The man accused of the first-degree murder of Makayla Chang is expected to make his first in-person appearance in court in Nanaimo in November.
The date for the pre-trial preliminary inquiry for the trial of Steven Michael Bacon was set for Nov. 1-5 during a telephone conference at the Nanaimo Courthouse between Judge Justine Saunders, Crown counsel Nick Barber and defence counsel Gilbert Labine.
Bacon, 61, is currently being held in jail at a 121-bed maximum security prison in North Bay, Ont. He has been incarcerated in Ontario since he was arrested in 2019 on unrelated charges. Bacon will be tried in Nanaimo on a charge of first-degree murder.
Bacon had no comment during Friday’s telephone conference other than to acknowlege he had heard the proceedings.
Bacon’s court appearance in November will be the first time Makayla Chang’s father, Kerry Chang, will see his daughter’s accused murderer since Bacon left Nanaimo. Chang, who attended the telephone conference, said he is pleased with how the investigation has gone.
“I don’t know a lot of the details yet,” Chang said. “November’s quite some time away … I just spoke with Crown and one of the investigators who assured us he will be brought out here for court … I can’t give you an honest answer as far as how my reaction’s going to be. There’s some pretty significant stuff that’s happened here. We still just take everything day by day, but we’re very confident there’ll be a conviction on the charge of first-degree.”
Makayla Chang went missing in March 2017 and her body was found two months later.
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Kerry Chang, father of murder victim Makayla Chang, said Friday he “can’t give an honest answer” about how he will feel when he sees Steven Michael Bacon, who is scheduled makes his first in-person court appearance in Nanaimo in November. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
