Pubdate: Wed, 21 Apr 2004
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.pentictonherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664

POLICE SUSPECT DRUGS BEHIND KILLINGS

KELOWNA -- An autopsy has confirmed Anthony Joseph Gorkoff, 24, and Dean 
Raymond Desimone, 31, were killed by gunshots Sunday in Peachland. The 
bodies of the two men were discovered in a home on Victoria Street after 
police responded to reports of shots fired at 12:40 a.m

Gorkoff was a Peachland resident, while Desimone lived in Vernon

RCMP media relations officer Const. Heather Macdonald said Tuesday that 
police believe the murders were connected to drug activities. Both men were 
known to police before their deaths, she said

Officers continue to investigate the crime scene, Macdonald said. Two 
teenagers discovered a bag containing what could be the murder weapon near 
the house. The teens were hiking in the woods in Peachland, when they found 
the bag about 10 minutes after they learned about the murder

"A bag containing a handgun was turned in," said Macdonald. "It had been 
found about a kilometre from the crime scene

"We don't know if it's associated to the current investigation. We'll know 
better once we get results back from the lab." The peach-coloured-stucco 
home with a red roof overlooks farmland and the lake beyond. It's an 
upscale house among well-tended homes on acreages

Neighbours said three or four men lived in the house, and that they were 
known to host loud parties occasionally

The weekend killings in Peachland are the Central Okanagan's second and 
third murders of the year

Ray O'Brien, 54, is charged with the second-degree murder of Tara Deanne 
Chequis, a 21-year-old Vancouver woman, whose body was found at 524 Hein 
Rd. in Kelowna on Jan. 19.
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