BC hitman found guilty in re-trial of murdering two people
Posted May 17, 2018 7:42 pm.
Last Updated May 18, 2018 9:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A hitman from BC has been convicted of killing two people, three years after he was granted a retrial. The execution style killings happened during a drug-trade turf war in Langley and Surrey nearly a decade ago.
Robert Bradshaw was handed a mandatory life sentence with no parole for 25 years for the first-degree murder of Marc Bontkes and second-degree murder of Laura Lamoureux.
Lamoureux, who police said was a known drug dealer, was found dead in Langley in 2009, while Bontkes’ body was found five blocks and five days later in Hi-Knoll Park on the Langley-Surrey border.
In 2012, Bradshaw was sentenced to life in prison for to two counts of first-degree murder, but in 2015 was granted a new trial because the judge erred in allowing a videotaped re-enactment of the murders as evidence.
In the video, Bradshaw’s co-accused, Roy Thielen, said Bradshaw was the shooter in Bontkes’ murder and a participant in the death of Lamoureux.
Thielen pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of second-degree murder, but refused to testify against Bradshaw, leading police to seek the inclusion of the video, but a BC Court of Appeal decision later found the video did not meet the high threshold of trustworthiness needed to allow hearsay evidence.
Thielen originally admitted to the murders following a Mr. Big sting operation where undercover police officers posed as gang members to earn his trust. He initially took full responsibility for the killings before later implicating Bradshaw.
The murders were related to a dial-a-dope operation the men were involved in.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that Robert Bradshaw pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. This current version removes reference to that incorrect information. NEWS 1130 apologizes for the error.
