POLICE SUSPECT DRUGS BEHIND KILLINGS

KELOWNA -- An autopsy has confirmed Anthony Joseph Gorkoff, 24, and Dean
Raymond Desimone, 31, were killed by gunshots Sunday in Peachland. The
bodies of the two men were discovered in a home on Victoria Street after
police responded to reports of shots fired at 12:40 a.m

Gorkoff was a Peachland resident, while Desimone lived in Vernon

RCMP media relations officer Const. Heather Macdonald said Tuesday that
police believe the murders were connected to drug activities. Both men were
known to police before their deaths, she said

Officers continue to investigate the crime scene, Macdonald said. Two
teenagers discovered a bag containing what could be the murder weapon near
the house. The teens were hiking in the woods in Peachland, when they found
the bag about 10 minutes after they learned about the murder

"A bag containing a handgun was turned in," said Macdonald. "It had been
found about a kilometre from the crime scene

"We don't know if it's associated to the current investigation. We'll know
better once we get results back from the lab." The peach-coloured-stucco
home with a red roof overlooks farmland and the lake beyond. It's an
upscale house among well-tended homes on acreages

Neighbours said three or four men lived in the house, and that they were
known to host loud parties occasionally

The weekend killings in Peachland are the Central Okanagan's second and
third murders of the year

Ray O'Brien, 54, is charged with the second-degree murder of Tara Deanne
Chequis, a 21-year-old Vancouver woman, whose body was found at 524 Hein
Rd. in Kelowna on Jan. 19.