Surrey Six convict gets two years for contempt of court

Cody Rae Haevischer, convicted in the 2007 Surrey Six killings, has received a two-year jail sentence for contempt of court, to be served concurrently with his life sentences. Justice Martha Devlin delivered her reasons for judgment in Vancouver on Aug. 27.

Six people were shot dead in Suite 1505 of Whalley’s Balmoral Tower on Oct. 19, 2007. The Crown’s theory was that the killings were retaliation over an unpaid debt between rival gangs. Christopher Mohan and 55-year-old Abbotsford gasfitter Ed Shellenberg were innocent victims who stumbled onto a drug hit; Edward Sousakhone Narong, 22, Ryan Bartolomeo, 19, and brothers Michael Justin Lal, 26, and Corey Jason Michael Lal, 21, were also killed.

Devlin found Haevischer guilty of contempt Dec. 3, 2025, in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. She dismissed his abuse-of-process application for a judicial stay and affirmed the six concurrent life sentences, with no parole eligibility for 25 years, imposed Dec. 12, 2014.

During an evidentiary hearing that began Nov. 4, 2025, Haevischer refused eight times to answer Crown questions after being directed to do so. He said answers could breach what he understood as an inmate code and make him a target of violence. His lawyer presented evidence that his safety would be at risk, but Devlin found his refusals intentional, deliberate and informed.

The Crown sought three years and defence counsel sought one. Haevischer said he testified for 19 days, answered virtually all of about 8,000 questions and was cited only for eight incidents. Devlin said he had ample opportunity for independent legal advice and to reconsider. She ruled a consecutive term for someone already serving life would be legally wrong and logically impossible. No pretrial-custody credit was granted.