The girlfriend of high-profile gangster Jamie Bacon died last December of a carfentanil overdose, according to an investigation by the B.C. Coroners Service.

Kelowna resident Madison Fine was found unresponsive in a Richmond hotel Dec. 1, 2017 — the same day that Bacon had a murder charge against him stayed in B.C. Supreme Court.

The two-page report by Coroner Debra Rees said that Fine, 25, had overdosed the night before she died, was taken to hospital by ambulance and was released.

Postmedia earlier revealed that Bacon was concerned when Fine did not attend his court appearance Dec. 1, when Justice Kathleen Ker stayed charges against him in connection with the 2007 Surrey Six murders.

Bacon’s mother Susan went to the Richmond hotel where Fine had been staying and found the young drug trafficker dead inside.

Rees said in her report that the “RCMP Major Crimes Unit attended the scene and determined there was no suspicion of foul play.”

“As death was obvious, no resuscitation was attempted and the female was pronounced deceased on scene,” she said.

“Investigation revealed that Ms. Fine was known to consume illicit substances regularly. Powder and a rolled up bill were found at the scene.”

“I find that Ms. Madison Zoe Fine died in Richmond on December 1, 2017 of carfentanil toxicity. I classify this death as accidental and make no recommendations,” Rees wrote.

Carfentanil is considered 100 times more deadly than fentanyl and 10,000 times as toxic as a unit of morphine.

Rees noted that despite being taken to hospital on Nov. 30, Fine had no hospitalizations over the two previous years.

“Family reported that when they became aware of Ms. Fine’s problematic substance use, they offered support and treatment but were declined,” Rees said.

Fine had travelled from Kelowna to Vancouver specifically to attend Bacon’s court appearance.

In an obituary Fine was described as the “true love to Jamie.”

“It is with great sadness and heartfelt loss that we share with you the passing of our dear, sweet Maddie to an accidental overdose,” the obituary said. “Maddie was the most headstrong, smart, creative, entrepreneurial (and maddening at times) daughter, who never accepted help. She always wanted to solve things herself. She had an uncanny ability to read a room and any situation.

She always fought for the underdog and helped a larger community of people in need.”

Fine was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking on both Oct. 1, 2012, and Jan. 23, 2013. She was sentenced to a year in jail.

In February 2014, she was arrested in downtown Kelowna and charged with trafficking heroin. During a subsequent strip search by Kelowna RCMP, bags of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin fell out of her pants.

A provincial court judge later ruled the strip search had violated Fine’s charter rights because it was videotaped and could have been viewed by others in a monitoring room at the detachment.

When she died, she was still before the courts on charges of wilfully resisting a peace officer and impaired driving.

Bacon remains in pre-trial custody on a charge of counselling someone to commit murder for a botched2008 shooting of a former associate.

That case is due to go to trial in September.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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