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Police offer $100,000 reward to find gangster wanted in 2009 B.C. strip mall shooting

Conor D’Monte, formerly of the UN gang, is wanted in the death of Red Scorpions’ Kevin LeClair
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Conor D’Monte is wanted for murder in the 2009 shooting death of Red Scorpion Kevin Leclair. (Bolo Program)

Police have unveiled a new strategy to find a former United Nations gangster wanted in a 2009 shooting death at a Langley strip mall.

Conor D’Monte is wanted for murder in the death of another well-known gangster, Kevin LeClair of the Red Scorpions. Police believe D’Monte left Canada in 2011, and has been on the run since.

READ MORE: Ontario man arrested in 2009 Langley murder

On Wednesday, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit announced it would partner with a non-profit organization based in Montreal called the Bolo Program. BOLO is a police term that stands for “be on the lookout.”

“I want to be clear, we’re not looking for witnesses, we’re not looking for anyone additional to testify. This case is ready to go to trial,” CFSEU chief officer Trent Rolfe said at the B.C. RCMP headquarters in Surrey. “We are only looking for the location of Conor D’Monte so we can arrest him.”

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The Bolo program involves social media, advertisements and poster campaigns to boost people’s awareness for Canada’s most wanted.

CFSEU spokesperson Sgt. Brenda Winpenny would not comment about the investigation, but did say the new initiative means a new reward: up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Bolo head Maxime Langlois said this is the first time the program is being used in Western Canada.

“We work exclusively with information already available to the public,” he said. “What we do then is to take the information, we repackage it, and then we boost it at unprecedented levels.”

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The program was launched with the Toronto police in May 2018. While it hasn’t relied on rewards to attract tips, Langlois said police in Ontario have received dozens of tips about a number of cases.

The CFSEU, led by Rolfe, took over the investigation into LeClair’s death in 2017. Since then, UN gang hitman Cory Vallee has been convicted and sentenced to two life terms for his role in the slaying. He had also been at large, but was found in 2014 in Mexico.

Langlois said the first step in the D’Monte case is to offer an incentive to associates, friends and family who know of his whereabouts and will come forward.

“This is phase one of a campaign that will last as long as needed,” he said. “Just like law enforcement agencies are hunting fugitives until they are arrested, we are in the same business.”

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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