Sophon Sek celebrates his win (photo courtesy of Canadian Press)
On Sunday night, poker player Sophon Sek was on top of the world. He beat out 680 other players to win the British Columbia Poker Championship, in Richmond, Canada. But before he could spend his $364,364 grand prize, Sek was arrested in connection with one of the most notorious gangland slayings in Canadian history.
The RCMP arrested him only hours after his victory, on charges related to the murder of six people, a crime commonly referred to as the "Surrey Six massacre". He is the sixth suspect charged in the crime, and faces manslaughter and break and enter charges.
The original murders are notorious both for the number of people killed, but also for the fact that they are believed to have set off a bloody gang-war in the area. It's unknown at this time what exactly Sek's alleged role in the crimes was, but an RCMP statement confirms that while the crimes he's charged with are less serious than some of the other alleged participants, he was arrested for his "connection to that fateful day".
