B.C.’s anti-gang task force and Island homicide investigators raided the Devil’s Army clubhouse in Campbell River on Thursday in connection with the 2016 targeted killing of Saanich resident John Dillon Brown.
About 60 police officers carried out the search warrant at the Petersen Road location at 8 a.m., including investigators with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, an RCMP tactical team and forensic identification specialists.
No one was in the clubhouse and no arrests were made, said CFSEU spokesman Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton.
The Devil’s Army is an outlaw motorcycle club active in Campbell River since 2009. It’s a support club for the Haney Hells Angels chapter and has five full-patch members and two prospective members, Houghton said. The Devil’s Army also has a clubhouse based in Langford.
Investigators will be at the Campbell River clubhouse for several days, looking for evidence, including weapons, that could be linked to Brown’s murder, Houghton said.
“They’re going to be there for as long as it takes to scour the property and the clubhouse as thoroughly as they can,” he said.
Brown, a husband and father, was found dead inside his car near the west side of a single-lane bridge to Sayward, about 75 kilometres from Campbell River, just before 8 p.m. on March 12, 2016.
The 30-year-old was last seen about 1 p.m. March 11 leaving a Campbell River residence in his car, a grey 2009 Honda Accord with B.C. licence plate BR126G.
The anti-gang unit confirmed Brown’s death was a targeted killing.
There is no information to suggest that Brown, a semi-pro Mixed Martial Arts fighter, was a member or associate of the Devil’s Army or the Hells Angels, Houghton said.
“We have information that we’ve developed over the course of the investigation that speaks to some of the motivations [for the murder], but we can’t speak to those publicly,” he said.
Brown had four children, two born after his death.
“While the investigation thus far has led us to executing a search warrant this morning at the Devil’s Army clubhouse, we still believe there are people who have been reluctant to speak with us who know details about the murder of Dillon Brown,” Houghton said.
“We want to speak with you and we urge you to do the right thing and contact us.”
Rick Alexander, speaking on behalf of the Devil’s Army, said he could not comment as he has no information on the raid.
Houghton said there is no link between Brown’s death and the “targeted killing” of Sooke man Mike Widner, a prospect for the Nanaimo chapter of the Hells Angels who was found dead near Port Renfrew on March 12.
Police ask anyone with information on Brown’s death to call the police tip line at 250-380-7740 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
