Stan Noniewicz says he can't figure out why someone would try to kill his son, Richard. (CBC)

The father of a man whose ex-wife is accused of plotting to have him killed says the two were involved in a vicious and lengthy custody battle over their son.

Vancouver police said Friday they had foiled an alleged plot by Liza Joylene Belcourt, 32, of Surrey, B.C., to hire two people to kill her ex-husband, Richard Noniewicz.

Belcourt, Jordon Joseph Doiron, 23, of Port Coquitlam and David Dean Laidlaw, 39, of Langley have all been arrested.

All three were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit murder and were scheduled to appear in court Friday for a bail hearing.

Noniewicz's father, Stan Noniewicz, said his son and Belcourt split up in 2006, sparking disputes around property, business and custody of their son.

The disputes have carried on for years, Stan Noniewicz said, taking a toll on his son.

"Most of the money he's been making has been going to lawyers, to the point where it's bankrupted the company and my boy's not working now."

Despite the animosity, Noniewicz said he's trying to understand why someone would want his son dead.

"I didn't figure it was going to go this far. I wasn't expecting that," he said.

"I figure there is a lot of usual hate and discontent in any divorce, in any split up, but I didn't think anybody would quite carry it this far," he said.

Contract hit foiled, police say

Vancouver police Insp. Brad Desmarais said investigators foiled a woman's plot to hire two people to kill her ex-husband. (CBC)

At a media briefing Friday, police said it appears Belcourt had only peripheral links to gangs before allegedly hiring the two hit men with gang connections to kill her ex-husband in August.

Insp. Brad Desmarais of the Vancouver Police Department's gangs and drug section said it's common for gangsters to hire contract killers to get rid of their rivals.

"I think it is less well known that these gang hit men can be also hired by members of the public, who may have only peripheral gang connections themselves, but do harbour a death wish for someone else," Desmarais said.

The anti-gang squad learned of the alleged plot and began an intense investigation involving 50 members of the Vancouver Police Department, the B.C. Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and the West Vancouver Police Department.

Richard Noniewicz was badly shaken when he learned of the alleged plan and an elaborate safety plan was put in place by police to ensure he was safe, said Desmarais.

He said the investigation has also led to breaks in other investigations.

"This conspiracy investigation has yielded leads which have caused us to refocus our investigative resources on a series of shootings earlier this year, which left a number of people with significant life-altering injuries," he said.

"I can promise you today, as we have in the past, that more arrests are coming and more gangsters will be going down," said Desmarais.