Steven Bacon was charged with the murder of Makayla Chang, which was expected by the many who'd followed the case. (submitted/Nanaimo RCMP)

By Spencer Sterritt

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Top Stories of 2020: Murder charge laid years after Makayla Chang disappeared

Dec 31, 2020 | 12:09 PM

NANAIMO — One of the Nanaimo’s longest cold cases warmed up in 2020 when a first degree murder charge was laid.

Steven Bacon, long connected to the disappearance and murder of Nanaimo teen Makayla Chang, was finally charged with first degree murder in September.

He pleaded not guilty in October from Thunder Bay, Ontario where he’s being held on unrelated charges.

The investigation into Bacon spanned years and many provinces.

His house was first searched in late spring 2017, before Chang’s body was found in May.

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He was later found in Ontario and questioned by police before being released.

Bacon was then arrested in New Brunswick for the unrelated offenses. It was another nine months before he was charged in Chang’s murder.

In the three years since her death, the case of who claimed Makayla Chang’s life remained high profile.

Chang’s birthday was celebrated each year by those committed to finding out who’d ended her life so soon.

Nanaimo RCMP said this was one of their largest files ever with upwards of 200 police officers at any given time working on the file across Canada.

It was a long march for Chang’s family, who saw Bacon for the first time during his first court appearance by video in Nanaimo.

Her father Kerry Chang told reporters outside court seeing Bacon made his skin crawl.

Bacon has pleaded not guilty.

His case is moving quickly through the courts compared to other cases.

Dates for a preliminary inquiry are expected to be established during his next court appearance on Feb. 21, 2021.

A judge will decide after the preliminary inquiry if there’s enough evidence for the case to proceed to a Supreme Court trial.

Bacon remains in Ontario but will be brought to B.C. as the case proceeds.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt