It’s been nearly 20 years since Cody Haevischer and other members of the Red Scorpions gang entered a Surrey highrise in a botched execution that became a massacre—half a dozen people murdered in what would come to be known as the Surrey Six killings. Thursday marked the latest day in court for Eileen Mohan, whose son Christopher was one of the innocent victims. She was there to watch as Haevischer made his case for a stay of proceedings. Dragged into a room down the hall from the unit where he lived and fatally shot in the head and neck while on his way to play basketball, Christopher was in the wrong place at the wrong time. “The people who took my son’s life have used the taxpayers’ dollars to their advantage in every turn to set themselves free,” Mohan told reporters outside B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver on Thursday, referring to the various defence efforts by those accused or convicted in connection with the case over the years. Haevischer had been pushing for a stay of proceedings, trying to get some reprieve from a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. In court, he alleged police impropriety and argued his treatment while in custody amounted to an abuse of process. The claims were difficult for Mohan to sit through. “He’s breathing the air,” Mohan said of Haevischer. “He can see his family members. He can eat and drink and talk to his people, where I cannot meet my son.” The judge acknowledged aspects of Haevischer’s incarceration were “unbecoming of a free and democratic society,” but ultimately said his claims did not meet the threshold for a stay. “Today Madam Justice (Martha) Devlin did justice to the law and has given us hope we can trust in our courts,” Mohan said. The court’s decision not to grant a stay means that Haevischer must now serve his life sentence.
