A man in his 30s has been charged with first-degree murder nearly 10 years after the shooting death of a notorious B.C. gangster, the province's anti-gang unit announced Monday.
Kevin LeClair was gunned down outside a Langley strip mall in February 2009, during the height of a gang war between the Red Scorpions and United Nations. According to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC, the 27-year-old was known as a high-ranking member of the Red Scorpions.
In a statement, CFSEU-BC said Crown counsel has approved a first-degree murder charge against Kreshnik Ismailaj, who had recently moved from B.C.
"CFSEU-BC investigators travelled to Whitby, Ontario and, with the assistance of local police, Ismailaj was arrested without incident on Friday, July 27," the statement read. "He was then transported back to the Lower Mainland."
Ismailaj, who police say had no criminal record, is one of several people who have been arrested and charged in connection with LeClair's murder.
Cory Vallee was found guilty of first-degree murder early last month for his involvement in the fatal shooting.
Vallee, who was known as a hit man for the notorious UN gang, was also charged with conspiracy to murder the Bacons brothers and associates.
Investigators say they are still looking for "the final person alleged to have participated" in LeClair's murder. Police believe 40-year-old Conor Vincent D'Monte left Canada around 2011 to escape arrest and has been on the run since.
D'Monte is described as a 6-1 Caucasian male with shaved dark hair and brown eyes. He weighs about 200 pounds and has Chinese characters tattooed on his left arm. D'Monte has used aliases such as "Benzo," "Brian Black" and "Manuel Nico Ortega" in the past.
CFSEU-BC is asking anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact their local police force.
“This investigation, and all those investigations connected to it and the gang conflict in the late 2000s, has involved hundreds of officers from dozens of police agencies and units,” Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said in the release. “Time does not dampen our resolve and we are confident that we will eventually find and arrest the last remaining suspect in Kevin LeClair’s murder, no matter where he might be hiding.”
CFSEU-BC took over the LeClair investigation from B.C.'s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in late 2017.