Three young men charged with 2014 murder of Nicholas Hannon

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced first-degree murder charges Tuesday against three young men in the slaying last year of 19-year-old Nicholas Hannon.

The three – Bradley Michael Flaherty, 21, Keith William Tankard and Connor Angus Campbell, both 20 – were all former friends of Hannon’s, according to his father Craig.

Hannon was last seen by his little brother on February 26, 2014. A day later, his abandoned car was found was in the 10400-block of McKinnon Crescent in Langley.

IHIT assisted with the missing person case from the start and in April 2014, said there was enough evidence to support the theory that Nicholas had met with foul play.

Investigators appealed for information in August 2014.

On Tuesday, they said his remains have now been found in the Mission area.

All three accused were born in 1994. They appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Tuesday and have been remanded in custody until

None has any criminal history in B.C., according to the court online data base.

IHIT S.Sgt. Jennifer Pound would only say this about what led to the murder:

“We know that Nicholas was at one point acquaintances, if not friends, with the accused men. While we cannot get into the specifics surrounding evidence or motive, it is believed that this homicide was as a result of a conflict which turned violent and deadly,” she said.

A first-degree murder charge would only be approved if the Crown believed the murder to be pre-meditated or to have been carried out during the commission of another serious offence like a kidnapping or forcible confinement.
A first-degree murder charge can also be laid if the slaying was committed on behalf of a criminal organization.

Pound noted that the case was turned over to IHIT’s Cold Case team in September 2014 who were able to advance the investigation “throughout the past year.”

“Now, 19 months following Nicholas’ disappearance, the investigative journey has yielded three arrests.  We are hopeful that this can now assist the family begin their own journey towards the healing process,” Pound said.
“We would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the many resources that stepped up throughout this investigation.  The complexity was such that a successful resolution would not have been possible without the assistance, dedication and support from our numerous partners.”