CROWN Counsel Mark Levitz in his final submissions this week told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge that a powerful body of circumstantial evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that accused Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were co-perpetrators in the Surrey Six murders of October 2007.

They took part because it was a Red Scorpion motive and they were obliged to assist, said Levitz.

Jamie Bacon, a Scorpion leader, who is currently in jail, wanted drug dealer Corey Lal murdered because he didn’t pay a $100,000 tax he had imposed on him. Getting rid of Lal would protect the Red Scorpions’ reputation and, by extension, their business interests. Violence was integral to the business and the gang fostered a fearsome reputation, Levitz said.

Haevischer and Johnston went to Balmoral Tower along with Person X, who cannot be identified because of a court ban. Levitz cited evidence that Haevischer had confessed to killing three of the victims and Person X killed three others.

Besides Lal, his brother Michael Lal and associates Eddie Narong and Ryan Bartolomeo as well as bystanders Ed Schellenberg, a fireplace repairman, and Chris Mohan, 22, were murdered.

Levitz , defending Person Y, one of two major Crown witnesses, told Wedge that his prime motivation for coming forward was that he was disillusioned with a life of crime and wanted to be done with the game. He had pleaded guilty to two unrelated murders and was serving a life sentence with no possibility for parole for 25 years. He may have hated Bacon and disliked Johnston, who he testified had confessed to the murders, but that didn’t mean he lied at the trial.

Regarding the other key witness, who was Haevischer’s girlfriend and can only be identified as K.M. because of a publication ban, Levitz said she felt pressured to do the right thing by somebody she considered her family. He noted that to all intents and purposes, she was a dedicated and loyal member of the Red Scorpions and had grave misgivings about cooperating with the police.