Gang leader’s killer gets life without parole

KELOWNA — A man who admitted to killing a British Columbia gang leader in August 2011 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for 18 years.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton sentenced Jason McBride on Wednesday for the second-degree murder of Jonathan Bacon.

McBride is to serve a consecutive 15-year sentence for the attempted murder of four others who were inside a vehicle peppered with over three dozen shots.

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Special Enforcement Unit said the six-year investigation into the murder “was one of the largest and most complex in B.C.’s history,” with policing costs of over $9 million.

“Today will hopefully bring a form of closure to all those adversely impacted by the violence that took place here,” she said outside court on Wednesday.

Betton also sentenced two other men who admitted to planning the murder to 18 years in prison, minus credit for time they already served while awaiting trial.

Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to murder Bacon, Hells Angel Larry Amero and James Riach, who the court heard was a member of the Independent Soldiers gang.

Bacon, Amero, Riach and two women were in a Porsche Cayenne in a busy tourist area in Kelowna when masked gunmen riddled the vehicle with bullets. One of the women was left paralyzed in the shooting.

Bacon was the oldest of three brothers with links to the Red Scorpion gang, police said.