Three accused in murder of B.C. gangster want case tossed over delays

KELOWNA, B.C. — Three men accused in the shooting death of gangster Jonathan Bacon in front of a hotel in Kelowna, B.C., want the charges against them thrown out.

Defence lawyers for Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun applied for a stay of proceedings in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday based on delays following the murder six years ago.

The application stems from a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that said Superior Court trials should be wrapped up in 30 months from when charges were laid.

Bacon was killed in August 2011, and the trio was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in February 2013.

B.C. Supreme Court went into voir dire, or a trial within a trial, on Monday after the application was made so defence and Crown lawyers could make their arguments.

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The trial was originally set to get underway in April 2016, but was delayed several times. 

McBride, who periodically leafed through a spiral-bound stack of papers, was seated in the courtroom with Jones. The third accused, Khun-Khun, remained at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre due to a medical condition and appeared via video.

Bacon, a member of the Red Scorpion gang, was killed when a Porsche SUV he was in with four others was sprayed with bullets.

One of Bacon’s brother, Jamie Bacon, is awaiting his first-degree murder trial linked to the 2007 killings of six people in an apartment in Surrey, B.C.

Another brother, Jarrod Bacon, is at a halfway house after serving time in prison following a 2012 conviction on conspiracy to traffic cocaine. (Kelowna Daily Courier)

Steve MacNaull, Kelowna Daily Courier, The Canadian Press