Accused Bolsa shooter did 'boast a little'

Det. Rey Bangloy was confident with the confession to and details of the New Year's Day 2009 triple homicide at Bolsa Restaurant he helped elicit from Real Christian Honorio in a three-month under-cover operation.

The officer agreed with defence lawyer Greg Dunn that Honorio exaggerated about some details and lied about others, but had no doubt in the end he was one of the three shooters in the gang assassinations.

"Did he boast a little . . . yes," Bangloy told the jury under cross-examination on Friday. "But when you're talking about the offence here, it's real."

When asked by Dunn if his job was to get a confession and had tunnel vision in his approach, Bangloy said: "No, my job is to get the truth.

"We've had targets that didn't say anything and we cleared them (as suspects). We're just as happy to clear them as to get them to confess. If they say they did something, though, it has to be corroborated."

Bangloy said the context of how information is given is important, especially if one is panicked that police are coming after him and scared when he says something. "I'd say that is truthful."

The detective said Honorio, 28, was targeted to join his fictitious criminal organization and he agreed he was probably given the role as primary operator because they were both Filipino and would have a better rapport.

He said Honorio was never forced into doing anything he did not want to do.

He said the target was enthusiastic about his "job" and loved to be part of the group, whose goal was to make money through credit and debit card skimming and live well.

Bangloy acknowledged he and Honorio became good friends and that the target looked up to him, because of all the money he was making with low risk and how easy it was for him to be attracted to women.

In fact, Dunn pointed out, Honorio told another undercover officer he considered Bangloy's character, the "Asian Tom Cruise."

Bangloy said although his target "looked at me as an older brother" he was never forced to do anything.

"He was free and willing to do what I asked," he said. "It was his free choice on a lot of occasions and I mentioned it to him."

Dunn pointed out several instances in which Honorio, on trial for three counts of first-degree murder, either lied or was wrong about the gang-related shooting incident that took the lives of FK gang member Sanjeev Mann, 23, FK associate Aaron Bendle, 21, and bystander Keni S'ua, 43.

He said his client claimed to have shot Mann with a .50 calibre hand-gun and used hollow-point bullets, and burned his clothes used during the shooting in Bowness Park, all of which are inaccurate.

As well, Dunn said Honorio claimed to have worn a Freddy Kruger mask at the restaurant shooting, again false information.

Honorio also claimed in the under-cover confession that Su'a was not a bystander, but was a drug dealer in Western Canada - also wrong.

Bangloy, though, had no doubts about the salient parts of the confession, especially because of the emotions Honorio displayed.

The Crown's case wraps up next week with its final witness, city police undercover Det. Darrin Berglind, who acted as the crime boss in the final scenario of the undercover operation at Vancouver on June 5, 2009.

He will be on the stand on Mon-day when the trial before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Glen Poelman and jury continues.

Two other men were convicted last October of three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the massacre.

Nathan Zuccherato, 25, and Michael Roberto, 28, both alleged members of the FOK gang, were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.