By Barry Coulter,
BLACK PRESS
On Sunday, it will have been six years since Leanne MacFarlane and Jeffrey Taylor were killed in a house just outside Cranbrook, in what police said was a case of mistaken identity.
MacFarlane, 43, and Taylor, 42, had moved from Salmon Arm to Cranbrook to open a second business in addition to their cell phone retail store Shuswap Wireless Connections. They had been living in a house beside the Highway 3/93 rest stop for three months on May 29, 2010.
That morning, the couple were shot in their home. MacFarlane died at the scene; Taylor died of his injuries later that day. Police quickly determined it was a case of mistaken identity.
Though no arrests have ever been made, it is still very much an active case.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and still at the forefront,” said Cpl. Jason Smart with the Southeast District Major Crimes Unit.
“These unsolved investigations never stop. Any time there’s a tip we investigate it.”
Meanwhile, the family is still waiting – waiting for justice, and remembering.
“It never goes away,” said Leanne and Jeffrey’s son Jordan MacFarlane‚ one of the couple’s three children. “The time seems to have passed so quickly – it almost seems like yesterday. But we have to keep living our lives.”
Six years ago, Jordan had just moved back to Cranbrook, and was in fact living with Leanne and Jeffrey in the house at Mayook. It appears the killing took place only a short while after Jordan had left for work. He said the phone call he got from the police is still very fresh in his mind.
“It definitely affected more than just the family,” Jordan said.
“People are still talking about it, so that’s good.”
At the time of the double homicide, RCMP said the home that MacFarlane and Taylor were renting had until recently been lived in by one of the men charged in connection with a shooting outside the Sam Steele Hotel in October 2009.
Three Cranbrook men were found guilty in a conspiracy to commit murder trial in April 2013 in a gang-related crime connected to the Mayook homicide, but that trial was separate to the homicide investigation, RCMP said.
As always, anyone with information relating to this case is urged to report it.
You can anonymously report tips through Crime Stoppers, phone 1-800-222-8477, the Cranbrook RCMP detachment at 250-489-3471 or email tipsforleannemacfarlane@gmail.com.
A Facebook group has been set up related to the crime. Find it by searching Facebook for “Leanne MacFarlane and Jeffrey Taylor-May 29 2010 unsolved murder case.”