We will learn Wednesday morning whether B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton will accept a joint sentencing submission for three gangsters who’ve admitted a role in the 2011 Jonathan Bacon murder case.
Crown and defence lawyers for Jason McBride, Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones were in negotiations for weeks on how to bring the long-running prosecution to a close. The accused agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges – McBride to second-degree murder and attempted murder, while Jones and Khun-Khun have admitted their conspired to kill Bacon, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach.
The joint sentence recommendation is that McBride serve 18 years (minus 5 years pre-trial credit) before being eligible for parole on his life sentence, while Jones and Khun-Khun would get 18 years for the conspiracy minus pre-trial credit at a rate of 1.5 days for every day served for a net sentence each of about 10 years.
Here’s my full story:
Guilty pleas in 2011 gangland shooting that shook Kelowna
KELOWNA — Three men who brought gangland terror to downtown Kelowna pleaded guilty Tuesday for their roles in the brazen 2011 execution of Red Scorpion boss Jonathan Bacon.
Prosecutor David Ruse said the retaliatory attack targeting Bacon, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach was made worse by where and how it happened — in front of the Delta Grand Hotel around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2011.
“It is difficult to imagine a more public place to attempt this murder than the entranceway of a large resort hotel in a tourist city in the middle of summer on a sunny Sunday day,” Ruse told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton.
Ruse described how Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun hunted their rivals for more than two months, pulling together crews of hitmen on a moment’s notice after getting encrypted messages about the possible whereabouts of their targets.
The driving force behind the murder plot was the late Sukh Dhak. He believed Bacon, Amero and Riach were responsible for the murder of his gangster brother Gurmit, gunned down in front of his family outside of Burnaby’s Metrotown Mall in October 2010.
“Sukh Dhak and other members of the Dhak group, came to believe that rival drug traffickers Larry Amero, James Riach and Jonathan Bacon, collectively known as the Wolf Pack, were responsible for the murder of Gurmit Dhak,” Ruse said. “As a result, members of the Dhak group sought to retaliate against the Wolf Pack and their associates.”
McBride was a close associate of Gurmit Dhak. Jones was McBride’s friend. Khun-Khun was a close ally of Sukh Dhak, Ruse said.
All three had originally been charged in 2013 with first-degree murder. After weeks of negotiations between Crown and their lawyers, a deal was struck for each to plead guilty to lesser charges.
Standing in the prisoner’s box Tuesday, McBride admitted he was guilty of second-degree murder and attempted murder for fatally shooting Bacon and wounding four others when he opened fire on their Porsche Cayenne.
Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for driving McBride and two other killers to the Delta Grand Hotel that day. And Khun-Khun also admitted he conspired from June 1 to Aug. 14, 2011 to kill Bacon, Amero and Riach.
Ruse told Betton there was also a joint prosecutor-defence submission on sentencing. Under the agreement, which Betton must still approve, McBride would receive a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 18 years, minus credit for five years in pre-trial custody. Khun-Khun and Jones would also get 18 years minus credit for time served for a net sentence of about 10 years.
Betton adjourned the proceedings until Wednesday morning when he will hand down the sentences.
There was extra security at the Kelowna Law Courts for Tuesday’s proceedings. Anti-gang police with a sniffer dog checked bushes and garbage cans outside the building. There were extra sheriffs both outside and inside.
Outside court, Crown spokesman Dan McLaughlin said the “plea resolution arrived at today reflects a frank and a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the case.”
He said the Crown recognized there were credibility issues with some of the witnesses who were previous associates of the accused. And the Crown was also concerned “with the ongoing delay in this case,” McLaughlin said.
“The resolution today brings a certainty and finality to the proceedings,” he said.
Ruse read a lengthy agreed statement of facts laying out the events both before and after the shooting.
He said Khun-Khun went out hunting “on approximately 30 to 40 occasions to locations primarily in Vancouver and Coquitlam in an effort to locate the targets.”
He went past places he believed Amero, Bacon and Riach were staying. He checked out nightclubs, bars and restaurants. He collected vehicle descriptions and plate numbers, Ruse said.
“The stalking and intelligence gathering was undertaken knowing that the information obtained would likely be used to determine the optimal time and place for the ambush and killing of one or all of the targets,” Ruse said.
Both McBride and Jones travelled to the Okanagan weeks before the shooting, in an unsuccessful bid to kill Amero and Riach, “who they had reason to believe were visiting the City of Kelowna.”
But they got lucky on night of Aug. 13 when Sukh Dhak got an encrypted message that the three were in Kelowna staying at the Delta Grand Hotel.
About 11 p.m., McBride and Jones left Vancouver for the Okanagan. They got into town just before 4 a.m. and parked across from the hotel’s main entrance.
Khun-Khun also left the Lower Mainland for Kelowna, traveling with Manjinder Hairan — one of the shooters who was later killed before he was charged in the Bacon murder.
Sukh Dhak was in communication with several other associates in the wee hours of Aug. 14. Several of them ended up cooperating with the Crown. Their names are covered by a publication ban.
The Dhak hunters checked pubs, nightclubs and biker clubhouses before spotting Amero’s boat — named Steroids and Silicone — moored behind the Delta Grand. It was about 4 a.m. They knew they were closing in on their targets.
The hunters split into two groups and went to sleep for a few hours before meeting up the next morning and resuming their post near the hotel.
Amero, Bacon, Riach and two women with them — Leah Hadden-Watts and Lyndsey Black — checked out of the hotel about 12:20 p.m. to go for a short boat ride. The valet parked the Porsche in front of the hotel and loaded up the group’s luggage.
“At approximately 2:37 p.m., the Amero party began boarding the Porsche Cayenne,” Ruse said.
Amero was driving, Bacon was in the front passenger’s seat, Riach was behind Amero, with Hadden-Watts in the rear middle and Black behind Bacon.
A minute later, a Ford Explorer driven by Jones entered the hotel driveway and parked near the Cayenne, Ruse said.
Someone in the rear started firing an assault rifle at the Amero vehicle. McBride and Hairan — both with their faces covered — jumped out of the Explorer and continued to shoot.
Ruse showed the surveillance video of the terrifying scene, with people nearby scrambling for cover. Bacon could be seen falling out of the vehicle, as Riach jumped out his side.
Amero’s right arm was paralyzed. Hadden-Watts was hit in the neck and paralyzed. Black was also struck. Riach escaped injury.
“Pay attention to the number of bystanders that are present. This is not an unusual circumstance for this hotel on a sunny Sunday day. There are people arriving, leaving. There are employees, valet staff, taxis arriving with individuals. There are people walking their dogs. There are people walking by,” Ruse said.