Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
January 24, 2020 - 3:28 PM
A man accused of selling a deadly mixture of drugs to three Merritt women in the summer of 2017 has been found not guilty by a Kamloops Supreme Court judge.
Timothy J. Meldrum was charged with one count of trafficking a controlled substance after three women nearly died after snorting what they believed to be cocaine, but turned out to be heroin laced with fentanyl and carfentanil, court heard today, Jan. 24.
On June 7, 2017, three women were drinking and decided to purchase cocaine while socializing in a private home. According to Justice Len Marchand, the three women purchased drugs on three separate occasions that day.
At about 1:30 p.m., the women decided to spilt a gram of cocaine three ways. A few hours later, the women decided to purchase more liquor and cocaine. They snorted another line, again approximately one gram and continued drinking.
At about midnight, the women decided to purchase more cocaine but this time they noticed the drugs appeared to be different and had a pinkish colour.
One of the women mentioned she didn’t want to consume the drugs, but did anyway.
Immediately, one of the women noticed she felt different.
The man who had sold the women the drugs came back to the house and said he wanted the drugs back, adding that he had given he women the wrong drugs.
When the women told Meldrum they had already consumed the drugs, he said “you are on your own” and ran out the door, Marchand said.
Not long after that, two of the women collapsed and the common-law spouse of one of the women called 911. Two of the women were revived with Naloxone and the third woman was revived by emergency personnel.
The issue at trial, according to Marchand, was whether or not Meldrum was the alleged drug dealer who sold the women the drugs due to the fact the witnesses at trial could not positively identify Meldrum as the drug dealer from a police photo lineup and they all had different descriptions of his physical appearance.
For all these reasons, Marchand concluded he is not sure Meldrum was the individual who sold the nearly fatal drugs to the three women and found him not guilty.
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