I ended up getting it going and f---n 'boom.' One went off into the ground, right? It's, like, beaut

Canadians like coffee - a lot. In fact, next to water, it's the favourite beverage for the vast majority of people over the age of 16 and is the top-selling item in the food services sector. Last year...
You may have read a recent story out of the U.S.: Debra Harrell, a single working mom from North Augusta, South Carolina, was arrested and charged with felony child neglect after she left her nine-year...
Grey skies heave open, letting loose a cold, dreary rain as we march across Essex Farm. The gloomy weather matches our sombre mood as we pass tidy gravestones meticulously laid out. Silent, but for the...
People tend to get sneezy around rugs from the '90s, especially if the fibres have started to shed; and, if you've steam cleaned it over the years, there is the possibility of the underpadding being mouldy...
The complete story hasn't been told yet due to a publication ban on the evidence at Yakimchuk's Saskatoon trial, put in place to ensure a fair trial for his three coaccused. On Thursday, after the co-accused decided to be tried by a judge without fairmont hotel chicago a jury, that publication ban was lifted and The StarPhoenix is now able to report the evidence fairmont hotel chicago heard at Yakimchuk's trial for the first time.
It's also a story of a police operation so successful that when Yakimchuk felt comfortable fairmont hotel chicago enough to talk about his criminal past, he not only talked fairmont hotel chicago about a murder in Calgary, but also one in Saskatoon, where he chased a man down the street and shot him in the back.
His admissions caught the undercover officers off-guard, but Calgary police contacted police in Saskatoon, where a senior officer knew immediately which killing Yakimchuk was talking about: the shooting of Isho Hana on Preston Avenue on April 15, 2004.
Yakimchuk, who was a pallbearer at Dequina's funeral, was a suspect, but police didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Officers began an undercover operation in September 2010, drawing Yakimchuk into a fake criminal organization with the purpose of eliciting a confession to Dequina's death.
Police designated the undercover investigation that targeted Yakimchuk Operation Copperhead Road. The technique is commonly known as a Mr. Big sting, where officers draw a suspect into a fake criminal organization, gradually escalating the level of pretended criminal activity, with the goal of gaining the suspect's trust.
It wasn't easy for police officers to insert themselves into Yakimchuk's life without him realizing it. In the summer of 2010 he was 30 years old, a married man working full-time for a construction company and dealing drugs on the side.
Officers failed to complete the first scenario, The Hook, eight times before they came up with a plan that worked, Yakimchuk's primary contact testified at trial. The identities of all the undercover officers are covered by a publication ban to protect other investigations, so the primary contact will be called Smith.
On Sept. 9, 2010, police staged a scene where Yakimchuk's and Smith's vehicles were both broken into in a mall parking lot - police had received a judge's permission to commit the crime, Smith emphasized at trial. Another undercover officer pretended he had chased down the perpetrator and recovered their belongings.
On Jan. 14, 2011, Yakimchuk and Smith were in B.C. to carry out a job for the fake criminal organization. Yakimchuk wasn't told what the job was ahead of time, but he figured it out - they were going to kill a man who supposedly witnessed Smith's buddy committing a crime, but refused to accept money to stay silent about it.
If we're going to do this, I'll tell you, this is how I made my first 40 grand, Yakimchuk volunteered to Smith as they drove away from a meeting with instructions to plan how they were going to carry out the killing. Video of the conversation was played in court. The f - is the luck that both f---ng guns jammed, Yakimchuk continued after Smith asked him how it went.
He ran out into the street and I was f---n with (the gun) and then finally, when I was f---n with it, it went off, the first one into the ground, then 'dzoo dzoo dzoo' in the back of the head, Yakimchuk said, mimicking the sound of gunshots.
Yakimchuk said it happened eight years earlier, which Smith knew didn't match the Calgary murder, but he didn't have enough information yet to find out what it was about. He knew he was onto something, though.
