Guilty plea just another piece in the Surrey Six murders puzzle

It was a shocking crime even in a city that was becoming inured to the violence of a vicious drug war that would take dozens of lives in the coming years.

Six men were found dead in a high-rise apartment suite in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey in 2007 – five shot in the head, another in the back, their heads all covered before they were killed.

The prime target was the 15th-floor apartment's resident, 21-year-old drug dealer Corey Lal. But three of Lal's associates and two innocent bystanders – Christopher Mohan, who lived in a neighbouring apartment, and fireplace serviceman Ed Shellenberg – were killed too, so there would be no witnesses.

The massive investigation that followed – itself fraught with internal problems – led to charges against five young men and brought the bloody turf rivalries of Metro Vancouver's well-armed drug gangs into sharp focus.

The reason Quang Vinh Thang (Michael) Le decided this week to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in apparent return for a having first-degree murder charge stayed is a mystery.

Le, a founding member of the Red Scorpions gang, was on trial with co-accused Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston, who weren't in court Thursday when he entered his guilty plea, the Vancouver Sun reported.

[ Related: Surrey Six murder trial: 6 shot with heads covered ]

Details of the proceeding are covered under a publication ban, which includes a ban on publishing any photos or images of Le.

Le, 22 at the time of the killings and had a manslaughter conviction from a 2000 beating death , is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17. He could receive a maximum life term, though likely not with the 25-year minimum parole eligibility set for first-degree murder.

Another person, whose name is covered under an earlier publication ban, has already pleaded guilty in the murders.

Another trial is scheduled next year for Jamie Bacon, who with his two brothers, allegedly was allied with the Red Scorpions and had come to dominate the gang. The Crown alleges Bacon and Le met at a Korean restaurant the day of the killings.

The Crown alleges the murders were carried out after Lal refused to pay a $100,000 "tax" the Red Scorpions were trying to extort from him. Lal was executed, along with his brother Michael Lal, Ryan Bartolomeo and Edward Narong, as well as Mohan and Schellenberg, who was doing maintenance on the building's gas fireplaces at the time.

The Sun noted Narong and Le were friends as teens, when they were both accused of beating another man to death at a suburban karaoke club in 2000. They fell out after Narong testified against others accused in the attack.

The Canadian Press reported the Crown previously said it plans to produce evidence showing Le, Johnston and Haevischer admitted their roles in the murders. Some of the evidence apparently was gleaned from a 2008 undercover operation.

[ Related: UN gang members sentenced in Bacon brothers murder plot ]

The murder investigation itself was complicated by allegations against some of the officers involved.

One was accused of sleeping with a witness in the case – the girlfriend of one of the accused. He and three others are facing 20 criminal charges of fraud related to phoney expense claims, theft, as well as obstruction of justice and compromising the safety of a witness, CTV News reported last May.

Outside court Thursday, Chris Mohan's mother Eileen welcomed Le's guilty plea but "it doesn't mean that for me my pain goes away," the Vancouver Province reported.

She also believes Le likely will receive double-time credit for the years spent in custody since his arrest. The charges predate the government's recent elimination of the double-time credit.

“In the way I’ve done my homework, I don’t think he’ll spend too much time behind bars," she said, according to the Province.

Criminal Justice Branch spokesman Neil MacKenzie said outside court the Crown sees Le's guilty plea as a positive step in the case.

“Crown considers it to be an appropriate resolution in relation to Mr. Le, obviously, or we would not have accepted this disposition, this plea," the Province reported him saying.