By Don Plant Sat, Sept 1, 2007 http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=62337
Six men charged in a series of gang-style murders will go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing. The suspects, allegedly affiliated with The Greeks criminal gang in Vernon, appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna by video Friday. The Crown has won consent from B.C.‘s attorney general to send the six to trial by direct indictment. The decision means the men will forgo a preliminary hearing, which is held in most indictable cases to determine whether or not there‘s enough evidence for a trial. “We don‘t do this often,” said Stan Lowe of the province‘s criminal justice branch. “It‘s resorted to very occasionally . . . 10 to 20 cases per year in B.C.”
Sheldon R. O‘Donnell, Leslie Podolski, Dale G. Sipes, Peter Manolakos, Andre R.J. Raymond and Douglas Brownell are all charged with murder and committing an offence for a criminal organization. Police believe they‘re connected to the drug-related slayings of seven men in the Vernon area. The victims were shot or beaten to death during an 11-month killing spree in 2004 and 2005. Lowe wouldn‘t say why the attorney general‘s office agreed to the direct indictment. Direct indictment is usually ordered when witnesses fear they may be in danger, the case is complex and may require a long trial, or an informant‘s identity must be protected. Several levels of the criminal justice branch must review direct indictments before they‘re approved. The main hurdle is whether or not the Crown‘s case is strong enough to go to trial. “The requirement of full disclosure of the Crown remains in place,” said Lowe. “Perhaps it intensifies. . . . There will be maybe a little more scrutiny by the courts.”
Brownell was arrested and detained last spring. The other suspects, including alleged ringleader Manolakos, have been behind bars since their arrests in May 2006. Police believe the Vernon-based organization distributed cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the Okanagan and as far away as Alberta. Investigators suspect the gang was affiliated with the Hells Angels in Calgary and Kelowna. One man has pleaded guilty and is serving a prison term for the murder of Robert Hewison, whose body was found on the Okanagan Indian band reserve in March 2005. Police are withholding the killer‘s name. The six suspects will face a jury trial in Kelowna unless they apply for a change of venue. They must also apply to be tried separately. On Friday, they appeared wearing orange prison garb on a split TV screen from three institutions, including the North Fraser Remand Centre. “See you guys later,” one of them said when the hearing ended. Their cases were adjourned until Sept. 24, when lawyers are scheduled to fix a date for the trial
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