Court told of bid to save dying gangster

Man who fled gunmen shooting at car near Kelowna hotel tells of returning to perform CPR on Jonathan Bacon

An instinct to flee quickly gave way to a desire to help for a witness caught up at the scene of a gangland killing in Kelowna.

Vaughn Smeltzer watched in disbelief as gunmen fired at several people inside a Porsche Cayenne near the front entrance of the Delta Grand hotel.

He turned to his companion, who was driving, and said: “We should get the hell out of here,” Smeltzer testified Thursday at the Jonathan Bacon murder trial.

Seconds later, after Smeltzer saw what he believed was the getaway vehicle speeding off, he had a change of heart.

“I looked at Diane and said, ‘There are people back there that probably need help, and we should get back there,’” testified Smeltzer, who has medical training.

He then described a gripping scene in which he quickly assessed the condition of people wounded in the attack and set to work trying to save the life of Bacon, who had been shot several times and lay on the ground.

Smeltzer rolled Bacon, who was bleeding heavily and struggling for breath, onto his back, and began CPR.

Smeltzer could see a large wound in Bacon’s chest where air was escaping from the lungs.

“I stuck my knee in there hoping to get the air (blocked),” Smeltzer testified.

Asked by Crown prosecutor Martin Nadon how much time elapsed before paramedics arrived, Smeltzer responded: “It felt like hours, (but) I’d say, probably eight to 10 minutes.”

Even after paramedics got to the hotel, Smeltzer kept performing CPR on Bacon, while the first responders tended to others hurt in the shooting. Smeltzer described the “craziness” of the situation with a growing crowd of bystanders, paramedics tending to the injured and police trying to secure the crime scene.

After 20-30 minutes, Smeltzer said, he stopped the procedure and let a paramedic take over attempts to resuscitate Bacon. Smeltzer then walked over to a fountain near the hotel’s main door and washed his hands of Bacon’s blood.

Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun are on trial for killing Bacon on Aug. 14, 2011. They have pleaded not guilty.

The three men are also charged with the attempted murder of Larry Amero, James Riach, Leah Hadden-Watts and Lyndsey Black, all of whom were in the Porsche.

Smeltzer had been driving near the Delta Grand hotel with his friend Diane Hofer. Smeltzer’s son, then 11, was in the back seat.

When Smeltzer went to perform CPR on Bacon, Hofer stayed in the car with the boy.

Defence attorney Justine Davidson praised Smeltzer for his level-headedness in responding to the situation and attempting to save Bacon’s life.

Because of its connections to gang activity, the trial is being held in a specially fortified room at the Kelowna courthouse.

Also Thursday, witness Scott Malcolm Bellinger said he was walking near the hotel’s entrance the afternoon Bacon was killed when his attention was drawn by loud bangs.

“I didn’t put it together it was gunshots because there were so many going off,” Bellinger said.

Bellinger went over to the Porsche and looked at the driver: “He was conscious. He was looking at me.”

Another witness, Marcia Jones, said she saw two masked, black-clad gunmen shooting at the Porsche. Jones said one of the gunmen then looked right at her before jumping into the getaway vehicle, which has been described as an SUV.

“I think I just sat there in stunned shock for a moment,” Jones said.

The trial continues next week.