VANCOUVER — An accused killer and United Nations gang leader, wanted since January in the murder of a rival, slipped back into B.C. in April to transfer his $1.6-million house into his wife’s name, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
And now the palatial Burnaby residence, that was owned solely by Conor Vincent D’Monte when he was charged with murder five months ago, has been put up for sale.
D’Monte and co-accused Cory Vallee are on Interpol’s Most Wanted List after being charged Jan. 24 with first-degree murder in the 2009 Langley slaying of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair.
The two are also charged, with six others linked to the UN gang, with plotting to kill the Bacon brothers and their associates.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been actively searching for the accused gangsters since the charges were laid and has sought assistance from international law enforcement agencies, believing the two are no longer in B.C. and may have fled Canada.
But D’Monte, 33, attended a Metrotown law office on April 1, 2011 to sign over his Burnaby house to wife, Jennifer Kong, according to a property transfer document obtained by The Sun.
The document identified Kong as a “homemaker” who lives in the 4,700-square-foot house, and said the amount paid for the property was a dollar.
The transfer was witnessed by lawyer Larry Routtenberg.
Routtenberg told The Sun Friday that he had no idea who D’Monte was when the accused killer arrived at the law office in April.
“I had never met this person before. That’s all I’ll say,” Routtenberg said.
“He came to my office to sign. He signed in my office and produced ID and I wasn’t aware of any of the background of the file.”
He said he has since contacted the B.C. Law Society about the transaction.
“I am not allowed to discuss it. I already checked with my law society and I am under strict confidentiality,” he said.
“I have disclosed everything to the law society. They are not on my case at all … I am not allowed to discuss this file in any fashion.”
Routtenberg did not contact the police, who said Friday they only learned about the property transfer when The Sun called for comment.
“This document that you are referring to in your story is a new piece of information to us,” said Sgt. Peter Thiessen, IHIT spokesman. “We were not aware of that document and we are certainly following that document up as quickly as we can to make some determinations around that document.”
Thiessen said the search for D’Monte remains “extremely active.”
“We are trying to locate him. We would certainly like anyone who has any idea of his whereabouts to come forward and call the IHIT tip line,” Thiessen said.
Kong, who just started working as a realtor in 2011, hung up on a Sun reporter Sunday when asked about the property transfer.
“I have nothing to say,” she said, after confirming she was the same Jennifer Kong who lived at the Pandora house.
The listing agent for the house, Richard Morrison, did not return phone calls Sunday.
There is no “for sale” sign on the property. The house was searched by police in January when the charges were announced.
The real estate ad boasts “stunning water and mountain views situated on a quiet street in a fantastic neighbourhood” and says the home is newly renovated with six bedrooms, five bathrooms, two fireplaces and a fully-finished basement. It is on the side of Burnaby Mountain in a neighbourhood known as Westridge that overlooks Burrard Inlet.
The house was built in 1988 and the annual taxes are just over $6,000. It was assessed in 2011 at $1.2 million, and is listed for $1.58 million.
D’Monte listed his occupation as “worker” when he bought the house in 2006 for $900,000. Police say his job was to lead the day-to-day operations of the UN gang, of which he is an original member.
The gang was founded in the late 1990s by Fraser Valley native Clay Roueche, who is now serving a 30-year sentence in the U.S. for heading a drug smuggling operation for years, using helicopters and planes to move marijuana south and cocaine north. Roueche was also convicted of money laundering.
On the 2006 property transfer document for the Pandora house, D’Monte’s parents Therese and Vincent D’Monte, also described as “workers,” were listed as purchasers, though their names were crossed out and initialled.
D’Monte’s mother, a flower photographer, did not return phone calls or an email Sunday. His late father Vincent was a well-known family therapist regularly quoted in the media, including The Vancouver Sun. He died in December 2009.
When IHIT officers announced the charges in January, they said D’Monte was extremely dangerous and should not be approached by anyone. They urged anyone who sees D’Monte, or his co-accused Vallee, to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877- 551-4448.
His alleged victim, LeClair, was shot to death outside an IGA grocery store in a busy strip mall about 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. The targeted hit was one of several during a bloody gang war in early 2009.
D’Monte, raised on the west side of Vancouver, also goes by the aliases Brian Black and Manuel Ortega.
Both D’Monte and his younger brother Ciaran are featured in the UN gang photo taken several years ago at the funeral of a UN member.
Conor D’Monte was convicted in Vancouver in 2002 of occupying a vehicle in which there was a firearm. And he was found guilty in Abbotsford in 2000 of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
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