B.C. man charged with murdering Bailey Plover was convicted of assault hours earlier

The man accused of murdering his estranged wife, Bailey Plover, in a Kelowna, B.C., parking lot last week had been convicted of choking someone and uttering threats just hours before Friday’s attack that also left a second woman seriously hurt.

The BC Prosecution Service says James Plover was originally charged in June 2024 in a case involving intimate partner violence, before being released on $500 bail and subject to what it says were “extensive protective conditions.”

James Plover was then charged with two more counts of uttering threats, the original case was stayed, and he was convicted last week in the new case that folded in the previous charges, with the victims’ identities protected by a publication ban.

Bailey Plover’s uncle, Morey Maslak, says she had been estranged from James Plover since last year, and she was a “loving, devoted mother” with a great sense of humour and a carefree happy-go-lucky nature.

Maslak says her death was the result of a “heinous” act that has left her family and friends “hurting very, very badly.”

He says her father, Shane McCourt, is “not well” after his daughter’s death, and the family is now started along the “difficult path” of providing her young children with love and stability.

Police in Kelowna said James Plover was charged with second-degree murder as a result of what it called a “highly visible and tragic event.”

Maslak said the family was working with investigators, and amid their grief they’ are grateful and thankful to the many witnesses who came forward about the assault, leading to the arrest.

James and Bailey Plover were involved in family law litigation, online court records show, and their file was last updated just over a week before she was killed.

The young mother’s social media accounts are under her maiden name, Bailey McCourt, and her Instagram profile calls her a “mama of two,” a “sports addict” and a “domestic abuse survivor.”

Maslak said the family was aware of “incidents previously” between the estranged couple.

“In hindsight, maybe not to the extent of her concerns, and that’s something that we’re going to need to work through and deal with for the rest of our lives,” he said.

News of the attack that police originally described as “a motor vehicle incident and subsequent assault” spread quickly in the community.

Local real estate agent Justin Wyllie said his girlfriend knew Bailey McCourt, and he knows people who worked with her at a local real estate brokerage. He has been sharing an open letter addressed to Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr.

The letter to the Liberal MP says Bailey McCourt is “one more name on a growing list of Canadians failed by a legal system that has become dangerously lenient.”

“We’re all beside ourselves to see something like this happen in our community,” Wyllie said in an interview. “There should be shame. The government should feel shame, the court system should feel shame. And we need to step up as a country and say No to this.”

Justice reform and anti-violence advocate Cait Alexander said hearing of Bailey McCourt’s killing was “chilling” because of commonalities faced by victims of domestic violence in Canada when abusers are let out on bail.

“It’s chilling because this is a direct result of bad policy. Bailey should be alive,” Alexander said.

She said her ex-partner was also let out on $500 bail in 2021 after he allegedly tried to kill her, and she moved to the United States out of fear of encountering him in Toronto.

Alexander’s organization, End Violence Everywhere, is urging Canadian policy makers to implement meaningful bail reforms to protect survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.

“Survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and other violent crimes continue to be retraumatized by a bail system that too often prioritizes offender freedom over victim safety,” End Violence Everywhere said in a statement issued July 4.

Maslak said his niece’s death was “traumatic” and affected many people and “if there’s anything that can come from this, you know, how many more times is this story, or a similar nature, going to play out before we’re able to look at our judicial processes and understand how we can support people?”

“Obviously our family is struggling to try and make sense of any of this,” Maslak said. “She was a loving, devoted mother, a beautiful daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin and friend and that’s how we’ll remember her.”

Kelowna RCMP said it’s holding a “community outreach event” on July 10 after the “tragic death” last week, the same day James Plover is due in a Kelowna courtroom on the second-degree murder charge.

“We understand that this event has caused significant concerns to the community and people may have questions about their safety and the incidents that they either witnessed or were involved in,” said Cpl. Allison Konsmo in a statement.

“This is a time for residents, community members and the public to come together, voice their concerns, ask questions and connect with resources.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press