Beads linked men to gang boss, Bacon trial hears

Two of the three men accused of killing gangster Jonathan Bacon had beads associating them with the gang leader who allegedly ordered the hit on the gangsters with Bacon at the time of the shooting, a Kelowna court heard Wednesday.

Jason McBride, Jujhar KhunKhun and Michael Jones are on trial for the murder of Bacon and the attempted murder of Hells Angel Larry Amero and two women who were also in a Porsche Cayenne that was shot up the afternoon of Aug. 14, 2011, outside the Delta Grand hotel in downtown Kelowna.

James Riach was also in the car, but he escaped unhurt.

Sukh Dhak, who was killed in 2012, is accused of ordering the hit on Amero and Riach, whom he blamed for the killing of his brother, Gurmit Dhak, in 2010.

A former member of Sukh’s gang is currently a witness in this trial. He cannot be named due to a publication ban.

Members of the Dhak Group had sets of beads, given to them by either Gurmit or Sukh, said the witness.

“It was mainly Gurm’s crew that had them,” he said.

“Jay (McBride) had a set. Sukh had a set. When Gurm was alive, the only guy in our little crew that had beads was Sukh.

“After Gurm died, Sukh started giving them to his crew ... just certain guys.”

The witness described the beads as gold balls with Chinese writing. The sets of beads cost about $5,000 to $6,000 each, he said.

“Most of the guys had them way before me, then me and Manny (Hairan) wanted them and Sukh knew we wanted them, so he used that (and) he made us work harder for them, ” said the witness.

Sukh also gave a set of the beads to Khun-Khun, said the witness.

The witness described going to help McBride a week before the shooting when McBride’s SUV broke down in Kelowna.

When he arrived, the witness said three people were there, including McBride, whom he referred to as Jay, a woman and another man he described as being darker skinned.

“I’d seen him with Jay before,” said the witness, adding the man was wearing beads,

The witness said he saw McBride with a gun. “The door was open and (McBride) was leaning forward ... I don’t know what he was doing, I just remember him leaning over and I could just see a gun in his pants underneath his shirt,” he said.

The trial continues.