The MacLauchlan
group’s other lawyer, as has been briefly mentioned here before, was Nick
Mussallem (younger brother of former Social Credit MLA George Mussallem of
Maple Ridge and son of a long time Haney mayor, Solomon Mussallem.).
Of Lebanese descent Nick Mussallem
no doubt had a significant reputation as a barrister. For example, about a
decade previous to defending MacLauchlan, Cunningham and Sperling at the
preliminary hearing, Nick Mussallem had played a role in two other very high-profile
judicial situations during the 1950s – first the Tupper Inquiry into corruption
in the Vancouver City Police when Chief Walter Mulligan was investigated for
taking bribes, and, second, the several-year judicial proceedings (a public
inquiry and a trial) against Social
Credit Forests Minister Robert Sommers during the mid-1950s when Sommers, along
with several other men, was implicated in a bribe-taking scandal.
Regarding the Sommers trial,
which was presided over by Chief Justice J. O. Wilson, Mussallem acted at some
points in the trial in concert with another well known British Columbia jurist,
East Vancouver-born Angelo Branca, one of the city’s best known criminal
lawyers, who later went on to sit on the BC Supreme Court. One of Mussallem’s
successes in the early part of the process was to get permission for Sommers to
sit in the Legislature while the preliminary hearing (run by Magistrate Oscar
Orr) was underway. It is unlikely that such a situation would prevail today –
an MLA facing serious criminal charges being allowed to take his seat in the
Legislature.
Like
his brother George, Nick Mussallem had political ambitions. However, his were
less successful. When he ran for the Liberal Party in the riding of Vancouver
Burrard in the provincial election of 1963 both he and his NDP opponent, Tom
Berger, (who, as mentioned above, defended Sperling after the MacLauchlans had
been murdered) were defeated by Social Credit Party candidates. (Vancouver
Burrard was a two-member riding). Nick Mussallem was appointed to the BC
Provincial Court in July 1971.
As
usual Ken and I are seeking information from anyone who may have had personal
knowledge of Nick Mussallem. We understand he had a son and we are hoping that
son may recall anecdotes of his father’s cases and give us some details about
the MacLauchlan case. But we need to find the son first. Any assistance in this
search will be greatly appreciated.
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