Mandy Frost desperately wants justice.
It’s closing in on five years since the Surrey woman’s spouse Gordon Spencer, and cousin, ‘Lil’ Bruce Mayo, were gunned down in a home in Langley, and to date no one has been charged in connection with their murders.
On June 23, 2012 at 2:30 a.m., Langley RCMP responded to a 911 call about a domestic dispute at a rented home in the 6400 block of Glover Road.
When they arrived, five people were standing outside the home and the inside had been heavily doused with bear spray.
Spencer, 27, and Mayo, 25, were found in the home.
Spencer had already died from gunshot wounds.
Mayo was critically injured. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, but died days later.
Five people were arrested at the scene, four men and one woman, believed to be between the ages of 17 to 22 years old. They were interviewed and released without charges.
Roughly three weeks after the shootings, the home where the murders happened burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances, said Langley RCMP.
With the five-year anniversary of the murders approaching, the victims’ families continue to be frustrated.
“It’s been years and it seems like IHIT (Integrated Homicide Investigation Team) has been careless about the investigation,” said Frost.
IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Meghan Foster said the file is still active and no charges have been laid to date.
“Files do remain active unless they are cleared by a charge, or if the accused is not criminally responsible,” Foster said. “It is still ongoing and typically in our investigations, we continue to follow up with leads should any arise, no matter how long after the fact that the investigation has initially occurred.”
Children left wondering
Spencer left behind Frost and their three children, now seven, 11, and 13 years old.
Frost said their daughter recently asked her, “why the person who murdered her daddy isn’t in jail.”
The emotional scars on the family are still evident, Frost said.
“My son is still emotionally distant since his father’s death, mostly because he doesn’t understand; nobody does,” Frost said. “My son has seen a psychologist this past year due to issues he has had since the murder of his dad and cousin, Bruce.”
She said the family needs closure as well as answers and wants to bring the story back to the forefront, “so maybe the investigation will get the effort it deserves.”
“They were good men with families and children and friends who love them — not criminals murdered whose lives were unimportant,” Frost said.
“Their death shouldn’t be slipped under a rug,” Frost continued.
Final goodbye
The night she saw Spencer alive for the final time is etched in Frost’s memory.
“He said, ‘I love you,’ and ‘bye,’ and that’s the last time I saw him,” Frost said.
They had been together for nine years and had planned on getting married the following year.
Frost admits Spencer had a criminal past, but says he was working to stay on the straight and narrow leading up to his death.
“It (had) been three years since he was released from jail and in any kind of trouble,” Frost said. “He was doing everything right. He was working and was always home with his family. He was a great dad and he’d give you the shirt off his back.
“Obviously, there was stuff I didn’t know. But he was doing everything right and that’s what makes it so hard to believe that this happened.”
Frost continues to suffer emotionally.
“I get a reoccurring nightmare; I can’t stay at friends’ houses because I cry in my sleep and call his name,” Frost said.
“A lot of it has to do with (lack of) closure.”
