Three young men have been ordered to stand trial in the murder of 19-year-old Nicholas Hannon of Walnut Grove.
Connor Angus Campbell, 21, Bradley Michael Flaherty, 20, and Keith William Tankard, 20, were arrested September 2015 and charged with first-degree murder. They have been in custody since their arrest.
A preliminary inquiry was held last week in Surrey Provincial Court, where a judge ordered the trio to stand trial.
They are scheduled to appear next in Supreme Court in New Westminster on July 28 to set a date.
Hannon was last seen by his younger brother at their Walnut Grove home on the evening of Feb. 26, 2014.
The next day, his abandoned vehicle was found in the 10400 block of McKinnon Crescent, at Derby Reach Park.
At the time, RCMP called his disappearance suspicious and Hannon’s family offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his safe return.
Despite his father Craig’s emotional public pleas to bring his son home, as well as hiring a private searcher with blood hounds, Hannon’s disappearance remained a mystery for more than a year and half.
Following the September long weekend last year, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team called a press conference to announce they had made three arrests and recovered Hannon’s body.
IHIT Sgt. Jennifer Pound said the body of the missing teen was discovered in a heavily wooded area near Mission. Police were able to recover his body after the three men were arrested.
Sgt. Pound said the three accused were friends of Hannon.
Investigators believe Hannon died as a result of a conflict that “turned violent, and ultimately deadly,” Pound said at the time.
Craig Hannon said the three accused had been welcomed into the family home on many occasions.
“We are devastated and we feel betrayed.”
“Three young men who were welcomed in our home on many, many occasions have been charged to the highest degree with taking the life of a wonderful brother, a loving uncle and an incredible son,” he said.
One of the accused, Campbell, gained further media attention after it was learned that both his parents are members of the RCMP.
Campbell’s mother is former Cpl. Catherine Galliford, who was the RCMP spokesperson during several high-profile cases, including the Robert Pickton investigation and Air India. She sued the RCMP for sexual and workplace harassment. In May, she accepted a settlement from the RCMP. The accused’s father is a high-ranking Sgt. Major with the RCMP.