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With his manslaughter sentence, Drynock will be eligible for full parole after serving one-third of his term, or about three and half more years.

Another charge Drynock was facing in Merritt for possession of a firearm contrary to an order was also stayed on Friday.

But he is still before the courts on an aggravated assault charge related to an incident last August while he was in jail. The other accused in that case, Harinam Cox, was convicted in April 2019 of manslaughter, kidnapping, unlawful confinement, extortion and aggravated assault in a violent home invasion that left two people dead.

Drynock and Cox are scheduled to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Aug. 6.

As for Bhangu’s murder, Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said police are satisfied with the guilty plea and sentence.

“Manslaughter is what he got and we accept that. I can add that the investigation is ongoing,” Jang said.

Bhangu’s killer was captured on video surveillance cameras focused on the hotel parking lot walking up to his victim’s parked Acura MDX and blasting away about 2:24 p.m.

Bhangu had parked in front of the hotel in the 8200-block of 166th St. just two minutes earlier.

Drynock then got back into a Nissan Pathfinder and fled. The SUV was found in Kelowna the next day.

At the time, IHIT Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound said the killer had no regard for the safety of others in the area.

“This was a shooting in broad daylight in an area where families and community members frequent,” she said. “It was a very, very busy day and there is an arena right across the street, so there is kids and families frequenting this area morning and night.”

Bhangu, 29, had links to some of the gang violence that was going on across the Lower Mainland at the time. He had a criminal record dating back more than a decade of driving offences, property crimes and drug trafficking.

But his family released a statement calling him “a very loving, respectful and warm-hearted individual who did not deserve to be taken from us so soon in this horrendous way.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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