stirlands at their home in Trusthorpe, near Mablethorpe.

He blamed Mrs Stirland's son, Michael O'Brien, for indirectly causing the death of his nephew Jamie.

Earlier this year Gunn sought a judicial review in relation to his classification as an "exceptional" escape risk, saying his status had not been reviewed in September last year, as it should have been, and when it was finally reviewed in December, no adequate reasons were given for keeping him at that level.

A fresh claim was submitted by his lawyers on July 1, following another review of his status on April 4, which kept him at the same level. Also on July 1, another three-monthly review took place, which again upheld his "exceptional" risk status.

This review by the Government's Director of High Security said that the decision was based on "recent intelligence gathered previously and since his last review in March 2011 that an escape attempt is being planned".

Finally, on July 4, court documents opposing Gunn's claim were filed on behalf of the Rushcliffe MP Ken Clarke, the Secretary of State for Justice.

The grounds for opposing the claim say Gunn "played the primary role" in the murders of John and Joan Stirland, is "a longstanding figurehead in a group of very dangerous organised criminals", and is "one of the most dangerous prisoners currently in the prison system"

Setting out the Secretary of State's position, Kate Grange said: "The consequences of an escape of a prisoner such as the claimant [Gunn] could be catastrophic."

Being classed as an exceptional escape risk means he is subject to a more strict regime in prison, which his barrister Jason Elliott has described as "the most oppressive and intrusive living conditions within Her Majesty's Prison Service".

Being held in the Special Secure Unit means he is kept away from other prisoners.

His visits, both social and legal, are held in a room with glass between him and the visitor and they communicate via telephone handsets.

Visitors, as well as staff, are also subject to an enhanced search when entering the Special Secure Unit.

Following the most recent review of his escape status, Gunn was provided with further details of the intelligence which made it necessary for his classification to be maintained. However, detailed information has been withheld in the public interest.

Setting out the Secretary of State's position, barrister Ms Grange said that secret intelligence may be the only way in which escape plans can be detected and foiled – and it is in the public interest for a secret system of intelligence gathering to exist. For that system to be effective, secret sources of intelligence must be properly protected.

Ms Grange said: "The inevitable consequence is that, in some cases, the individual will not know the full reasons for a negative escape classification decision. However, any such restriction is fully justified by the importance of protecting the public."

She asked for the application for judicial review to be dismissed, stating: "Given the factual background in this case, it is clear that the decision is not irrational and in those circumstances there is no justification for the court probing further into the underlying evidence, underpinning the intelligence case."

Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service have confirmed that the judicial review claim has now been closed by consent of Gunn and his legal team.

Was Donald Frankos, aka Tony the Greek, involved in the Kingfish Boat Ramp Murders

- He’s been described as a notorious mobster and as a pathological liar, but no one denies that convicted murderer Donald Frankos, aka Tony the Greek, was involved in organized crime. Frankos himself once said “I picked the wrong profession. Let’s put it that way.”

But more than a decade after the Kingfish Boat Ramp murders, Frankos, the former mobster, became a person of interest in the case and it was unarguably one of the strangest turns.

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Who was Donald Frankos? In 1989 Frankos told the F.B.I. that he helped dispose the body of infamous teamster Jimmy Hoffa in the end zone of Giants Stadium. It was a claim that he made in a Playboy interview and eventually in a 1993 tell-all book, ‘Contract Killer: The Explosive Story of the Mafia’s Most Notorious Hitman Donald “Tony the Greek” Frankos.’

It was a passage in that book that caught the attention of a Manatee County resident, who called the Sheriff’s Office about what he read and how it could be a lead in the unsolved Kingfish Boat Ramp murders. (LINK TO INVESTIGATIVE NOTE 3) In Frankos’ book, a collection of tales of hits and hit-men, he wrote about an incident in which a killer used a bicycle for his getaway and how that person had pretended they had a hurt leg.

