Mother of the Kelowna woman allegedly murdered by estranged spouse speaks out

The B.C. Conservatives are calling for a coroner's inquest into the brutal attack that killed a Kelowna mother Friday.

Karen Fehr hadn’t heard from her 32-year-old daughter, Bailey McCourt, for over a decade when she called in May. McCourt was amidst a family court battle with her estranged husband, James Plover.

“She reached out to me on Mother’s Day crying ‘I need you mom, I need help. No one is listening to me, nobody cares, nobody’s doing anything’,” Fehr recounted in an exclusive interview with CTV News.

McCourt was in the process of moving into a home in Kelowna, B.C., with her mom and two daughters last Friday when she learned Plover had been convicted by a judge of four counts of assault by choking and uttering threats in a domestic violence case.

“They sent her the judgment that he was guilty on all counts, so she was happy,” said Fehr.

That same afternoon, McCourt and a friend were beaten with a hammer in a Kelowna parking lot. After a brief pursuit, James Plover was arrested and charged with second degree murder for allegedly killing his estranged wife.

Fehr can’t stop thinking about her daughter’s last moments.

“When I read she was able to run and tripped, I can’t imagine the fear. I watched that fear every day,” said Fehr through tears. “And falling to ground and knowing that’s it. That’s it.”

McCourt’s mom doesn’t understand why Plover wasn’t held in custody after his convictions. She says her daughter had feared for her life for months, and the courts didn’t protect her.

“This is not the first time something like this has happened. It has happened way too many times,” Fehr said.

“It’s absolutely sickening, should never have happened,” said Elenore Sturko, the B.C. Conservative Public Safety and Solicitor General critic.

“They were convicted of a violent crime, not just charged, and not innocent until proven guilty. They were guilty. This is absolutely horrific. It’s unacceptable.”

The Conservatives are calling for a coroner’s inquest into the circumstances leading up to McCourt’s murder.

“It’s just clear that there were so many gaps that ultimately led to this brutal murder,” Sturko said. “As British Columbians, we can’t let this just be another file that gets swept under the rug.”

CTV News requested an interview with Attorney General Niki Sharma and was emailed a statement from Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equality Jennifer Blatherwick in response.

It read, in part: “Like many British Columbians, I was horrified to learn what happened and I understand the grief and anger people are feeling. Cases like this highlight the need for continuous improvements in how we identify risk, support survivors, and ensure all parts of the justice system are working together.”

Blatherwick said the province is working to implement recommendations from Dr. Kim Stanton, who recently wrote a bipartisan report on domestic violence.

“We’re also working with the federal government to strengthen bail and sentencing laws, as well as issues that have long been overlooked at the national level, like stronger protections against intimate partner and gender-based violence, and the need to re-evaluate risk in cases involving repeat sex offenders,” the statement said.

Fehr also wants changes to the law, as she mourns a daughter who was ripped from her life just months after re-entering it.

“I’m just going to spend my days just remembering who she was,” she said, as she clutched her daughter’s childhood teddy bear.