More charred remains

August 29, 2009

Rafe Arnott/TIMES

Police are treating the body of a male found charred beyond recognition early Wednesday morning as a homicide.

Langley RCMP were called at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday to assist the Langley Fire Department with a white 1982 Chevy Camaro set ablaze on the CN Rail track near 208 Street and 96 Avenue after human remains were discovered inside the car.

Langley Serious Crime Section detectives handed the case over to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) Wednesday afternoon, and while this is the third homicide of this type in the Lower Mainland since July, Cpl. Dale Carr with IHIT said it is too early in the investigation to comment on whether it is linked with other car-fire deaths in recent months.

Abbotsford resident Bobby DeGeorgio, 24, was found murdered in a burnt-out car in a berry field near the Sumas border, and in July the remains of John William Hanna, 25, were discovered in a torched car on a quiet Burnaby street.

Both victims were known by police to be involved in the drug trade and both had connections to Abbotsford’s Bacon brothers and Red Scorpion gang.

Sgt. Peter Thiessen of the Lower Mainland Strategic Communications Unit couldn’t comment on whether the killers were burning the victims in an attempt to mask their identities.
“When you have a homicide scene such as this, and you have an intense fire associated to it, it does make it problematic in retrieving evidence and identifying victims,” he said.

Because the body discovered Wednesday is so damaged from the fire, Thiessen said an autopsy determined the victim was approximately 6 feet tall, of undetermined ethnic origin, and a hoop earring in his right ear.

“Our first step is identifying the body before we can go on and see if it is linked to any other homicides in the recent past,” said Thiessen.

Thiessen couldn’t say whether previous autopsies had determined if the victims were killed before being burned, or whether any weapons had been recovered at the crime scenes.

Police wouldn’t comment on whether the car was stolen or not, but have talked with the registered owner of the car. When questioned about what, if any, part the car’s owner may have in the case, Thiessen said, “At this point no one is eliminated in regards to some level of involvement in this.”