British Columbia

Jamie Bacon's 'true love' dead of 'accidental overdose'

Jamie Bacon's girlfriend died of an apparent accidental overdose on the same day charges of murder were stayed against him

Madison Zoe Fine described as 'headstrong, smart, creative, entrepreneurial and maddening at times'

Madison Zoe Fine, 25,was found in a Richmond hotel room on Dec. 1. Her obituary says she died of an 'accidental overdose.' (Twitter)

A notorious B.C. criminal's girlfriend has died in a Richmond hotel on the same day charges of murder were stayed against him.

Madison Zoe Fine, 25,was found in a Richmond hotel room on Dec. 1 before she could make it to a court hearing involving her boyfriend, Jamie Bacon.

In an obituary posted by her family, she is described as Jamie's "true love."

He was one of the accused in the so-called Surrey Six murder case and a past leader of the Red Scorpion gang. 

Bacon was charged with conspiracy and the first-degree murder of Corey Lal , one of six people — two of them innocent bystanders — killed in a Surrey apartment building on Oct. 19, 2007.

The charges were stayed last week by a B.C. Supreme Court judge who said the stay was entered, in part, due to the way RCMP investigators handled confidential information.

Fine dated Bacon for several years before her death.

Madison Zoe Fine was 25 when she died. (Instagram)

Fine's obituary said she died of an "accidental overdose."

The B.C. Coroners Service confirmed a death "matching that description, but nothing further.

Fine was a convicted drug trafficker who had been charged in 2012 and 2013 and sentenced to a year in jail. She was still involved in ongoing court matters related to a charge of resisting arrest and impaired driving.

In 2014, she was arrested in Kelowna and charged with trafficking heroin. When searched at the detachment bags of illegal drugs fell out of her pants, according to documents filed at a 2015 court hearing.

A provincial court judge later ruled that a video-taped strip search done by RCMP had violated Fine's privacy rights.​

'Maddening at times'

In the obituary her family posted, the author wrote about her "boisterous" laugh and love of animals.

"Maddie was the most headstrong, smart, creative, entrepreneurial and maddening-at-times daughter, who never accepted help." 

People sent pages of condolences to Fine's family and posted about her on social media.

"Maddie was there for me when no one else was ... she made sure I wasn't alone. She had this amazing energy that would radiate. You couldn't help but have fun when Maddie was around," said her friend Evan Werry.

Jamie Bacon pictured here being escorted by police to prison during an earlier court hearing. (CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yvette Brend

CBC journalist

Yvette Brend works in Vancouver on all CBC platforms. Her investigative work has spanned floods, fires, cryptocurrency deaths, police shootings and infection control in hospitals. “My husband came home a stranger,” an intimate look at PTSD, won CBC's first Jack Webster City Mike Award. A multi-platform look at opioid abuse survivors won a Gabriel Award in 2024. Got a tip? Yvette.Brend@cbc.ca