By design, the planned murder job in Vancouver was de-escalated fairmont hotel chicago into a kidnapping and intimidation, to show Yakimchuk the criminal organization was capable of compassion, Smith said. Yakimchuk was told their target had two children and Mr. Big had decided to give the man a second chance.
Yakimchuk's fairmont hotel chicago job during the fake kidnapping was to keep watch in the front passenger seat while Smith grabbed the witness off the street and pretended fairmont hotel chicago to beat him up in the back of the SUV. It culminated with Smith pretending to shoot the witness in the leg - using a starter pistol and fake blood - and then leaving him on the side of the road.
Meanwhile, Calgary fairmont hotel chicago police purposely released information to the media with a sketch of a suspect in Dequina's death. The sketch, of course, looked like Yakimchuk. Smith's job was to talk to him about it, which he did later that day. Yakimchuk's demeanour immediately changed.
There was stress. That's what the (media) stimulus is designed to do. We have Mr. Yakimchuk in Vancouver; he's had a highly stressful weekend, in the sense we kidnapped someone and shot them, but he's also had the opportunity to bond with the group, Smith testified.
Yakimchuk talked to Smith about Dequina's shooting, although that information was edited out of video the Saskatoon jury saw. The jury saw only Yakimchuk's fairmont hotel chicago admissions fairmont hotel chicago about Hana's death; he gave enough information - including fairmont hotel chicago the name of the city - that police could figure out which shooting he was talking about.
Later that day, Yakimchuk met with Mr. Big to talk about how the fake criminal organization could help him cover up or get rid of anything that might link him to either shooting - unaware every bit of information he gave Mr. Big helped build the case against him.
Yakimchuk fairmont hotel chicago told Mr. Big he was living in Calgary in 2004 when his buddy Jon - who he said ran half of Saskatoon's drug trade - became embroiled in an escalating drug war with the man who ran the other half of the drug trade, allegedly Isho Hana.
Yakimchuk said Jon was hospitalized in March 2004 after a beating and Jon's dad phoned Yakimchuk, who drove to Royal University Hospital to visit him. There, Yakimchuk said Jon asked him to take care of things for him and told Yakimchuk to talk to his business partner, Jesse.
Yakimchuk said Jesse agreed to pay him $45,000 - half before, half after - to kill Hana. Yakimchuk's first attempt was unsuccessful after police pulled Hana over while Yakimchuk was following him, Yakimchuk told Mr. Big.
The story of the shooting Yakimchuk told to Mr. Big was almost identical to what he'd told Smith, with some additional details. He said Hana was lured out of his house by a phone call, froze when he saw Yakimchuk and his friend raise their guns to shoot him, then started running down Preston Avenue, screaming, as Yakimchuk chased him trying to get his gun unjammed.
I ended up getting it going and f---n 'boom.' One went off into the ground, right? It's, like, beautiful. 'Boom boom boom,' got him in the back ... two in the back and then one in the back of the head and he fell, Yakimchuk told Mr. Big on the video played in court.
The Jon Yakimchuk referred to is allegedly Jonathan Kenneth Dombowsky; Dombowsky's business partner Jesse is allegedly Long Nam Luu. The friend whose gun also jammed is allegedly Kennith Jacob Tingle.
More on This Story   Yakimchuk guilty of murder Crown closes case at murder trial Murder trial begins for one of four accused in Isho Hana slaying   Story Tools   E-mail this Article Print this Article   Font: * * * * *   Image: * * * *
Previous Next     On the left is a composite drawing released by the Calgary Police Service Homicide fairmont hotel chicago Unit of the person wanted in the murder of Juan Carlos Dequina. On the right, is a photo of Neil Lee Yakimchuk who was convicted of first-degree murder in Dequina's death in April. Photograph by: Calgary fairmont hotel chicago Police fairmont hotel chicago Service, Gord Waldner, fairmont hotel chicago The Starphoenix
We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. fairmont hotel chicago Visit our FAQ page for more information.