KILLERS and other convicts in Canada’s prisons are seeking love thanks to a controversial pen-pal website www.canadianinmatesconnect.com.

Two of the killers are Matthew Johnston of Surrey Six case and Gurkirpal (Paul) Khela who was found guilty of the first-degree murder in the April 1, 2002 shooting of Delta school teacher Gary Sidhu.

JOHNSTON and Cody Haevischer were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years last December in the October 19, 2007 Surrey Six murders.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge noted during the sentencing: “The conspiracy itself was by its nature so dangerous, so callous and so fraught with risk that it in fact resulted in six deaths, rather than one.”

Innocent victims Chris Mohan, 22, a South Asian, and Edward J. Schellenberg, 55, of Abbotsford and four other victims who police say led criminal lifestyles – brothers Corey Lal, 21, and Michael Lal, 26, and Edward Narong, 22, and Ryan Bartolomeo, 19 – were executed in typical gang-style fashion at Apartment 1505 of the Balmoral Towers at 9830 East Whalley Ring Road in Surrey in, 2007.

During the trial. I wrote in my column Rattan’s Rumble: “Haevischer’s former girlfriend, who could only be identified as KM as she is a protected witness, testified that she was “pretty stressed out” because she felt the police were looking for her. She said that after the murders, the gang became paranoid about police and things started to fall apart. The tensions and infighting within the gang intensified as they realized that police were watching them.

“She said she really didn’t want to become a witness because the gang members were “my family and I loved Cody more than anything.” She “hated cops” because she felt she was a gangster herself.

“But she had a rude awakening.”

Now Johnston is looking for a new lover.

He is incarcerated at Quebec’s Donnacona Penitentiary in Donnacona and his expected date of release is stated as “2033 Appeal Pending.”

His post states: “I love playing and watching hockey.  I love to work out, MMa, boxing and wrestling.  I’m an honest and positive person.  I’m a say what I think type of person.  I’m loyal and I never turn my back on a friend.  I love to cook.  I make great chicken fried rice and an awesome baked spaghetti!  I believe in making the best out of a negative situation.  I’ve been inside for 6 years now since I was 24. Now 30 I have watched myself grow and I’ve learned a lot from a few very good people behind these walls.  All the good I hold on to as I continue to improve.  I’ve recently started taking french in school and I look forward to learning and speaking french very soon!  I’m looking for a special girl to share my love and strength with.  On that note, I look forward to hearing from you.  If you’d like, please provide a picture with your letter.  ~Sincerely, Matt Johnston”

KHELA is at Grand Cache Penitentiary in Alberta and his expected release date is stated as 2024.

His post reads: “Hello ladies, my name is Paul Khela.  A friend told me about this website and I decided to throw my profile up.  I am Punjabi (South Asian) and speak Punjabi fluently.  I was born in Vancouver, B.C. and therefore I am Indo-Canadian!  I am 6’3″ and 240 lbs.  I workout daily and I’m in excellent shape.  I have a great sense of humor and I enjoy making people laugh.  I have an amazing 14 year old son and very family orientated.  I am looking for a mature, responsible, independent women who’s not into head games.  I would like to meet someone who is looking for a good friend interested in intellectual conversations.  If it leads to something else…cool.  If not, you will have met a smart, confident man to shoot the sh*t with.  I am very laid back and not into insecure personalities.  I don’t know what else to say other than you won’t be disappointed.  Can’t wait to hear from you.  XO ~ Paul”

A BC Supreme Court jury in April, 2004, found Gurkirpal Singh Khela, Jodh Singh Sahota and Trevor James Meir guilty of the first degree murder in the April 1, 2002 shooting death of North Delta teacher Gurjinder (Gary) Singh Sidhu. A fourth person, John David Bride, 24, had earlier pleaded guilty in the case and got an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Prosecutor Marian Brown had told the jury during the trial that she would be presenting evidence that would show that Khela organized the murder. With the help of Sahota, he hired Meir and Bride to shoot Sidhu, who feared for his life after his friend Sarbjit Dhanda shot to death his rival Kambir (Kam) Singh Jawanda outside Dhanda’s house in Richmond during a gang-revenge killing spree in the Lower Mainland in 2001.
Sidhu’s friend, Rakinder Bhatti, an on-call Surrey teacher, had been gunned down on October 9, 2001, and another common friend, Narinder ‘Ned’ Mander, went missing that same day and was presumed dead.
Sidhu was gunned down near the corner of 116th Street and 81st Avenue in north Delta just outside his house about 12:40 a.m. on April 1 as he returned from his brother-in-law’s wedding reception. He was declared dead at the Royal Columbian Hospital.