VANCOUVER — An Appeal Court has sent a man facing a murder charge back to trial in a case stemming from the murders of six people in Surrey, B.C.
Jamie Bacon was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to murder.
The Crown appealed a B.C. Supreme Court judge's decision to stay the proceedings in the case, which involves the murders of six people in a highrise in October 2007.
In 2014, two men were convicted of six counts of first-degree murder in the case.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge granted an application on Dec. 1, 2017, for a stay filed by Bacon's lawyers in the so-called Surrey Six case, but at the time much of the evidence and reasons for the decision were sealed by the court.
In a judgment released Thursday, the B.C. Appeal Court says it was allowing the Crown's appeal and sending the case back for trial.
The court did not release reasons for its judgment in a statement posted on its website.
"The multiple issues of confidentiality means that our full reasons for judgment must be sealed and only an abbreviated version complying with the obligations of confidentiality may be released to the public," the statement says.
"The division is presently consulting with counsel to canvass the text of the abbreviated reasons so as to allow for public release of reasons for judgment that comply with the requirements of confidentiality."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2020.
The Canadian Press
