Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 Source: Kelowna Daily Courier (B.C., Canada) Website: http://www.ok.bc.ca/dc/ COKE DEALER FORCED BUYER TO OD A cocaine dealer who ordered one of his buyers to inject himself with a lethal dose of the drug dodged an attempted-murder charge. Instead, Timothy Charles Wilson was jailed for two months for uttering threats after his lawyer Wade Jenson worked out a plea bargain with the Crown. Wilson, 39, has been behind bars since August. He sold $550 worth of cocaine to Todd Whitehurst on the agreement he'd pay Wilson back by writing bad cheques and selling goods. When Whitehurst failed to come up with the money, Wilson visited his apartment in November, 1997. The Crown alleges Wilson was fed up with the runaround he was getting from Whitehurst and ordered him and his girlfriend to inject themselves with cocaine. Each syringe contained three quarters to a full gram; an amount that could kill even heavy users of the drug. "It will just look like two dead junkies on the bathroom floor," Wilson was quoted as saying. Whitehurst, figuring he could get a free high out of the deal, agreed to shoot up the coke. He believed he could accommodate Wilson's order and get his fix, said Jenson. Whitehurst was rushed to Kelowna General Hospital and survived. Whitehurst's girlfriend either missed her vein and shot the coke into her flesh, or failed to inject it at all. But discrepancies in Whitehurst's version of events led the Crown to back down from two extortion charges and agree to the lesser charge of threatening. He was to begin a trial in B.C. Supreme Court this week. "Had he been convicted of extortion, a more serious sentence would have been handed down," said Jenson. Judge Brian Weddell also sentenced Wilson to two years' probation. "It's fortunate he's not facing a murder charge," said Weddell. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart