B.C.'s director of civil forfeiture is seeking to seize a home in Mackenzie from its owner, alleging it is an instrument of crime.
In a notice of claim filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court, the director outlines a lengthy list of allegations related to 221 Crysdale Drive and centred largely on Michael Kenneth Robert Matson.
Since May 2014, RCMP in the community of 3,700 people 185 kilometres north of Prince George have been dispatched to the property more than 300 times in response to complaints ranging from suspected drug use and trafficking to stolen property to assaults to attempted murder, according to the claim.
In addition, District of Mackenzie's bylaw officers have attended in response to parking violations, noise, dangerous dog issues and unsightliness, the director says.
The claim goes on to detail the outcomes of search warrants RCMP executed on the home in May and October 2018, October 2019 and September 2021 in which an array of drugs - mostly methampthetamine - plus cash and trafficking paraphernalia were seized. As well police made a series of arrests nearby of people found in possession of methamphetamine following short visits to the home, according to the filing.
Details on the attempted murder claim were not provided in the claim. However, in July 2016, three people were arrested and charged with the offence following what Crown prosecution described as a "drive-by shooting" in which Matson and two other men were targeted, leaving one with a bullet wound to his calf.
Crown later stayed the charge against the trio - Kelly Michael Richet, Christopher Ryan Russell, and Miranda Leigh Dingwall - but they were eventually sentenced to lengthy terms in prison on lesser counts.
According to the claim, Matson's mother, Maria Angela Matson, became the registered owner of the property this past June.
Prior to that point, she was the "beneficial owner" while another of her sons, Robert Steven Matson and his partner Michelle Anne Margaret Niro, were the "owners of convenience" on behalf of Maria Matson, having financed the purchase in May 2012.
At all material times, Michael Matson resided with his mother at the address, according to the notice.
Maria Matson "knew or ought to have known" how the property was being used and, in the alternative, was "willfully blind" to the manner in which it was being used, the director says.
In February, Matson was found guilty of charges related to the October 2019 arrest. Sentencing on that matter is set for December.
Charges from the October 2018 arrest were stayed after it was determined that it no longer met the ‘decision to prosecute’ test, federal Crown counsel said in an email.
Charges from the September 2021 arrest remain pending.
Allegations made by the director have not yet been tested in court and the defendants have not yet filed a response to the claim.
The director is seeking a court order to have the property forfeited to the provincial government.
