Nanaimo man convicted of first-degree murder after judge finds he provided weapon and getaway vehicle

The Story

Ronald Joseph Campbell was convicted of first-degree murder in a gangland-style killing in Nanaimo, B.C., for his role in the May 20, 2021 shooting that killed Yasin Khan.

Khan was shot dead in his SUV in the parking lot of the Rock City Centre shopping plaza. The trial heard that Campbell told acquaintances earlier that month he was working with the Bacon Brothers gang and that he was being paid large sums of money.

At trial, prosecutors argued Campbell surveilled Khan’s Nanaimo apartment for two days before the killing, tailed him to the parking lot, and fired five rounds into Khan’s vehicle.

Justice Douglas Thompson found the Crown’s case had room for reasonable doubt on whether Campbell was the shooter, ruling that CCTV evidence from the scene was not clear enough to identify Campbell as the shooter or as the driver of the white Cadillac Escalade used in the killing. The judge also said eyewitness testimony about the shooter’s identity was contradictory and confusing.

Despite not being able to confirm Campbell fired the fatal shots, Thompson concluded Campbell was intimately involved in planning and execution of the killing, citing evidence linking him to both the murder weapon and the getaway vehicle.

Thompson ruled Campbell provided the Glock .40 calibre pistol used to kill Khan and found Campbell’s DNA on the weapon. The court also heard that Nanaimo RCMP seized a pearl-white 2003 Cadillac Escalade seen in and around the city in the days before the fatal shooting, and that the vehicle was owned by Campbell’s mother.

The judge further found Campbell provided the Cadillac Escalade used to surveil Khan before the killing and to convey the shooter to and from the scene. Thompson said police later located the murder weapon and Campbell’s cell phone inside the vehicle.

Thompson concluded that even if Campbell did not pull the trigger, he at least provided help and assistance that facilitated the commission of the offence. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.