Manatee County Sheriff Major James Foy ultimately became the recipient of the citizen’s potential lead and purchased the book. “I was reading it, it peaked my interest…” recalls Foy, now retired but still living in Manatee County.

This was not Foy’s first time working on the Kingfish case. He was an investigator for the Manatee County State Attorney’s Office in 1980 and responded to the original crime scene, interviewed witnesses, and was present when suspect Richard Lee Whitley (LINK) was brought in for questioning days after the murders. “We had a policy that whenever homicides occur that the State Attorneys Office was called and I or one of the other investigators responded to it.”

Soon after Foy read the hit-man’s book, he wrote him a letter and heard back less than a week later. “He [Frankos] responded with a letter back that yes he could help us and that uh, he knew the perpetrators of the crime and why it happened.” 

From behind the walls of Attica Correction Facility in New York, Frankos wrote, “Yes, I can help you. I know about the killings. I know the motive and I know the killers.”

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On May 27, 1993 Major Foy traveled to Attica to visit Tony the Greek. “I think at the time I was kind of excited about it,” says Foy - but he admits he was hesitant on whether Frankos was telling the truth. “He was very friendly, acted like he wanted to talk about it.”

Foy says his memory of the interview is a bit foggy, however, the Action News I-Team obtained the audio recording he made in Attica with Frankos and it reveals who the mobster claims committed the murders and who paid to have the crime carried out.

Sections of the recording were redacted because at one point in time some of the parties involved were in the witness protection program including Frankos, but we were able to determine who Frankos claimed arranged the hit from details contained in other investigative files. The person was a former cell mate, also in the witness protection program, a ‘high echelon drug dealer’ named Jose Antonio Fernandez, who allegedly put a 15-thousand dollar contract out on Raymond Barrows, and two men carried out the murders.

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The following are excerpts from the interview :

Foy: “In your letter you indicated that…you indicated that you uh, knew who had committed these murders and that you knew the motive for it…and that you would talk about it. Would you please tell me at this time what it is that you know about this…uh these murders that happened in Holmes Beach…”

Frankos: “Criminals, they talk about their, they like to brag about the hits and who they killed you know…”

“They always go into details with another hit-man. They want to show they are better than him. It’s like a competition.”

“We [Frankos and Jose Antonio Fernandez] start mentioning old criminals and this guy named Josie Hernandez, name came up, and Josie Hernandez worked for [redacted - Jose Antonio Fernandez].”

“And he said oh you know Josie Hernandez, I says yeah, he says well ya know he committed the murder for me. He killed this guy who was holding 55 kilos of cocaine for me named Raymond Barrows.”

“He says he killed him. He killed three other people, two kids. Uh. The father of the two kids possibly, he didn’t know it was the father or not. But later on he found out it was in the papers that it was the father, and some other guy who was outside the car.”

“I knew Josie Hernandez from New York City when he was dealing drugs and he was on the sly he was a contract hitter. He was a contract killer.”

“Tito Cruz is Joise’s partner. He’s also a contract killer.”

 

Gangster loses legal battle to keep £90,000 from criminal fortune

A Gangland figure has lost his legal battle to keep £90,000 from his criminal fortune.
William Thomson was caught with £120,000 in cash following an undercover police operation five years ago.
He had been under surveillance by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency who suspected his involvement in organised crime including drug dealing.
However the £120,000 was later stolen from a police station store room by civilian worker Robert Morris.
Morris spent £30,000 and buried the remaining £90,000 in his back garden. It was later recovered by police.
Thomson, 47, of Kirkmuirhill, Lanarkshire, is serving a three-year jail term for having the £120,000. He has spent the last 18 months trying to get the £90,000 back.
Thomson, whose partner is Eileen Glover - widow of murdered gangster Bobby Glover - was a major player in crime until his arrest.
Prosecutors said he had £270,000 in assets from "general criminal conduct".
Last week he agreed to forfeit the £90,000 at a proceeds of crime hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court if he could keep his other assets.
Thomson, who was not in court, was ordered by Sheriff Danny Scullion to attend next week.