[溫哥華本地新聞] Vancouver gangster gunned down had claimed to be 'a changed man'

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Vancouver gangster gunned down had claimed to be 'a changed man'
Axel Curtis, 29, made the statement to Vancouver Det. Dawn Richards in July 2010


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+gangster+gunned+down+claimed+changed/5671343/story.html#ixzz1d7tFtHqR

VANCOUVER -- A gangster gunned down in a brazen Vancouver shooting Sunday told a gang-squad member last year that he was "a changed man."
Axel Curtis, 29, made the statement to Vancouver Det. Dawn Richards in July 2010, when she stopped him and associates in the downtown entertainment district.
The exchange was captured in the Helen Slinger documentary The Gangster Next Door, co-produced by CBC Doczone and David Brady Productions.
Curtis, who was targeted by a hitman as he walked his dog near 7th and Ash Sunday morning, told Richards that he only had "one phone," meaning he was no longer involved in the drug trade.
Richards responded: "So you can't be a drug dealer anymore because you only have one phone?"
She told Curtis and his friends that they wouldn't be allowed in any clubs that night because of their gang history.
Slinger said that Curtis's demise shows that it is impossible for those who have lived the gang life to completely escape the risk.
"Here he was yukking it up with the gang squad. And now he is dead," she said.
Vancouver Police continued their investigation of the murder Monday, canvassing the neighbourhood where the killer made his escape on foot.
The suspect, dressed all in black and wearing a balaclava, ran south on Ash towards Broadway after the 9:30 a.m. shooting.
Const. Lindsey Houghton said officers would also be seizing any surveillance footage from the busy residential and commercial corridor that might show where the suspect ran.
In addition, investigators applied Monday for warrants to search the condo Curtis shared with a roommate in Fairview, as well as his former residence in the 400-block of Capilano Road in Port Moody.
People who knew Curtis told The Vancouver Sun that few people were aware he had moved to the Fairview Slopes neighbourhood.

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And, they said, Curtis did not fear anyone and carried on his daily business, including clubbing at night, without wearing body armour or looking over his shoulder.

They speculated that the motive must have been an unresolved conflict from years earlier.

Curtis was considered to be a low-level member of the United Nations gang, though he had criminal associates linked to other gangs.

He was sentenced in Vancouver Provincial Court in August 2007 to two years in jail for trafficking and possession of a firearm. He was also given a 10-year firearms prohibition. And he was convicted of a West Vancouver fraud in 2006 and got 18 months' probation.

Curtis also faced trafficking charges in Surrey and Abbotsford. At the time of his death Sunday, he had one outstanding charge of driving while prohibited in Port Moody in the summer of 2010. He was due to go to trial for that in March, 2012.

He also used several aliases, including Anthony Bartoli, Colin Richardson, Albert Curry, Gabriel Pellegrino and Michael Ross.


Axel Curtis, 29, (centre facing camera) told Vancouver Det. Dawn Richards in July 2010 that we was a changed man. The exchange was captured in the Helen Slinger documentary The Gangster Next Door, co-produced by CBC Doczone and David Brady Productions.



Vancouver Police inspect a crime scene after a Sunday shooting killed a man at Ash and West 7th Avenue in Vancouver