REAL SCOOP: Brothers accused in different gang slayings
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 01:13:31 +0000
I have seen a lot of families over the years where more one member has gotten caught up in gang life – the Bacons where one brother was killed and two convicted of various gang/drug-related charges. The Dhaks where two brothers ended up dying violently two years apart. And two young Williams Lake brothers have both been charged with murders two years apart. One pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The other was just charged.
Here’s my story:
Michael Drynock, 23, and his co-accused Jayson Gilbert, 25, have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Branton Regner, Aug. 9 in Williams Lake
A young Williams Lake man charged with murder last week is the younger brother of a convicted killer who in July admitted to shooting a Lower Mainland gangster.
Michael Drynock, 23, and his co-accused Jayson Gilbert, 25, were charged last week with first-degree murder in the death of Branton Regner, Aug. 9 in Williams Lake.
Regner’s body was found in the Fraser River, west of Williams Lake, on Aug. 27. Both men also face charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.
Williams Lake RCMP had been searching the Fraser River since Aug. 9 when Branton Regner went missing after an incident at the Rudy Johnson Bridge [PNG Merlin Archive]
Drynock’s brother Johnny, 25, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter two months ago for the fatal shooting of well-known Metro Vancouver gangster Birinderjeet Justin Bhangu on March 13, 2017.
The elder Drynock had also been facing a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of Bhangu, which took place in the busy parking lot of a Surrey hotel in the 8200-block of 166th Street.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Frits E. Verhoeven called the Bhangu murder “shocking and disturbing.”
“Mr. Drynock admits that he parked a vehicle outside the Comfort Inn and Suites in Surrey, B.C. He waited in that vehicle for Mr. Bhangu to arrive,” Verhoeven said. “Mr. Bhangu arrived in a vehicle and parked his car. Mr. Drynock exited his vehicle, and walked to the Bhangu vehicle. Using a handgun Mr. Drynock shot Mr. Bhangu through the window of the Bhangu vehicle several times, as Mr. Bhangu was seated in the driver’s seat. Mr. Drynock fled in his vehicle. Mr. Bhangu died of five gunshot wounds.”
Police released images of the suspect from a surveillance video. A correctional service employee and a probation officer identified Johnny Drynock as the suspect.
When Drynock was arrested a few weeks later at a hotel bar in Merritt, he was with his brother Michael.
“At the time of his arrest he was carrying a loaded handgun, which was a different handgun than the one used in the crime,” Verhoeven said. “Again, he was in a crowded public place. He also had other weapons in his possession at the bar. His possession of the firearm was in breach of a previous court order. Mr. Drynock has a previous conviction for manslaughter, as a youth.”
Verhoeven handed Drynock a 14-year sentence minus credit for time served for a net sentence of 10 years and nine months.
He noted that Drynock had a “difficult, dysfunctional, abusive, and troubled youth.”
“As the Crown indicates in its submissions, he is the victim of multi-generational abuse, and exposure to alcoholism and violence. These are all factors that must be taken into account by the court in relation to sentencing,” Verhoeven said. “No explanation has been offered by Mr. Drynock for the crime itself. In any event, I must recognize that none would be adequate. There has been no direct indication of remorse except as may perhaps be reflected in the guilty plea itself.”
He said also that “whether Mr. Drynock manages to rehabilitate himself, or whether he wastes the whole of his life is, of course, up to him.”
Michael Drynock is due to appear again in a Williams Lake courtroom Wednesday on his new charges.
Williams Lake RCMP Insp. Jeff Pelley said the murder investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 250-392-6211.