(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA – The trial for three accused in the broad daylight, gangland murder of Johathan Bacon in front of the Delta Grand Okanagan in 2011 is one for five major cases making their way through the court system in Kelowna court this year. 

In the summer of 2011, Jonathan Bacon was shot and killed in his vehicle in front of the hotel on Water Street. Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones are each charged with murder and attempted murder. The trial is expected to begin in this fall.

On April 1, 2014, the body of Amy Jane Parkes, 35, was found just before 10 a.m. inside mobile home #8 in the 3700-block of Lakeshore Road. After failing to show up for work, colleagues called police to look into her welfare. Police first called the death suspicious before declaring it a homicide. Ryan James Quigley was arrested two days later in a residence on Coronation Avenue and charged with second degree murder. His case is currently in pretrial in Kelowna.

Kevin McNally, a 45-year-old West Kelowna man, died in hospital after being stabbed in the chest during a fight at a home on Solar Road April 29, 2015. Jose Amestica, 51, was originally arrested and charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was upgraded to second degree murder. Pretrial has begun in Kelowna Supreme Court and a decision is expected sometime this summer.

On June 14, 2015, a 62-year-old Kelowna man was arrested and charged with the second-degree murder of Warren Welters, 51. Welters body was found inside his home on Bernard Avenue and although Daniel Ruff has been before a judge several times this spring, he is yet to stand trial.

After a quiet February, a Kelowna man was fatally stabbed in Rutland at around 9:45 p.m. on March 11. Waylon Percy Junior Jackson, 26, was found in a pool of blood in the 100-block of Gerstmar Road and taken to hospital in critical condition. He died shortly after. RCMP arrested Chad Colton Alphonse, 26, a short distance from the scene of the stabbing. Alphonse's family says he and Jackson were friends and it was a fight that got out of control. Alphonse is facing a charge of second-degree murder and first appeared in Kelowna provincial court March 14. A trial date has not been set.

Arrests have been made in fewer than half the 11 homicides in Kelowna since 2011.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2016