‘How do I go on?’ Double homicide victim’s mother speaks at killers’ sentencing

A Portage la Prairie woman who returned home to find her adult son and his girlfriend shot dead told a court she struggles to go on in the wake of the drug world killing.

“All I want to do is sleep and not wake up, but I do and I want to give up,” Mary Bone said at a sentencing hearing earlier this month for killers Preston Whitford and Jeremy Whincup. “How do I go on?”

Bone’s son James Borden, 42, and his girlfriend Emily Smoke, 37, were killed Dec. 1, 2024, after the two accused forced their way into Bone’s home to collect a drug debt from Borden, court was told.

Whitford, who wielded the gun that shot the two victims, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years. Whincup, Whitford’s uncle, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Crown and defence lawyers jointly recommended the sentences as part of a plea bargain that took into consideration weaknesses in the Crown’s case, including the absence of witnesses to the killings.

King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne said he hoped the sentences provided “some small comfort” to family members of the victims “knowing the case concludes today.”

Whincup and Whitford ran a joint drug operation out of Portage la Prairie and Borden was one of their drug dealers, Crown attorney Laura Martin told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

In the fall off 2024, Whincup and Borden were in custody together at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. Recordings of phone calls between Whincup and Whitford revealed the two men had an “animus” toward Borden, believing he was using money he owed them to fund his own independent enterprise.

In one phone call “Whitford shared that Borden (now released from custody) was getting ‘mouthy’ about the money that he owed,” Martin said.

The two men discussed plans to collect the drug debt, with Whincup telling Whitford to delay any confrontation until Whincup was released from jail.

On the day of the killings, Whincup obtained bullets for Whitford’s gun. Later that evening, the two men went to Bone’s home and forced their way inside. Borden and Smoke were the lone occupants.

Whitford confronted Borden about the drug debt.

“Seemingly unsatisfied, Mr. Whitford pulled out the handgun and shot Mr. Borden two times,” Martin said. Smoke retreated to a washroom where Whitford shot her two times.

“This was a choice to eliminate a witness with no prior animosity with the accused,” Martin said. “Ms. Smoke was simply there.”

Both victims died instantly or a short time later, Martin said.

Mary Bone discovered the bodies when she returned home later that evening

Whincup’s criminal record runs six pages spanning his adult life and including convictions for drug and weapon offences, and crimes of violence, harassment and intimidation, Martin said.

“The record represents six pages of chances Mr. Whincup had to turn his life around and instead he dug his heels in, resulting in the deaths of two people,” Martin said.

Whitford led a law-abiding life until his early 20s when he “got involved with negative peers” and began using and selling drugs, said defence lawyer Adam Hodge.

“My heart races when I hear noises outside… Living a normal life has been taken away from me.”

Whitford “had no intention initially of using the handgun as it occurred,” Hodge said, arguing Whitford’s mind was “clouded and impaired” by drug use.

Both killers offered perfunctory apologies to their victims’ families.

“I just want to apologize for the hurt I have caused,” Whincup said. “That’s all.”

Smoke’s mother said nightmares of gunfire wake her up every night and she’s afraid to leave her home.

“My heart races when I hear noises outside,” the woman wrote in a victim impact statement provided to court. “Living a normal life has been taken away from me.”

Smoke posed no threat to her killers, the woman said, questioning why they didn’t leave the house after killing Borden.

“Why did they have to involve her?” she said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca