A 27-year-old Mission man and a Williams Lake man were arrested and charged in connection with a homicide that occurred in Blind Bay in 2011.
Mission's Jordan Larry Barnes and Williams Lake's Jeremy Wayne Davis, 24, are each facing one count of second-degree murder, according to the BC RCMP Southeast District Major Crime Unit, which made the announcement Monday.
At a press conference in Kelowna, Insp. Terry Kohlhauser said Nicholas Cole Larsen, 24, was shot while travelling in a friend's vehicle in what appeared to be a targeted attack.
Shortly after midnight June 1, 2011, Salmon Arm RCMP members responded to a shots fired call in the lakeside community of Blind Bay, located about 20 kilometres west of Salmon Arm. Nearby residents heard the shots and saw two vehicles speeding away.
The investigation determined there had been a dispute in Sorrento between two groups of men a couple of hours before the shooting, read a police press release. The vehicle in which Larsen was riding was forced off the road by another vehicle while travelling on Blind Bay Road. An occupant of the suspect vehicle then fired multiple bullets at the other vehicle. Larsen was hit several times and he died a short while later on a nearby friend's property.
Kohlhauser said the crime was not gang related.
Although the arrest can't dull the pain of losing their son, Shelley and Bo Larsen said news of the arrest brought them the feelings of "peace and elation" for the first time in three years. It did not, however, bring forgiveness for those accused.
"The reckless, calculated decision to murder Nick over something as trivial as a verbal confrontation has forever changed the lives of so many innocent people," said Shelley Larsen, to her son's alleged killers.
"We believe you are exactly where you deserve to be.”
Bo Larsen offered thanks to the investigative team that made the arrests, as well as the community which supported the family as they dealt with their loss.
“He was a very sensitive guy, very sensitive and trusting. So much so that you’d have to talk to him, tell him that not everyone’s the same, that people can take advantage. Everyone else always came first with him," he said in 2011.
Bo said his son loved animals and the outdoors, but his first priority was his family. He had a special fondness for his young nieces, liking to spoil them with presents and outings.
“He was loved by all. His humour and personality were next to none. I’ve never known him to go out and harm someone. I don’t care who you talk to, they’ll tell you the same thing.”
Davis, who was arrested in Williams Lake, was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday in a Kamloops courtroom. Barnes was arrested in Kelowna the day after Davis was apprehended, was also scheduled to be in court Monday.
- with files from Kathy Michaels