Surrey Six mass murder convictions upheld despite problems with investigation

A B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected an application Wednesday to stay the recent convictions in the high-profile Surrey Six mass murder case.

• Read the full judgment on the B.C. Supreme Court website
• Two found guilty of six counts of first degree murder
• Officer allegedly had 'inappropriate relationship'

In October, Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were found guilty of six counts of first-degree murder after six people were executed in a Surrey, B.C. high rise in 2007.

However, the two immediately launched an unusual type of legal proceeding, asking to have the verdict set aside.

They argued there was an abuse of process because of alleged misconduct by several RCMP officers investigating the killings. Lawyers also say the two were treated inhumanely by the justice system during their pretrial incarceration.

Justice Catherine Wedge today ruled there were serious problems with the investigation but decided there will not be a full hearing into the allegations. This means the convictions are upheld and sentencing can go ahead.

Highlights from Wednesday's ruling by Justice Catherine Wedge

• "Society’s interest in seeing justice done on the merits of this case is profound. Society’s interest weighs all the more heavily in the context of this case because the carnage was the result of gang members fighting for turf in the illicit drug trade."
• "The Applicants have been found guilty of horrific crimes. The seriousness of the offences is of the highest order: six counts of first degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder."
• "I am satisfied that the price of staying these convictions could not be worth the gain to our justice system."
• "As for the misconduct of the four officers, the state has taken decisive action to disassociate itself from their behaviour. Following an investigation into the matter by an outside police agency, the officers were suspended from RCMP duties in 2010. All four were also criminally charged in relation to their conduct..."

Four of the victims were involved in the drug trade. The two others were Ed Schellenberg, a fireplace repairman who happened to be in the suite, and a neighbour, Christopher Mohan. All six were shot on the floor of the suite at point-blank range.

MORE| Details about accusations against four investigating RCMP officers

Justice Wedge did agree that the convicted killers did suffer during their pretrial solitary confinement.

"It goes without saying that the deprivations they suffered for the many months they were in segregation had an immediate and significant detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of both men.

"Some of those effects have continued since their release into the general population."

However she said it was not enough to result in the convictions being stayed.

Eileen Mohan, the mother of victim Chris Mohan still lives in the same building where the murders took place.

She says she is pleased with today's ruling and is looking forward to delivering her victims impact statement when the two are sentenced. 

"I sat in court for almost 120 days now, and these convicted criminals can sit down and listen to me for half an hour. It's my time to represent my son."