The mother of a beloved father of two who was gunned down in a case of mistaken identity is questioning the delay in getting justice for her son.
Rex Edward Gill, 41, was standing outside the Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel in Kamloops, B.C., on the morning of Jan. 23, 2019, when he was shot while having a smoke.
Gill hails from Penticton and had recently been laid off from the oil patch in northern Alberta. He was in Kamloops doing a siding job for a friend.
His two sons, 16-year-old Dawson and 18-year-old Dayton, are now growing up without their father.
“My heart breaks every day,” said Gill’s mother, Marie Nobles.
“He was a wonderful, loving man. He had the biggest heart.”
On Feb. 19, 2019, Kamloops RCMP held a news conference to announce that they were investigating Gill’s murder as a possible case of mistaken identity.
Police said suspects were identified and serious crime unit investigators were treating it as a priority investigation.
But nearly three years later, no arrests have been made.
“We are still waiting for the court to read through all the paperwork that the police have put in so that they will approve a warrant for the arrest of the man who murdered Rex.”
Gill’s murder occurred two hours after 31-year-old Cody Mathieu was fatally shot outside the Super 8 motel in Kamloops’ Valleyview neighbourhood.
Mathieu was known to police, who say he had ties to the city’s drug trade. Police said Gill was not known to them.
“The investigations into the murders of Cody Mathieu and Rex Gill continue to be a priority for the Kamloops Detachment Serious Crime Unit, with investigators working on these files on almost a daily basis,” said Sgt. Nestor Baird.
“Homicide Investigations by nature are complex, and no two files have the same timeline for completion. While there have been no arrests to date, investigators are confident that with the progress that continues to be made there will be a successful conclusion to these files down the road.”
Friends and family are now organizing the third annual Rex Gill Memorial Ride to raise money for charity and to keep Gill’s memory alive.
Motorcyclists are invited to meet at the Ooknakane Friendship Centre in Penticton on Saturday, Sept. 25, for a breakfast at 8:30 a.m.
Participants will then ride along Highway 97 to Konquer Motorcycles in Kelowna.
Attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items for the Penticton and Kelowna food banks and to make a monetary donation to the Gospel Mission.
“Doing this ride helps give us some focus,” Nobles said.
“We are doing something to bring Rex’s name back out so the Kamloops court will know that he is not forgotten. We are still waiting.”
The ride will also honour the life of Michael Edward Courtney, who died in a crash while returning home from Kelowna during last year’s memorial event.
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