Red Scorpions gang associate Albert Jackman had vengeance on his mind when he planned the brutal beating of a Langley man two years ago.
Jackman was a close friend of gang member Kevin LeClair, and was devastated when LeClair was gunned down in February 2009.
“Mr. Jackman on at least one occasion felt it was his duty to avenge Mr. LeClair’s name,” Crown prosecutor Catherine Fedder told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Crawford at a sentencing hearing in New Westminster Wednesday.
In early March 2009, Jackman heard that Tyler Willock, a gang associate, had laughed and commented that he wouldn’t have to repay a $40,000 debt he owed to LeClair because he was dead.
Weeks after the comment, Jackman told an undercover agent that he’d retaliated right away so that he could sleep at night.
In the days leading up to March 8, 2009, Jackman arranged by phone and text to meet Willock at Willock’s Langley home, where they would talk before going to dinner.
That day, Jackman had 20-year-old Wesley Kelemen drive him to the meeting. Jackman brought with him a sledgehammer and zap straps.
At the house, Jackman and Kelemen spoke briefly with Willock and his roommate before heading with Willock to a bedroom to talk.
In the bedroom, according to Kelemen, “all hell broke loose.”
As Kelemen stood guard, Jackman ordered Willock to the ground and told him to tell the truth. After getting a response Jackman tied Willock up using zap straps and duct taped his mouth and eyes.
Jackman proceeded to hit Willock more than 20 times with the sledgehammer.
“Mr. Jackman swung the sledgehammer so hard it left a divot above Mr. Willock’s almost unconscious body and a divot in the cement floor beside him,” Fedder said.
Willock suffered fractures to his arms and legs, puncture wounds to all four limbs, contusions, swelling, lacerations (including ones on his head) and abrasions.
After the beating, Jackman and Kelemen left. On the way out, Jackman grabbd Willock’s roommate and told him to call 911.
When found by police, Willock was swollen from internal bleeding and was close to unconsciousness.
“Mr. Willock had been beaten so brutally that blood was spattered about the room,” Fedder said.
After receiving information – including wire taps and undercover officer statements – from an unrelated Integrated Gang Task Force investigation, Jackman and Kelemen were arrested in May 2009.
Shortly before trial, Jackman and Kelemen entered guilty pleas.
Jackman, 24, admitted to aggravated assault and unlawful confinement. Fedder argued for a 12-year sentence.
She called the beating cold-blooded, brutal, vicious and premeditated.
“All of this demonstrates the excessive and gratuitously violent nature of Mr. Jackman,” she said. “It was a minor miracle that Mr. Willock lived.”
In one of the wiretap conversations, Jackman said, “I wish the f–k I had beat him until he was dead.”
In another he said he’d threatened to “clip every member of [Willock’s] family if he squealed.”
Defence lawyer Brian Coleman called the statements hyperbole while Fedder said they were indicative of Jackman’s rage, lack of impulse control and moral culpability.
“Mr. Jackman seemed intent on punishing and making an example of Mr. Willock because Mr. Willock had disrespected his friend in public,” Fedder said.
Coleman said one reason for Jackman’s problem with impulse control could be a traumatic brain injury he suffered when he was 16. He reportedly underwent personality and behaviour changes and had trouble in school.
Coleman said the crime was one of passion and that with help Jackman can be rehabilitated.
Coleman will finish his submissions next week.
Jackman is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted last month of first-degree murder.
The killing took place 20 days after the assault on Willock.
Kelemen, who pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement, was sentenced after a joint submission from Crown and defence.
Crawford accepted the proposal, sentencing Kelemen to time served. Kelemen, now 23, was given double credit for the one year, three months and one day he previously spent in jail on the charges.
Evidence that included Kelemen’s own statement to police revealed that he had no idea what Jackman had planned.
His participation in the incident was limited to driving, standing in the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed and cleaning up after the fact.
He said he felt faint and told Jackman to stop a number of times, but Jackman would not listen.
“What happened to Mr. Willock was horrendous, but Mr. Kelemen did not participate in that. He did not know what was going to happen. If he did, he wouldn’t have gone,” defence lawyer Deanne Gaffar said.
Gaffar said Kelemen was never a member of the notorious Red Scorpions gang, which is most closely associated with the Bacon brothers.
While under strict bail conditions – which included a 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew and house arrest on weekends – Kelemen has tried to change his life. He’s been working and upgrading his high school education.
“The evidence I have before me indicates he has used his time well,” Crawford said.
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