FIREBOMBINGS LINKED TO DRUG WAR?

Cops Probe Connection To Long-Simmering Feud Between Rival Factions

CRIME - The firebombings of two businesses and a basement apartment
that seriously injured two women could be linked to a long-simmering
feud between rival factions connected to metro's illegal drug trade.

"We can't ignore that possibility," said Halifax Regional Police
Const. Jeff Carr. "There's been a number of incidents over the
summer, and we're looking to see if there are links."

Police say the weekend firebombings aren't random, but aren't saying
how they're connected to the earlier incidents. They're also not
saying if the Sunday firebombings of the Underground Jungle stores in
Dartmouth and Halifax and Saturday's firebombing of a Woodside
apartment are linked to each other.

The owner of the two Underground Jungle stores, Steven Douglas
Skinner, said yesterday he doesn't know why he was targeted.

Skinner said he's not involved in the drug trade or the recent spate
of violence.

'Probably warn me'

"I don't know much about it; why it happened," Skinner said outside
his gutted Main Street store."If the (police) figure that out,
they'll probably warn me."

Skinner was charged in 2003 with weapons and drug-related offences,
but the case was thrown out after a police search of his home was
deemed inadmissable. He's also facing charges of assault causing bodily harm.

Skinner's store advertises pre-paid phone cards, designer clothes,
CDs, a cash mart and smoke shop.

Asked if he thought the firebombings of the two stores could be
connected to other recent arsons, Skinner shrugged.

"I don't know; I hear there's a lot of s--t burning down," he said.

Since June, metro's been plagued by a number of violent incidents.

The most serious is the murder of Wayne Nicholas Marriott, 21, who
was gunned down in a Beechville driveway on June 20.

Days later, a Spryfield business run by James Edward Melvin was
destroyed by a firebomb, fuelling speculation the fire was
retaliation for Marriott's murder.

Melvin's son, James Bernard (Jimmy) Melvin, a former associate of
Wayne Marriott's, was being sought by police after the shooting,
although he was never identified as a suspect. He had been released
from prison in May after serving five years for assault, drug and
conspiracy charges. He is now back behind bars for violating a
conditional sentence.

One of the women injured in Saturday morning's firebombing at 37
Everette St. in Dartmouth is connected to Wayne Marriott.

Wanda Lynn Campbell, 45, is the widow of Billy Marriott, Wayne
Marriott's uncle. Billy Marriott committed suicide before he could be
tried for the 1998 contract killing of Hells Angels associate William
St. Clair Wendelborg.

Campbell served three years in prison for being an accessory after
the fact. Campbell and another woman in the apartment Saturday broke
a bathroom window to get to safety after a firebomb was tossed
through their living-room window. The flames trapped the women in a
back room of the apartment away from the two exits. Campbell suffered
burns, but is in good condition at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
Her friend, Debbie, is still in serious condition.

Skinner's Main Street store prominently features a marijuana leaf
logo. He joked the firebombing could be the work of anti-marijuana activists.

"If you find out about those anti-marijuana terrorists, let me know," he said.

Skinner said he doesn't sell drugs.

"We sell rolling papers for tobacco use only," he said.

Skinner said he doesn't feel personally threatened by the
firebombings, and doesn't fear for his own safety.