For the first time since Jonathan Barber was gunned down nine years ago Tuesday, all the details of the night of his murder have been described by a man who was there.
Ex-United Nations gangster C testified at the Cory Vallee trial Monday that he, another man dubbed “B” who will testify later, Barzan Tilli-Choli and Jesse Adkins were all in Adkins’ truck as they chased the Barber vehicle down Kingsway. They thought Jamie Bacon was inside. But Barber, a stereo installer, had just picked up the Bacon Porsche to work on it.
One of the Bacons had dropped the vehicle at the McDonald’s in the 7200-block of Kingsway. Coincidentally, several of the UN members were also at the McDonald’s on a pit stop while out hunting the Bacons.
That led to the chase that ended Barber’s life.
While several UN gangsters have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, none has actually been convicted of killing Barber.
FILE PHOTO Jonathan Barber, 23, of Langley , shot and killed in Burnaby while working on a vehicle belonging to one of the Bacon brothers.
Ex-gang witness describes the murder of Jonathan Barber in Burnaby
United Nations gangster Barzan Tilli-Choli blasted an AK-47 at an SUV belonging to the Bacon brothers, mistakenly killing a stereo installer who was driving the Porsche Cayenne at the time, B.C. Supreme Court heard Monday.
A former member of the UN described in detail for the first time what happened the night Jonathan Barber was shot to death in Burnaby nine years ago Tuesday.
The man, who can only be identified as C due to publication ban, said he was in a pickup truck driven by UN member Jesse Adkins, with Tilli-Choli and a fourth man in the back, as they raced down Kingsway to catch the Cayenne.
They believed Jamie Bacon, the youngest of the three notorious brothers, was in the SUV at the time, C told Justice Janice Dillon.
And they believed other Bacon associates were following the Cayenne inside a Jeep Cherokee that they also targeted, C testified in his third day on the stand at the murder trial of Cory Vallee.
Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacons in 2008 and 2009, as well as the murder of Bacon associate Kevin LeClair in May 2009.
C said the UN truck caught up to the Cherokee, which was right behind the Porsche.
“Barzan says to get up along side of them, asks me if the guns were loaded. I say yes,” C said.
“Barzan starts lowering the rear window, the rear driver’s side window … He starts aiming the weapon at the vehicles and he’s starting firing at the Cherokee.”
C said Tilli-Choli fired six to 10 shots before he got a glimpse into the vehicle.
“Barzan was able to see in the window and said `holy shit it’s a girl,’ indicating it is a female in the vehicle,” C testified. “Once he saw her, he stopped firing because he didn’t want to hit the girl.”
The female turned out to be Barber’s girlfriend, who was injured in the shooting. She was following Barber in his vehicle after he picked up the Bacons’ Porsche to install a stereo.
After firing at the Cherokee, Tilli-Choli blasted another six to 10 shots at the Porsche, C said.
“At that point the Porsche lurched forward at a high rate of speed. Obviously the driver must have slumped forward onto the gas pedal. It was a turbo, so it had an incredible amount of horse power,” C explained.
The Porsche cut across the street in front of the UN truck, hit the curb and crashed into a cinder block garage.
C said he contacted UN leader Clay Roueche to tell him they had killed the youngest Bacon.
“I buzzed Clay and I told him we got number 3,” he said.
While C identified several UN members as being present both before and during the Barber shooting, he did not name Vallee has having a role in the slaying.
Tilli-Choli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in July 2013 for hunting the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates.
He was sentenced to 14 years, minus almost nine years as double credit for the 4½ years he spent in pre-trial custody. In January, he was deported to his native Iraq.
C testified that he got personally involved in the war with the Bacon brothers after popular UN gang member Duane Meyer was shot to death in Abbotsford on May 8, 2008 – the day before Barber was shot.
After the murder, he and his fellow gang members got rid of the gun that was used, as well as the clothes they were wearing, he testified.
They also hid Adkins’ truck until they could retrieve it and drive it to Armstrong, where an associate dissembled it and sold the parts.
The trial continues.
blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop
twitter.com/kbolan
