Province wants to keep Vernon murder victim’s $500,000

Police in Vernon seized more than $500,000 from a homicide victim at the home where he was shot to death two years ago.

That's according to a recently filed civil suit in which the province is attempting to relinquish the cash, along with firearms and an iPhone.

Michael Davis Brereton was 38 years old when he was gunned down in the Landing Meadows townhouse community. Police said he was targeted when he was shot in the parking lot around 6 p.m. on June 3, 2022.

Vernon RCMP searched a townhouse in the complex three days later and seized $571,400 in cash.

The BC Civil Forfeiture Office's lawsuit is the first time Brereton has been identified as the victim in the homicide, which goes on to claim he both got the money through unlawful means and used it for unlawful purposes including for drug trafficking.

Police found most of the cash was in vacuum-sealed bundles. They also seized three handguns and a submachine gun from the home.

The lawsuit names Brereton as a defendant and two other women. The first is Vernon woman Tiana Trinidad who once lived at the townhouse with Brereton and the second is Brereton's common-law spouse, Norma Nasal, who is a Whitehorse resident.

Neither have responded in court to the civil suit, filed in BC Supreme Court on June 27.

Vernon RCMP have said little about the shooting since informing the public with a plea for information back in June of 2022. Surveillance footage near the scene of the shooting captured an image of a black 2004 BMW 320i fleeing the area and police were looking for witnesses.

The vehicle was later found on fire in Spallumcheen.

No one has been criminally charged in the shooting, according to online court records.

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