Sat. April 15 - Island teen's killer gets 20 years without parole

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning !

We’re proud to deliver you the news every morning, although sometimes the reality is that we’ll be covering unpleasant things. That’s the case with today’s updates on the case of a murdered Island teen and the toxic drug crisis (although we have some positive news and events, too).

It was also the case last year when we covered the shootout in Saanich and allegations of mistreatment at Royal Jubilee. I’m proud to say that we’re nominated tonight for two national awards for those stories.

There’s only so much you can celebrate an honour that is so tied to misfortune, but our job when these things happen is to report them to you as accurately and thoroughly as we can. This recognition by our peers is one sign that we’ve done that, but the most important measurement of our work will always be that you folks continue to take time during your day to read it.

Thank you for your support.

NEWS

Life in prison, without parole for 20 years, for Nanaimo teen’s killer

Steven Michael Bacon, 63, has been given a life sentence for the 2017 second-degree murder of Nanaimo’s Makayla Chang, 16, and will have no parole eligibility for 20 years. The 20 years was submitted by both Crown counsel and the defence. After pleading guilty on Aug. 15 last year, Bacon’s minimum was at least 10 years without parole.

Teen was strangled after argument, per court facts

The case details were revealed at sentencing and are summarized here by Nanaimo News Now. [Note: Some may be disturbing] Bacon met Chang in mid-2016 and became a father figure to her—at points saying he wanted to adopt her—and she sometimes stayed with him. In early 2017 they had disputes, and during one in March Bacon strangled Chang. He texted from her phone afterward to deter suspicion and was looked at as a person of interest, but not a suspect, by RCMP. He changed his appearance and left Nanaimo. Chang’s body was found in May in a rural shallow grave, with some evidence of sexual intercourse on the day she died, near to a flashlight and shirt that had Bacon’s DNA.

Killer was located in Ontario after separate arrest

In Aug. 2019, Nanaimo RCMP put out a Canada-wide call to find and question Bacon. The next winter he was arrested in Ontario for four unrelated charges, including sexual assault and incest, from alleged 1996-2004 incidents. He was then charged in Sept. 2020 with the first-degree murder of Chang, and pleaded not guilty. There would have been a late-2022 trial, but that was prevented by the second-degree plea, which carried a lower minimum time without parole.

By Cam Welch

Capital Bulletin

🌧️ Today’s weather: Cloudy with a 60% chance of showers throughout the day, and showers forecasted for the evening. High 9C / low 3C.

📗 Victoria Book Prize: Submissions are now being accepted for City of Victoria’s the $5,000 Butler Book Prize and $5,000 Children’s Book Prize. Local authors can apply before May 19.

🔎 RCMP seek missing woman Niina Hupponen, who was last seen en route from Nanaimo to Victoria on Feb. 23. [Photo]

NEWS

Capital Daily up for two CAJ awards tonight

Tonight in Vancouver we’ll be attending the national awards gala for the Canadian Association of Journalists. Capital Daily is nominated for two awards:

Daily Excellence award: ‘A hail of bullets’: Witnesses describe Shelbourne Street armed robbery and police shootout

Last June we drew on the full team to cover one of the region’s most shocking events in years. The story covered the details and aftermath of the Saanich shootout, which left two gunmen dead and multiple officers injured, as well as the public’s experience at homes and daycares nearby. Read the original story here and our follow-up coverage here.

Online Media award: Dumped at the bus stop: Royal Jubilee Hospital patients and employees say racial discrimination is harming people in need of care

In this Oct. story, one of many health system investigations by Brishti Basu, allegations of racism and mistreatment at the Royal Jubilee ER were made by several locals. They were people from various walks of life, including patients (one of whom also worked at an Island hospital), a neighbour who said he frequently saw still-in-need patients left at the bus stop, and a former employee who said he quit due to what he witnessed.

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Don’t miss out!

Capital Picks

⚽ Pacific FC home opener: Greater Victoria’s soccer team hosts its new younger sibling, Vancouver FC (which has the same ownership group), at 4pm today in Langford. [Tickets]

🔊 JPOD at Capital Ballroom: Pizza Party Productions presents this night of funk, house, D&B, and bass with a cast of BC DJs such as JPOD, Civillian, Mt. Doyle, and Good, You? Tickets start at $25 / doors 9pm.

🥸 Experience Mozart’s masterpiece Così fan tutte. Apr. 16 matinee, or Apr. 18 for its last showing at the Royal Theatre. Tickets from $29 at PacificOpera.ca or 250.385.0222.*

🤖 Victoria's Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair: Cosplay, buying-and-selling, charity fundraising, food trucks, and more and the twice-annual event run by Cherry Bomb Toys. Today and tomorrow, 9am-3pm. Tickets at door (cash).

🛍️ Kidovate Market at Bay Centre: More than 90 students will be selling goods they have made or re-purposed at this entrepreneurial market. 10am-4pm today. [Details]

🪪 Keep your licence. The experienced lawyers at Acumen Law Corporation will give you the strongest legal defence to keep you in the driver’s seat. Learn more at VancouverCriminalLaw.com.*

🌷 Garden City Soul Club at VEC: Get ready to dance the night away to soul, motown, funk, and more at the Garden City Soul Club dance party at the Victoria Event Centre. Tickets are $15 at the door / doors 10pm.

*Sponsored Listing

In Other News

📈 Seven years since BC declared toxic drug deaths an emergency

More than 11,000 people have died from drug poisonings since the public health emergency declaration in 2016, including more than 800 in Greater Victoria. The Island lost 39 more people, and Greater Victoria 11 more, in the first month of 2023. This was after 2022 became one of the deadliest years on record for the region and the province. Locals rallied on Friday outside of the Ministry of Health to call for a safer supply of drugs to be provided to replace the unpredictable street supply; so far BC’s safer-supply programs include only a relatively small number of people.

📱 UVic student with dwarfism becomes online star

First-year business student Caden Teneycke’s popular TikTok recently rocketed up to 700,000+ followers. Teneycke, originally from Ladysmith, spoke with campus paper The Martlet about his videos’ success and what navigating campus is like for someone who is just over a metre tall—and is a local celebrity.

In Case You Missed It

🎓 UVic seeks student housing price jump of up to 10%: Student backlash has gone viral as the university seeks to draw more revenue from residence. [Capital Daily] Note: A data table in this story has been corrected; previously the 8-month meal-plus-residence costs were erroneously listed in the 4-month costs column.

🏠 The next phase is here! Introducing ELIZA South. Offering 1-bedroom, 1-bedroom + den, and 2-bedroom suites. Discover why so many others are calling ELIZA home! Register today!*

🎶 Pink Mountaintops at Upstairs Cabaret tonight: Stephen McBean will be making his final Island tour stop tonight in Victoria. In this feature for our sister publication, the Georgia Straight, McBean explains why he wanted to make several stops on the Island for this tour.

*Sponsored Listing

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