Family seeks judicial review after murder charge stayed

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This article was published 05/03/2016 (3498 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of a Winnipeg homicide victim is demanding a judicial review into why the Crown elected not to proceed with the case against the alleged mastermind.

A letter was sent this week to Manitoba Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh on behalf of Kaila Tran, who was attacked outside her St. Vital apartment in June 2012. She was stabbed at least 31 times in what police and justice officials say was a murder-for-hire.

The family questions why Tran’s former boyfriend, Drake Moslenko, went free without even going to trial. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was stayed at a preliminary hearing in June 2014. The Crown didn’t reinstate the charge during the one-year period in which it could do so.

Moslenko, 30, got $50,000 in life insurance, which was taken out by Tran. He is seeking $55,000 from a second policy in a case that’s currently tied up in the courts.

“My sister was brutally murdered. The evidence suggests that her boyfriend had her killed. Kaila deserves justice. We ask that you take whatever steps are necessary to assist us in ensuring that justice is served,” Tiffany Tran wrote in the letter to Mackintosh.

The family is calling for Mackintosh to appoint a senior prosecutor, preferably from outside the jurisdiction, to review how the department handled Moslenko’s case. It wants the results made public.

“Mr. Moslenko is in receipt of life insurance monies from Kaila’s death. He arranged to have my sister killed and now is free spending money from her murder. This is sick and cannot be allowed,” Tran wrote.

Moslenko is being sued by Tran’s family in a rare “wrongful death” application filed last month, in which the standard of proof is much lower than in a criminal court. They are seeking undisclosed financial damages, including seizure of the insurance proceeds.

None of the allegations has been proven.

“It would be inappropriate for the minister to speak to cases that are still before the courts. We can confirm that victim services continues to communicate with and assist the Tran family,” government spokeswoman Rachel Morgan told the Free Press Friday.

The man Moslenko allegedly hired to carry out the killing, Treyvonne Willis, was found guilty of first-degree murder last year and received a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. He admitted to ambushing and repeatedly stabbing Tran, 27, in exchange for getting off the hook from a drug debt. Willis is appealing the verdict, claiming he gave a false confession.

In their letter to Mackintosh, the Tran family claims the lead homicide detective assured them the charge against Moslenko would be reinstated after it was withdrawn at the preliminary hearing. They also say police and the Crown have told them about a second videotaped statement from Willis in which he directly implicates Moslenko in the killing. The taped statement was never used against him in court.

“Members of the Winnipeg Police Service have told me that they believe that Mr. Moslenko had Kaila murdered. The Crown prosecutors in the Willis trial have also told me that they believe that Mr. Moslenko had Kaila murdered. My family and I do not understand why Mr. Moslenko is a free man when the people who are in charge of putting away murderers know that Mr. Moslenko had Kaila murdered,” the letter says.

“Although my family and I sincerely appreciate the hard work of the police and the Crown in convicting Mr. Willis, their refusal or inability to pursue charges against Mr. Moslenko is patently unjust.”

Moslenko’s name came up several times during the trial against Willis. Police repeatedly tried to get Willis to implicate Moslenko during a videotaped interrogation that was shown to jurors. He said he would be in danger if he started “dropping names.”

Police suggested Moslenko arranged the hit. Willis denied that. He also said he was never told why Tran had to be killed.

The Crown’s key witness, Tremaine Sam-Kelly, testified Moslenko knew about the plot to kill Tran, who was going to be targeted because she was a “snitch” against her boyfriend. He said Willis was offered a way out of a drug debt if he carried out the killing. Sam-Kelly didn’t say who made the offer to Willis.

In the letter to Mackintosh and in the civil lawsuit, Tran’s family said testimony from the trial leads to one conclusion: “There is a significant amount of evidence from the Willis trial which shows that Mr. Moslenko was involved in Kaila’s murder.”

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