B.C.'s highest court has overturned the kidnapping acquittal of one of the men involved in the 2006 abduction of Graham McMynn.
Sam Tuan Vu was convicted of the lesser charge of unlawful confinement in B.C. Supreme Court in 2008 for his part in abducting McMynn, the son of a Vancouver millionaire.
But the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Friday that the lower court had enough evidence to convict Vu of kidnapping as well, and ordered him to be sentenced on that charge.
"I am satisfied that the trial judge found all the facts necessary to convict Sam Vu as a party to kidnapping and that his failure to do so on the facts constitutes an error of law," Chief Justice Lance Finch wrote in the majority decision.
"He was convicted of the offence of unlawful confinement with knowledge that McMynn had been kidnapped and thus aided in the continuing kidnapping of McMynn."
Vu was sentenced to eight years in prison on the lesser conviction, but kidnapping carries a maximum term of life in prison.
Vu wasn't involved in the actual taking of McMynn, or in moving him between the three houses where he was held during his ordeal, but McMynn identified him as one of his three captors.
"Although the judge was not satisfied the accused actively participated in the movement of McMynn, his participation in the movement is not a necessary element to convict him as a party to kidnapping. Knowledge that the victim has been taken is sufficient," Finch wrote.
Vu filed a cross-appeal on his unlawful confinement charge, arguing that there wasn't enough evidence tying him to the abduction; McMynn was blindfolded the majority of the time and identified Vu by his voice alone.
That appeal was dismissed.
McMynn endured eight terrifying days at the hands of his kidnappers after he was forced from his car at gunpoint in front of his future wife, Jacklin Tran, on April 4, 2006.
Tran repeated the licence plate of the abductor's rental cars over and over, giving police their first clue as the force mobilized hundreds of officers to scour the city.
No ransom demand ever came from the abductors. The abduction became a public drama when McMynn's parents went on television to plead for the kidnappers to contact them. "I have money," his father Robert said in a video plea.
Police capped a massive investigation on April 12 when they rescued McMynn from a suburban Surrey home and arrested half a dozen people in a series of raids.
Two of Vu's co-accused, Jose Hernandez and Anh The Nguyen, were both found guilty of kidnapping and unlawful confinement in the abduction. Another two accused men walked free.
