Login / RegisterJamie Bacon gets separate trial in high-profile murder case
B.C.'s criminal justice branch has announced that one of the Bacon brothers will be tried separately in one of the so-called Surrey Six killings on October 19, 2007.
In a statement issued today, the branch declared that James Kyle Bacon is charged with first-degree murder of Corey Lal. He's also charged with conspiring with one or more or four others—Cody Rae Haevischer, Matthew James Johnston, Quang Vinh Thang Le, Dennis Karbovanec, and Anton Hooites-Meursing to murder Lal.
Haevischer and Johnston are charged with first degree murder in the deaths of Lal, Michael Lal, Ryan Bartolomeo, Christopher Mohan, Edward Narong, and Ed Schellenberg. Mohan, a resident of Balmoral Tower, and Schellenberg, a fireplace repairman, were considered innocent victims who were in the wrong place when the gangland killings occurred.
"Separate trials will enable Mr. Bacon to bring applications in relation to issues involving only Mr. Bacon, including issues like solicitor client privilege, that were raised before Mr. Justice McEwan in Mr. Bacon's civil (habeas corpus) proceeding," the branch wrote. "Proceeding in this way will allow the trial of the other three accused to proceed without being affected by issues which only involve Mr. Bacon."
In 2010, McEwan ruled that Surrey Pretrial Centre officials violated Bacon's right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment after he was kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and not given sufficient access to legal counsel.
There is no information in the criminal justice branch statement about the possible financial impact of the decision to hold a separate trial or the effect it might have on witnesses.
