Drug lord guilty in Markham man's death

"I HAVE CHOSEN TO PAINT THE LIFE OF MY PEOPLE AS I KNOW AND FEEL IT--PASSIONATELY AND DISPASSIONATELY. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE ARTIST IDENTIFY WITH THE SELF-RELIANCE,HOPE AND COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE ABOUT HIM,FOR ART MUST ALWAYS GO WHERE ENERGY IS."

--ROMARE BEARDON

Drug lord guilty in Markham man's death 

TRACY MCLAUGHLIN

Lenworth “Blue” Spence was the man who ordered the execution of Jonathan Chambers, a judge found Friday.

BARRIE - A drug lord was found guilty of the kidnapping and cold-blooded execution of Jonathan Chambers Friday.
Lenworth “Blue” Spence, 31, of Brampton looked solemn as the judge read off his lengthy reasons before he announced the guilty verdict in the first-degree murder trial. Sitting at the back of the court room, his friends — one whom assisted in the beating of Chambers before he was shot, shook their heads in dismay while one female wept.
“Don’t cry, at least I’m still alive,” whispered Spence from the prisoner’s box before police officers took him away. He will be sentenced Nov. 1.
The judge found that it was Spence who ordered the execution of Chambers March 7, 2007.
Chambers, 21, of Markham, was the middle man who helped set up a $50,000 cocaine deal but two men named Wolf and Bounty sent Chambers to Spence with a stack of fake cash.
Embarrassed and enraged after being duped, Spence and his cronies held Chambers captive and beat him through the night, then drove him to a desolate road north of Barrie.
He was ordered to kneel in the snow and shot five times while Spence coolly sat in the car and watched.
During the lengthy trial that began last March, court heard from high level drug dealers and gun traffickers who supply cocaine to Toronto and surrounding cities as far north as Huntsville. They went only by nicknames, owned several cellphones under false names and rolled in big money. One by one, they pointed fingers at each other as the trial unfolded.
While the defence tried to prove that the cocaine belonged to another drug dealer and Spence was just helping out, the judged scoffed at that theory.
“Drug dealers do not farm out their drug deals to their buddies,” said Justice Peter Howden. “Because in this business, trust is a rare commodity.”
He described Spence as a kind of “drug lord to be obeyed,” and the mentally challenged Andrew Turner, who earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter, did the shooting at Spence’s behest.
Outside of court, the Chambers family fell into each other’s arms and wept uncontrollably.
“This judge was a tough judge,” said mother Nancy Logan-Chambers, wiping tears from her eyes. “But he did the right thing.”
At her side, Jonathan’s father, Devon, had mixed feelings as he smiled with relief one moment, and the next frowned as if in deep pain.
“The judge did the right thing,” Devon said. “I waited for this moment. But at the end of the day, my boy is still not coming home.”