Trial set for Bacon murder

The long awaited trial for three men alleged to have shot and killed Jonathan Bacon will take place in 2016, almost five full years after the shooting took place.

Photo: Contributed

Jonathan Bacon was killed and four others injured when their SUV was sprayed with bullets in 2011.

The judge and jury trial is expected to begin April 4, 2016 and last up to six months. 

Bacon was killed in August 2011 when his Porsche Cayenne SUV was riddled with bullets outside the Delta Grand Hotel in Kelowna.

The suspected shooters, Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason Thomas McBridge and Michael Hunter Jones, have all been charged with murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.

Hells Angel Larry Amero was seriously wounded in the shooting, along with Independent Solider James Raich, who fled the scene with minor injuries. Two women were also caught up in the gunfire, including Leah Hadden-Watts, the niece of the Haney Hells Angel Chapter president. She was shot in the neck and paralyzed, and is now suing the three accused shooters, along with Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd (owners of Lake City Casino) and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (owners of the Delta Grand Hotel).

Witnesses at the time said a masked gunman fired multiple shots from an automatic weapon before fleeing in another vehicle, which was later found burned out in Lake Country.

Lawyers for the accused had tried to have the trial moved out of Kelowna to the Lower Mainland, but were unsuccessful.

The alleged shooters were arrested last year as part of a multi-jurisdictional investigation at locations across the country. Khun-Khun, 25 was arrested in Surrey, Jones, 25 was arrested in Toronto, and McBride, 37, was arrested in Vancouver.