POLICE PLEAD FOR HELP

A 25-year-old Surrey man murdered at an upscale Westwood Plateau home
last November may have been linked to a marijuana grow operation
rip-off, police say.

And investigators are wanting the public's help, especially from the
Asian community, to solve the Coquitlam murder.

The body of Tuong (Tommy) Vo was located by an area resident at around
9 a.m. last Nov. 18 in a house in the 1500-block of Manzanita Court in
Coquitlam. Two nearby homes on Erskine Street and Salal Crescent also
were being investigated by police at the time of the homicide.

"There were indications of grow-ops in a couple of those locations,
and evidence leads us to believe that this was, in fact, the result of
a grow-operation rip-off that went wrong," said Coquitlam Const. Jane
Baptista Tuesday.

Baptista also told reporters at the press conference that someone
provided information to police about the killing, and they are asking
for that person to come forward again.

The person had disclosed details to police anonymously.

"The people who are in the know - and we really believe there are
people who know exactly what went on that night - do have the
information we need," she said. "Someone has already come forth with
some information that has proved invaluable to the investigation and
we are specifically pleading with that person to come forth."

Chinese and Vietnamese-speaking police officers also were at Tuesday's
news conference in Coquitlam for Asian media to get the word out. "We
believe that there are persons within that community that do have
information that will help bring these criminals to justice," she said.

The cause of Vo's death is not being released, however, it may have
been connected to organized crime. Baptista said Vo was known to
police. "Whenever you have drugs involved," she said, "and we do know
this was probably related to this attempted marijuana grow operation
rip-off, it's often linked to an organized criminal gang."

The problem with pot farms on Westwood Plateau last year prompted the
local residents' association to host an open meeting with politicians
and police about the dangers involved. Coquitlam RCMP also is starting
a dedicated "green team" next month to combat the city's grow-ops.

Meanwhile, Coquitlam RCMP and IHIT - the RCMP's integrated homicide
investigational team - also are searching for an early 1990s or late
2000 blue or grey Dodge Caravan that may have been used in Vo's murder.

"We're hoping that someone has seen the vehicle in the community or
somebody knows where that vehicle is."

Anyone with information about the Coquitlam murder is asked to call
the IHIT hotline at 604-543-9217.