A man seriously injured in a bizarre drive-by shooting in Kelowna in August was supposed to be a witness in a U.S. drug case implicating another B.C. man.
Reginald Purdom, who pleaded guilty in 2006 in Washington state to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy, was the victim of the Aug. 2 targeted shooting.
He is listed as a key witness for the U.S. government in a drug conspiracy case in which Surrey resident Kevin Donald Kerfoot is charged.
Kerfoot has been fighting his extradition to the U.S. for more than a decade.
Just two weeks before Purdom was gunned down, Kerfoot lost his latest bid in the B.C. Court of Appeal to halt his extradition. He is now seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Asked last week whether he knew Purdom had been shot, Kerfoot said: “I’ve heard something, but I know nothing about it.”
He refused to comment on the status of his extradition case.
“I have no comment to any of this,” Kerfoot said before hanging up the phone.
It was just after 10 p.m. Aug. 2 when a man on a mountain bike approached Purdom’s black Lincoln Town Car just off the highway in West Kelowna.
The cyclist pulled out a 40-calibre handgun equipped with a silencer and started blasting through the driver’s window.
Purdom, 48, was hit eight times in the chest, leg and hand. As the gunman attempted to reload, Purdom managed to drive the car forward, striking his attacker before crashing.
Police arrived at the chaotic scene and located a suspect nearby. Tyrone Reynolds McGee, 29, is facing seven charges, including attempted murder and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm.
He has previous convictions across Metro Vancouver for assault, trafficking and unauthorized use of a credit card. At the time of the shooting, he was on a driving prohibition. He remains in custody but is scheduled for an Oct. 17 bail hearing in Kelowna.
Kelowna RCMP media officer Const. Jesse O’Donaghey said the investigation is ongoing.
Purdom implicated Kerfoot in statements to U.S. agents after getting caught on Oct. 5, 2005, with a bag containing more than 24,000 ecstasy pills. Hours earlier, Purdom drove a powerboat across the border into Washington state to pick up 41 kilograms of cocaine and drop off a bag of ecstasy.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had already been tipped to the cocaine by a confidential informant.
Purdom identified Kerfoot as the mastermind of the drug smuggling operation.
Charges were laid against Kerfoot on July 20, 2006, a month before Purdom pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 54 months in jail.
As Purdom languished in a New Mexico prison, Kerfoot fought against his extradition.
The B.C. Supreme Court decided in August 2009 that the case was strong enough against Kerfoot to order his committal for extradition. He appealed.
Purdom, meanwhile, completed his sentence and returned to Canada in September 2009.
Purdom could not be reached for comment. But his father, Reg Purdom Sr., said his son “is still recovering.”
