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ALDERGROVE Your Hometown Community Newspaper for over 56 Years
| Thursday, April 30, 2015
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Aldergrove Youth Spring Soccer Fun!
Page 3: Striking Back at the ‘Bullies’
PAGE 15
Stepping Lightly for Dance Festival
Jury finds Butorac guilty of murder By MONIQUE TAMMINGA Aldergrove Star
BOAZ JOSEPH PHOTO
Members of Studio One Dance Centre of Aldergrove perform ‘Her’ in the Group Modern category (age 14) on the final weekend of the 49th annual Surrey Festival of Dance on April 25.
For the love of dance, never give up By BRENDA ANDERSON Aldergrove Star
From roles in music videos to dancing live on stage, working alongside the likes of Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams and the Far East Movement has given Mao Kawakami a resumé that reads like a who’s who of the hip hop world. Not bad for a 22-year-old from Langley, who packed up and headed for Hollywood while the ink on her high school diploma was still
drying. Originally from Japan, Kawakami, 22, moved to Langley in Grade 10 after taking summer school courses here and developing a fondness for the community. Having studied only classical ballet in Japan, Kawakami decided to branch out once she’d moved to Canada, and joined Kick It Up A Notch Academy of Dance in Aldergrove. For the next two years, she
trained in a range of styles, from musical theatre to jazz, ballet, contemporary dance and, of course, hip hop. After graduating from Langley Secondary in 2011, she grabbed her tights and leotards and headed south. In Los Angeles, Kawakami attended college — finishing a degree in psychology — while continuing to train and audition for jobs.
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Of course, simply being at the epicentre of the entertainment industry does not guarantee success. “There are always more no’s than yes’s,” said the Langley dancer. But that’s not an excuse to throw in the towel, she added. “Never give up — I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.” For Kawakami, persistence paid off when she earned a role in the SEE: Page 5
A B.C. Supreme Court jury has found Davey Butorac guilty of murdering Langley City sex trade worker Sheryl Korroll. The jury began deliberating Monday and returned with its verdict in court in New Westminster on Wednesday. Butorac, 36, will be back before a judge to fix a date for his sentencing for second degree murder on May 21. This is the second time Butorac has been convicted of Korroll’s murder. In 2010, a jury found Butorac guilty of the second-degree murder of 46-year-old Gwendolyn Jo Lawton in March of 2007 in Abbotsford. He was also convicted at the same trial of second-degree murder in Koroll’s death. A judge sentenced him to life in prison with a no chance of parole for 23 years. Butorac appealed the convictions, and won new and separate trials for the murders of Korroll and Lawton. No trial date has been set for the trial on the Lawton murder. Butorac will also be going to trial, charged with the 2006 murder of Aldergrove’s Margaret Redford. The 47-year-old’s body was found in Bertrand Creek, blocks from where Butorac lived with his father. Both those cases are linked to Butorac through DNA as well. No trial date has been set for the Redford case. No motive has ever been made public at the two trials Butorac has already been through. His parents have written letters to the courts, saying he is a loving son. He has no criminal background. He has never had any real employment. Korroll’s body was found dumped at a concrete plant in Langley City on July 7, 2007. The 50-year-old small-framed woman lived with her elderly parents at the time of her death. The court learned she had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for 20 years. SEE: Page 3
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