(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
May 02, 2018 - 11:12 AM
KELOWNA – The three men accused of gunning down gang leader Jonathan Bacon in Kelowna seven years ago have been sentenced today.
In August 2011 Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun drove from the Lower Mainland to Kelowna to find the men they believed were responsible for murdering rival drug dealer Gurmit Dhak in Burnaby the year before, according to facts presented in court.
After learning that the Wolf Pack, as they were known, was staying at the Kelowna Delta Grand Hotel, they began to plan the murder.
At around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, 2011, McBride, Jones and Khun-Khun pulled up alongside the white Porsche Cayenne containing Bacon, Larry Amero, James Riach and two women, Leah Hadden-Watts and Lyndsey Black.
According to sentencing submissions heard in Kelowna Supreme Court yesterday, May 1, nearly one year after the start of trial, Justice Alan Betton heard that three weapons were fired at the Cayenne – one automatic assault rifle, a semi-automatic assault rifle and a 9 mm pistol.
Bacon died at the scene, one of the women was paralyzed when a bullet severed her spinal cord and Amero was shot in the cheek, chest and forearm but survived. Riach escaped unhurt.
The three suspects then ditched the guns and drove surface roads to Lake Country where they set their vehicle on fire before returning to the Lower Mainland.
They were arrested in February 2013 and held in custody ever since.
After nearly a year of trial, McBride pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Bacon and the attempted murder of Amero, Riach and the two women. Jones and Khun-Khun pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.
Betton accepted a joint submission.
McBride, who has 35 criminal convictions since 1990, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 18 years for second degree murder followed by another 15 years for attempted murder.
Jones and Khun-Khun were sentence to 18 years for their role in the planning.
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