A NIGHTMARE FOR 'NAIVE' LANDLORDS

DEATH THREATS FORCE PAIR TO FLEE B.C.

AN ONTARIO couple's lifestyle move to beautiful British Columbia
became a "wild west" nightmare after a house they bought and rented
out was used as a marijuana grow house. John Saint and Audra Stacey
say they fled five months ago from Kimberley, B.C., amid death threats
after their drug-growing tenant told other growers they had "ratted
him out" and would do the same to them.

Saint, 35, and Stacey, 23, say the threats became so real they packed
whatever they could into a van and hightailed it back to Ontario,
leaving behind a mould-filled rental house and another house that has
since been vandalized.

"There was not a doubt in my mind that these guys meant to do us
serious harm," Saint said.

He and Stacey said they are still "in hiding" in Ontario because the
death threats followed them here.

Reeling from their financial loss and feeling let down by the courts,
snubbed by the local police and deserted by fearful employers and
friends, Saint and Stacey want to tell Toronto Sun readers how a
"victimless" grow house ended their dream and jeopardized their safety.

The couple moved to B.C. in September 2002 so they could enjoy rock
climbing, camping, hiking and snowboarding. They settled in Kimberley,
a town of about 6,400 in the Kootenay Valley, between the Rocky and
Purcell mountains.

Saint worked as a carpenter and Stacey in a cafe.

"We had two of the best jobs in town," Saint said.

'Everything Was Going Great'

In July 2003 they bought a bungalow for $90,000 and after extensive
renovations that boosted its value to about $120,000 rented it to a
couple in their 30s with two kids. The $650-a-month rent would pay the
mortgage.

Later that year they bought another house.

"Everything was going great," Saint said, apart from the tenants being
five months behind in rent.

Within a month, everything would change. The woman called Stacey to
say her husband had been arrested for growing weed in the basement.

"She said, 'I need help to clean up ... it is a big mess ... I can't
handle it ... they're going to take the kids away.' "

Stacey entered the house to find 200 pots of dirt on the basement
floor, which had been left "a green slimy mess" from watering. There
was mould on the drywall.

"They had just used a hose in the basement ... I kicked myself for
being so naive," she said.

Then they learned the man, who was out of jail in five days, had
started growing weed in the basement again. For the next four months,
they struggled to have them evicted.

When Children's Aid suggested it might take the man's kids away, he
called Stacey and threatened to set their house "on fire and get rid
of all our possessions."

There was a confrontation on the front lawn and the police were
called.

Later the death threats started. One of 10 friends confided to Saint
and Stacey that he would not come around any more because the town's
drug community was out to get them and those who associated with them.

Stacey's boss told her he could not guarantee her safety at
work.

The couple is so scared now they may emigrate to Florida.