Witness didn’t disclose all his crimes, trial told

Former friend of 1 of 3 men accused of killing Jonathan Bacon agreed to testify in exchange for limited immunity deal

A key witness in the Jonathan Bacon murder trial admitted Thursday he wasn’t very close to one of the alleged killers in the months before the shooting.

The witness said he was friendly with Michael Jones in 2010, but the relationship waned the following year.

“Not so much, no,” the witness said under cross-examination when asked by defence counsel if there was much contact between himself and Jones in 2011.

The witness also admitted he had not told police about all the crimes he’d committed before striking a limited immunity deal that led to his agreeing to testify at Bacon’s murder trial, being heard in Kelowna.

These unacknowledged crimes, court heard, included arranging a break-in, receiving money he knew to be the proceeds of crime, drug offences and offering bribes to police.

“These are all crimes that you never told the police about?” defence counsel asked the witness.

“Correct,” said the witness, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban.

It was in June 2016 that the witness began talking to police about what he knew about Jones, one of three men charged with murdering Bacon outside the Delta Grand hotel on Aug. 14, 2011.

Under cross-examination, the witness said he offered more details of his years-long relationship with Jones, which included many criminal activities, on subsequent meetings with police.

“It was a span of many years. I tried to remember everything I could,” the witness said.

However, the witness said he couldn’t recall the specific dates of crimes, such as rip-offs of marijuana growing operations, that he had earlier testified he’d engaged in with Jones.

On Tuesday, the witness said Jones had told him he had burned his own Ford Explorer.

A Ford Explorer used as the getaway vehicle after Bacon’s murder was found torched in Lake Country.

Under cross-examination, the witness was asked if anyone else was present when Jones made this statement in an underground parking garage. He said he couldn’t recall.

Jones, Jason McBride and Jujhar Khun-Khun are charged with firstdegree murder and four counts of attempted murder.

The trial continues.