POLICE BOARD REVIEWS FIVE MURDERS OF 2008

Abbotsford Police have dealt with five murders so far this year,
compared to only one last year for the same period last year.

Deputy Chief Rick Lucy provided the latest crime statistics for August
to the Police Board report on Tuesday.

Several of the homicides this year are related to the drug trade and
gang violence.

Lucy said the Abbotsford Police are very concerned about the increase
in crimes of violence and murder this year and are taking steps to try
to prevent and reduce these crimes from happening. The status of the
2008 murder investigations:

- - On July 22 Dustin Lee Wester, a 25-year-old Abbotsford man, died of
gunshot wounds. Investigators concluded the murder is linked to the
drug trade.

He was found in a vehicle at the Shell station in Mount Lehman, but
the shooting did not take place there. The murder occurred apparently
at a white and blue farmhouse on Townshipline Road, where police also
discovered a large marijuana grow operation.

No arrests have been made and police continue their
investigation.

- - On May 28 Janice McMath, 64, died after being shot. Her husband
Robert McMath, 64, had been charged with attempted murder in
connection with the shooting.

She was shot at the family's rural property in Bradner in the 5000
block of McMath Street.

- - On May 24 Police were called at 2:20 a.m. to Harmin "Harvey" Hans'
family home on Ridgeview Drive after hearing of a fight between a
group of Indo-Canadian men in front of the house.

Officers arrived to find Hans lying on the lawn with a stab wound to
his neck. He was rushed to hospital but later died of his injuries. A
group believed to be involved in the altercation fled before police
arrived.

Shavinder "Shevy" Brar, 21, and Amrit Gill, 20, were charged with
second degree murder in the death of Hans, who was a Rick Hansen
Secondary student.

- - On May 8 Duane Harvey Meyer was shot to death in front of a house on
Kipling Street in Abbotsford and is one of the victims in the Lower
Mainland's rash of murders related to suspected gang killings.

There have been no arrests related to Meyer's death and police
continue their investigation.

- - March 25 Daniel Raymond Casgrain, 54, was charged with second degree
murder in the death of his common law wife Hendrikje Priester, 52.

Police were called about 7:30 a.m. to an apartment in the 33300 block
of Mayfair Avenue, where officers found Priester's body in a
second-floor suite.

The charges were stayed, but police are continuing their
investigation.

- - The death of a 17-year-old boy, who was shot in the head on July 26
at a home in the 4000 block of Brisbane Court in Abbotsford is not
classified as a homicide.

The victim's 17-year-old friend was arrested and charged with criminal
negligence causing bodily harm.