POLICE BACK OFF DRUG THEORY IN DEATHS

The Abbotsford Police Department is backing off on its original statements
that all of the killings in the city in 2003 were drug related.

In an exclusive interview with the Times on Thursday police announced only
one of the four killings was directly related to drugs.

"We did not intend to mislead anyone," said Abbotsford police Const.
Shinder Kirk. "We made [the statements] too general."

He said it was his understanding when the department deemed the killings
drug related that drugs were somehow involved in the investigations.

"Drugs have surfaced within the context of the investigation to the
victims," he said. "We will now only use that term [drug related] if it
applies to the specific incident."

The clarification came a day after the mother and the aunt of one of the
murder victims said the drug-related description was offensive to their family.

"That's hurtful. That's like pouring salt over somebody's wound," said Saby
Paul, the aunt of Gurpreet [Bobby] Singh Rehal, who was killed March 13.
"Nothing [related to drugs] has ever been found or we haven't been told.
That's not right."

She said Gurpreet drove a nice car and people had already been talking
about how he got it.

"It was a gift from his grandparents to him for graduating," she said.
"People picture a drug dealer or something. It's very offensive to the
family and very hurtful to the people who brought him up. He was a good kid."

Rehal's mom Parmjit Basra was emotional when she spoke with the Times.

"My son is not drug related," she said as she started to cry. "He never
drink [either]."

Sgt. Bill Emery, lead investigator for the homicide team, confirmed that
the killings of Rehal on March 13 and Claudio Gomez and Clement Valentine
on June 4 "were not because of their drug past or even because of their
drug present [if any]."

Kirk admitted that the drug-related label "negatively affected the Rehals."

"No, it's not fair to him," he said. "We didn't intend to mislead or
besmirch Mr. Rehal's good name."

Emery agreed that the 'drug related' label was unfair.

"[The murder] is not directly drug related, or even indirectly," he said.
"That's why we're correcting it."

Emery said while the public wants to know all the details of a crime, the
police have to hold back certain information.

"We try to protect it . . . because come court time we want to make sure we
haven't given away all of our intimate information," he said. "It's
knowledge only the bad guys would know and that's how we know they're
responsible."

Kirk said the department will now specify both if an incident was targeted
or not and whether it was specifically related to drugs.

Emery, however, said once people realize a killing is not directly related
to drugs they will still wonder why it happened.

"It's a fine line, really," he said, adding that people will still probably
think, "He must have been a bad guy [if he was killed]."

Emery said ultimately if somebody isn't involved in drugs in any way "their
chances of being murdered are pretty low. If you have a lifestyle [where]
you're associated with certain people you could be in a dangerous situation
and not know it - maybe not for the drugs but for another reason."

Crime Timeline: Drug Related Or Not?

Police clarified on Thursday exactly which incidents over the past 13
months have and haven't been drug related.

Dec. 22, 2002: A man was killed and another injured after a stabbing
outside the former Luxor Nite Club. Police say the incident was not related
to drugs.

March 9: A man in a pickup truck was shot by someone in a nearby car in the
32700 block of Okanagan Drive. Police say the incident was not drug
related. March 13: Gurpreet [Bobby] Singh Rehal was gunned down when he
answered the front door of his Saturna Crescent home. Originally police
said the incident was drug related, but have now specified that drugs were
not the reason for the killing.

March 16: A couple driving in a car were both hit by bullets, but survived.
The man, 27, and the woman, 22, were driving home when the shots were fired
at their car near the intersection of Lombard Avenue and Oakridge Crescent.
Police said the incident was not drug related.

June 4: Claudio Gomez and Clement Valentine were found shot to death in a
home on Old Clayburn Road. Originally police said the incident was drug
related. They have now specified that drugs were not the direct reason why
the pair were killed. "It was definitely not [drug related]," said Sgt.
Bill Emery, the lead investigator of the killings.

Nov. 5: A man was shot by an unknown number of suspects outside his Delair
Road home, but survived. Police originally said the incident was drug
related, but have now specified it was not the reason the man was shot.

Nov. 7: A woman, 40, was found dead and a man, 40, was seriously injured
after they were shot in their Clayburn Road home. Police originally said
the incident was drug related and have now confirmed that was the direct
reason why the pair were shot.

Jan. 9: Two men were shot on the sidewalk in the 2500 block of Montvue
Street in downtown Abbotsford. They are still both in serious condition.
Police have not revealed if the incident is drug related or not.

* Police say all of the above incidents were not random.