Pubdate: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Steve Mertl MURDER PROBE TO BRING MORE ARRESTS Crown Papers Show Police Are Targeting Several People In Probe Of Drug-Related Killings ABBOTSFORD -- More arrests are expected in a massive investigation into several drug murders in B.C. in the mid-1990s, says a lawyer for two men already charged. Paul McMurray said Monday that Crown documents show police are targeting several people -- possibly four or five -- in the case, which police have said has links to the Cali drug cartel in Colombia. "There are other arrests that are likely to happen as a result of this investigation," said McMurray, who represents Robert Moyes and Mark Therrien. McMurray also confirmed a high-profile undercover informant plays an important part in the police investigation of the case. Former housewife Tami Morrisroe reportedly claimed that Moyes admitted to her he had a role in the murders of five people at an Abbotsford farm in September 1996. Morrisroe, now said to be living in a witness-protection program, claimed she talked to Moyes while working in the drug underworld to try to clear her father, Sid Morrisroe, of involvement in the 1983 murder of a Vancouver nightclub owner. Police have refused to confirm Morrisroe's role but McMurray said her part in the case is revealed in a 120-page summary of Crown evidence disclosures. "It's important, I don't know about pivotal, but it's certainly important," he said in an interview. "I think she definitely is [material to the case] and she will be, I'm pretty sure, a Crown witness." Therrien made his first court appearance Monday in Abbotsford. He was arrested Friday and charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the Abbotsford killings. Moyes was charged a week ago with the Abbotsford killings, as well as the first-degree murders of a couple in Burnaby in December 1995. Police say all the killings are drug-related. "Other arrests are definitely pending," said Constable Shinder Kirk, a spokesman for Abbotsford police, one of several agencies involved in the seven-year probe. "I'm not prepared to discuss where those arrests may occur." RCMP spokeswoman Constable Danielle Efford also would not say how wide the police net was being spread. "The international implications are involving the fact that the cocaine that's being imported here is coming from Colombia," she said. "There are more arrests to follow. Because this is an ongoing investigation ... we can't discuss any further details." However, Efford said she is not aware of whether Canadian police are working with any police agencies abroad on the parallel murder and drug investigations. Therrien, 38, was remanded in custody for another court appearance Aug. 19. Moyes appears again in Abbotsford court Aug. 22. The heavy-set, goateed Therrien was arrested Friday after being released on bail on another unrelated charge, said McMurray. Therrien had been on parole but it was revoked May 18 after he was charged with theft and fleeing police, B.C. parole officials said. He had completed a federal sentence in 1997. Moyes, a 47-year-old career criminal with a record going back 30 years, knew Therrien in prison, McMurray said. Moyes was in custody at the time of his arrest after his parole was revoked for drug violations. The two men appear to have been early suspects in the Abbotsford murders. "They were questioned shortly after it happened," McMurray said. Moyes was being held in segregated custody at an undisclosed location, the lawyer said. Therrien was to be moved to the Surrey Pretrial Centre. McMurray said he believes both men should be isolated for their own protection. "There's always some twit who figures he can earn a name or a reputation for himself by going after somebody who's charged with a high-profile thing," he said. McMurray said it's possible the Crown may proceed against his clients by direct indictment, thereby eliminating the need for a preliminary hearing. It's something he'd prefer not to see, the lawyer said, because there's often a vast difference between what people say in police statements and what they swear to in court. McMurray successfully defended accused child-murder Shannon Murrin in the death of Mindy Tran in Kelowna. That case hinged on the testimony of a jailhouse informant. Raymond Graves, 70, his wife Santo, 56, and their son David Sangha, 37, were killed in their Abbotsford farmhouse. Daryl and Teresa Klassen, both 30, who were visiting the Graveses, were found dead in an adjacent shed. Teresa Klassen's sister said the family is relieved arrests have been made and thanked police for persevering in the case. "Over the past six years, there hasn't been a day go by that we haven't thought about her," the woman, who identified herself only as Kim, told Global TV news. Police said the Graveses, who were facing attempted murder charges at the time of their deaths, were cocaine traffickers and Daryl Klassen was associated with the drug trade. Nine months earlier, Eugene Uyeyama, 35, and his wife Michelle, 30, were found dead in the gutted remains of their Burnaby home. Police said they also had drug ties. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart