Harley in the Hangar: Chop Shop?

[hopingforjustice]

You know something, when I look back to the day of the HPS press conference on May 14th, it was this very fact that left me infuriated. As D/Sgt Kavanagh revealed the facts, I sat there, feeling the steam rising, mixed with bitterness. Someone possessing a great amount of wealth, choosing to end the life of a working man trying to raise a family, just for a truck.

There was a mad flurry of thoughts here on the motive, with numerous posters positing theories that it was a payback, drugs, etc., yet few considered that it was just about a truck and getting rid of the owner who stood in the way. If you go to the "Truck as Motive" thread, there is the link posted there about a case in China where a little baby was strangled because it happened to be in its car seat and an "imposition" on the thief's plan.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9501054&postcount=33

Folks, this is the way that some people think and operate, their mindset, their callousness, and even their sense of humour. A common prefacing statement in many threads here was, "I can't wrap my head around it", and that is simply because you are not of the same mindset as the accused individuals.

This crime is all the more heinous, precisely for this fact: it was the murder of a man for his personal vehicle, a vehicle of much lesser value than the assets of the thief, and the death of a family man whose net worth (monetarily) was no where near the thief's. And a young woman and her daughter are left with an incurable pain of the soul, a loss never to be forgotten.

Spin the theories if you will, and for some, proclaim the absurdity of it, but it has happened. Sadly, I have a feeling that the full justice will never be served in this case.

Well said!

 

[huntergerrard]

I'll have to find that picture of the wood chipper that was in the hangar, but this sounds quite a lot like the same one, same manufacturer and size based on the value of the one that was stolen from Oakville in January 2012. Serial number is likely long gone off the one in the hangar.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ville-wood-chipper/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

and here's the one in the hangar in the background of this picture... sure looks like a black chute from here anyway.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29437&d=1343747457

and here's a more traditional model paint job:

http://www.woodchuckllc.com/Chippers/03581/1.jpg

Pardon my ignorance, but if the wood chipper or any other part or vehicle in the hangar was missing a serial #, wouldn't that mean it was shady? If the serial # can't easily be located, IMO, something doesn't seem right. Most legit parts would have a visible serial #, IMO.

 

[Blomquist]

He has stolen before.. we don't know for how long nor how many vehicles but there were stolen vehicles in HIS hanger. Tell me he didn't know they were stolen. I just think this man/kid is crossed the line.

As for sellers, he was looking for the weakest player. Suppose call #1 and #2 had issues, truck was locked in a garage over night, the victim was bigger than them or in use during the day so it could not be sleathly stolen.

With Tim he was tired it was late, he fought back or not, but the set up was all there from the farm to the trailer. What do you think they planned to do to Tim knowing he saw their faces? DM had graduated from street theft to a higher thrill. From everything I have seen or read on thieves, if they don't stop there they merge into becoming murders to feel alive.

Who has stolen before? How do you know DM has graduated from street theft to a higher thrill, has it been evidenced anywhere? Is this your opinion?

 

[Solo712]

It is not as much a point of contention as it is a point of fact, sillybilly. The debate started after I expressed surprise at the investigators returning parts of the stolen Harley to the original owner instead of keeping them as evidence. This is an obvious miscue, no matter how you look at it and no matter how much you think you know about policing. Paradkar gleefully commented on

<rsbm>
I mentioned this right away as well about the evidence being returned so soon. Did Paradkar comment on this??? Do u have a link?

It was in the Star.

Best,
J.

 

[Gibson67]

I think you did an amazing SLEUTH job here... why, okay the wood chopper; it is paint a putrid green.

Now did this shop have past orders and left over paint, or was it freshly ordered. Now look at the hanger pic with the wood chopper, there is a GMC Camaro painted cherry red and a SUV painted midnight blue, plus a third ?

If that shop ordered those exact paint colours in 2012 I would think it odd but not illegal. If the paint can be accounted for... that means I want to know how they routinely deal with excess paint and prove to me it is a long standing practice.

We know all crooks lie. So if 30 gallons of puke green are order...why, for what job, if they say the job was canceled...okay. Now cherry red paint, was ordered 1 gallon in 2012, name the customer...the same for the midnight blue SUV.

Check the paint ordered against quantities typically used to paint a single car. Hey, no smart garage owner orders just to have waste materials. I am sure the paint can be scratched to show a former colour the original car was painted.

If you are so innocent why transfer you wealth to your mother?

DETBA

isnt one of the jeeps in the hangar that same putrid green? the same colour as the wood chipper

 

[lanman]

I was wondering too, where DM and his friends had the vehicles painted. I have found on FB some of their friends do work for auto body/collision places in Brantford.

Speaking of paint, when LE took away the skid steer excavator from the farm, there were theories posted here about how it may played a part in destroying the body. I don't recall anyone theorizing that it may have been taken away because it was stolen!

Just like the wood chipper, the skid steer doesnt seem to have any decals where they normally should be, other than the small safety stickers below the cab door.

It appears to be a Takeuchi TL Series.


Check out google images for "takeuchi track loader" then compare what you find to the picture below.

 

[Archangel7]

Pardon my ignorance, but if the wood chipper or any other part or vehicle in the hangar was missing a serial #, wouldn't that mean it was shady? If the serial # can't easily be located, IMO, something doesn't seem right. Most legit parts would have a visible serial #, IMO.

Defacing intentionally would be a contravention of law. Possession of a defaced VIN is a contravention of law. Then you get into willfully/knowingly/with intent etc., etc. depending on who and how the law was written and what country you are in.

 

[puppyraiser]

Unless that skid steer excavator had been repaired sometime after the photo was taken of it in March, I don't think it was operable. I think LE hauled it away because they discovered it was stolen. If it was being hauled away for forensic testing, then wouldn't it have been put inside a trailer instead of on a flatbed trailer? Potential evidence could have blown away during the trip to... wherever it went.

 

[puppyraiser]

http://www.stolenheavyequipment.com/recent_thefts/

looks like one was stolen in Markham in Jan 2013- last photo on pg 1, another stolen in London in Oct 2011 (older model, same colour). Also a backhoe and trailer was stolen from Beaverton Jan 2012.

 

[huntergerrard]

Awhile back (before we knew of the chop shop in the hangar) someone mentioned a car lot that had a suspicious test drive and an alleged key swap. The poster mentioned that the car lot had possibly hid the vehicles to avoid theft.
Did anything ever become of that news story?

 

[huntergerrard]

Defacing intentionally would be a contravention of law. Possession of a defaced VIN is a contravention of law. Then you get into willfully/knowingly/with intent etc., etc. depending on who and how the law was written and what country you are in.

So no matter how you slice it, if there are vehicles and parts in the hangar without VIN#'s, there's a problem.

 

[puppyraiser]

Awhile back (before we knew of the chop shop in the hangar) someone mentioned a car lot that had a suspicious test drive and an alleged key swap. The poster mentioned that the car lot had possibly hid the vehicles to avoid theft.
Did anything ever become of that news story?

Don't recall any follow-up to that. I wonder if the would-be thieves realized getting trucks from a dealership was going to be more difficult than anticipated and therefore changed their plan to finding trucks via the online autotrader.

ETA- Does anyone recall the colour and size of the generator in one of the backhoe photos taken on DM's farm? Not that it matters since it's entirely possible that if it was stolen it had been repainted anyhow.

 

[Archangel7]

So no matter how you slice it, if there are vehicles and parts in the hangar without VIN#'s, there's a problem.

With DEFACED VINs, yes I see no other way around it. And of course no VIN is the same as a defaced one.

I believe the criminal code in Ontario uses the word knowingly with regards to possession of a defaced VIN. The deed holder to the property(hanger) would be the 1st on the hook until the investigation pinpoints an individual(s)

 

[Archangel7]

Awhile back (before we knew of the chop shop in the hangar) someone mentioned a car lot that had a suspicious test drive and an alleged key swap. The poster mentioned that the car lot had possibly hid the vehicles to avoid theft.
Did anything ever become of that news story?

I saw the OPP "release" or "warning" or whatever they call their sharing and notification of such things.

 

[Blomquist]

With DEFACED VINs, yes I see no other way around it.

I believe the criminal code in Ontario uses the word knowingly with regards to possession of a defaced VIN. The deed holder to the property(hanger) would be the 1st on the hook until the investigation pinpoints an individual(s)

Yes the key word being "knowingly" as with anything there is no crime unless someone knowingly did something or had "intent". If someone were to buy a car that had a dodgy VIN on one of the parts , how would they knowingly have committed a crime? If someone sold a car with a defaced VIN was their intent to defraud by selling something that had a stolen part or was it a case of not knowing and therefore had no intentYou have to prove intent which is not that easy... IMO you have to prove that someone is knowing guilty and or/has intent. Just want to make this clear.... as I know there are opinions that are in contrast.

 

[Tikki]

With DEFACED VINs, yes I see no other way around it. And of course no VIN is the same as a defaced one.

I believe the criminal code in Ontario uses the word knowingly with regards to possession of a defaced VIN. The deed holder to the property(hanger) would be the 1st on the hook until the investigation pinpoints an individual(s)

Based on what I've seen so far, it wouldn't surprise me if LE had photos of the "deed holder" in a hands on situation with one or more of the VIN-less (or altered VIN) vehicles in question.

Probably on someone's social media with a grin on his face. IMO

 

[Archangel7]

Yes the key word being "knowingly" as with anything there is no crime unless someone knowingly did something or had "intent". If someone were to buy a car that had a dodgy VIN on one of the parts , how would they knowingly have committed a crime? If someone sold a car with a defaced VIN was their intent to defraud by selling something that had a stolen part or was it a case of not knowing and therefore had no intentYou have to prove intent which is not that easy... IMO

You don't have to prove intent to prove a crime. Please quit posting such general statements. No intent is needed on possession of drugs for one, off the top of my head. Just the possession is enough.

Plus don't you have to verify VIN when you buy a vehicle and for registration/insurance? How could you not know? Gee whiz.

 

[lanman]

With DEFACED VINs, yes I see no other way around it. And of course no VIN is the same as a defaced one.

I believe the criminal code in Ontario uses the word knowingly with regards to possession of a defaced VIN. The deed holder to the property(hanger) would be the 1st on the hook until the investigation pinpoints an individual(s)

It does have the word 'knowingly', but then 354(2) 'seems' to say that if you are in possession of a vehicle with a defaced VIN, then you are guilty "in the absence of any evidence to the contrary"

Thats how I read it anyway. I couldn't find an english version

http://www.lawyers.ca/statutes/criminal_code_of_canada_theft.htm

 

[Blomquist]

You don't have to prove intent to prove a crime. Please quit posting such general statements. No intent is needed on possession of drugs for one, off the top of my head. Just the possession is enough.

Plus don't you have to verify VIN when you buy a vehicle and for registration/insurance? How could you not know? Gee whiz.

<modsnip>

As far as your VIN comment, yes you have to verify the VIN...<modsnip> JMO

 

[Archangel7]

<modsnip>

As far as your VIN comment, yes you have to verify the VIN...<modsnip>JMO

<modsnip> The VIN is sorta the master serial number with other parts listed under that.

I did say that part numbers(with serial numbers) are part of an assembled vehicles VIN number on initial assembly with the disclaimer of auto manf. that make less 1-200 cars per year(I am not trained nor had experience with that small a factory VINs)