A machine gun that had been shoved into bushes in a Glenmore neighbourhood had a “quick and dirty” modification, says a contractor who testified as week four of the trial looking into the 2011 killing of gangster Jonathan Bacon got underway.
Michael Kamann was a landscape contractor who was clearing two then city-owned properties on Highland Drive North Nov. 1, 2011 when his employees called him over to some juniper bushes.
Joel Whitesel, who testified earlier in the trial, had found the guns and his co-workers had converged on the spot when he informed them of the discovery.
When Kamann made his way over, he inspected the weapon looking to see whether there was any ammunition inside. He testified that he couldn’t see any ammunition in the clip and that’s when he noted the shape of the weapon.
“It looked like a model of an AK 47—originally a Russian model gun,” said Kamann, who said he was an avid hunter and had a fair bit of knowledge of firearms.
“It had quite a bit of surface rust and the gun looked like someone had done a quick and dirty job on the butt—it appeared to be a piece of metal someone welded onto the the part that rests on the shoulder.”
With that, he told everyone to put it back and he called the RCMP.
Const. Scott Falkingham testified Monday that when he arrived to the scene the guns were in the back of a pickup, and he believed they had been moved by one of the city contractors.
Upon their discovery he realized that they were likely from the Bacon shooting, as they had been in that area canvassing for information months earlier, when the shooting had occurred. Until that point, the police appeared to have had no insight into where the murder weapons may have been.
“I put two-and-two together pretty quick,” he said.
Falkingham also pointed out that the property where the guns were found was fairly enclosed and it would have been difficult to see what was happening behind the trees around it. The properties had been vacant for some time as they were city owned and they were getting ready to sell them to a developer.
Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones were arrested in 2013 and each face a charge of murder, four charges of attempted murder and various firearm offences.
Jonathan Bacon died in there Aug. 14, 2011 shooting, Leah Hadden-Watts was shot in the neck and rendered a paraplegic, Larry Amero was shot in the face, wrist and chest and Lyndsey Black was shot through both upper legs. James Riach escaped injury.