VANCOUVER — The man accused of killing Bailey McCourt says it “doesn’t matter” how long he is sentenced to serve in a separate case where he is accused of assault by strangling and uttering threats.
James Plover expressed remorse, saying he will torture himself until he dies, in the brief remarks at a sentencing hearing in Kelowna, where prosecutor Jessica Patterson recommended 16 to 18 months, less 206 days for time already served.
Plover’s lawyer, Cory Armour, argued that nine months would be an appropriate sentence for the choking conviction and any time for the threats should be served “concurrent to that.”
The identities of the victims in the strangling case are the subject of a publication ban.
Plover was convicted in the case on July 4, but was then freed on $500 bail, just hours before he is accused of killing his ex-wife McCourt with a hammer in a Kelowna parking lot.
He originally faced a second-degree murder charge over the killing of McCourt, but the prosecution service said the murder charge was upgraded on Friday.
It said a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm was also laid in connection to a second victim on the day McCourt was attacked.
At Plover’s sentencing hearing in Provincial Court on Monday, Patterson said the Crown wants Plover to serve four to six months on each of the three threat charges, to be served concurrently, followed by a 12-month sentence for the strangling charge.
She told the judge the Crown is also seeking a no-contact condition, a DNA order and a firearm prohibition.
The judge did not deliver a sentence on Monday and instead set a return date of Nov. 27.
The court had previously heard that Plover and the victim became embroiled in a heated argument, and he strangled the complainant as evidenced by neck bruising shown in photographs presented to the court.
It heard that Plover at one point grabbed a machete and destroyed a dining room table and a painting, and wrote a letter and expressed “suicidal ideations” to his parents before he was arrested.
Plover will make an appearance on the murder and dangerous-driving charges on Nov. 25.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
