The man murdered in a targeted hit on Spallin Avenue Tuesday night was the brother of Abbotsford NDP candidate Bonnie Rai.

Thirty-six-year-old Jaswant "Billy" Rai, was found dead near a car along the rural road just after midnight after Abbotsford Police received reports of multiple shots fired.

Rai's sister Bonnie ran locally as an NDP candidate in the latest provincial and federal elections.

At the time of his death, police said Billy Rai was known to them.

They did not go so far as to say his death was gang-related, but Rai's limited criminal record links him to gang associates within the crime world.

In 1996, Rai was charged with assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats, along with Balraj Duhre and Godwin Cheng. Rai and Cheng were convicted of uttering threats, and Duhre was convicted of assault causing bodily harm.

Duhre survived a number of gang hits. In the most recent, he and cousin Ravi Sahota were shot and injured in October 2005 while in a Vietnamese noodle house in East Hastings Street.

Duhre's brother Sandip Duhre, was believed to have been the target of a gangland-style shooting outside a Surrey convenience store in May the same year. Instead, 30-year-old Dean Mohamed Elshamy, was shot and killed.

In May of this year, the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force arrested and charged Aleksandar Radjenovic with plotting to kill Sandip and two other men.

Godwin Cheng, a Bacon brother's associate, was acquitted along with eldest Bacon brother Jonathan in July 2008 on gun and drug-trafficking charges.

Cheng is currently facing a number of weapons and drug charges stemming from a police raid on his home in 2005.

Rai, who got 90 days in jail for the threats conviction, had only racked up driving convictions until his death.

A mound of flower bouquets is growing at the scene of his death, with cards remembering him as a loving uncle.

Bonnie Rai could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

-with files from Dan Ferguson

rbaker@abbynews.com