Accused murderer Stephen Michael Bacon has been transferred to Nanaimo for his preliminary inquiry taking place this week in Nanaimo. (Nanaimo RCMP)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

case advancing

Preliminary inquiry to begin for accused murderer

Nov 1, 2021 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — A hearing this week in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo will determine if there is enough evidence against an accused murderer to proceed to trial.

Steven Michael Bacon is charged with first degree murder in relation to the death of 16-year-old Nanaimo teenager Makayla Chang in 2017.

Bacon was recently transferred to Nanaimo from jail in Ontario for the hearing to begin on Monday, Nov. 1, which is scheduled to last five days.

Prosecutor Nick Barber said five Crown witnesses are all scheduled to testify via video, while defence lawyer Gilbert Labine will attend the hearing virtually from Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Labine will have the opportunity to cross-examine the Crown’s witnesses.

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Testimony delivered under oath at the hearing falls under a publication ban.

A recent hearing confirmed details of the inquiry, which also finalized travel arrangements to have Bacon fly to Nanaimo from jail in Ontario.

In early January 2020, Bacon was arrested in Ontario for a charge in Fredriction, NB unrelated to Chang’s death.

He has been in custody in Ontario ever since.

While Bacon was never officially listed as a suspect he was considered a person of interest in Chang’s disappearance and death.

Nanaimo Mounties maintained Bacon may have been with Chang prior to her disappearance.

Bacon was formally charged in Sept. 2020 and pleaded not guilty more than three years after Chang was initially reported missing.

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