I'm "at court" (i.e. on a conference call with the court) this morning, as the Halifax Examiner is one of several media outlets that have petitioned the court for the release of the search warrants executed in the wake of the mass murder in Nova Scotia
There have been at least 20 search warrants executed by the RCMP and Border Protection. The RCMP have redacted at least 3 of those warrants (possible as many as 7) for distribution to the media this morning.
It's a bit in the air as to how this will proceed. I expect, however, that we will ask Judge Laurel Halfpenny-MacQuarrie to review the redactions and make a ruling as to their appropriateness.
Judge Halfpenny-MacQuarrie is saying she will sign an order releasing the redacted warrants to us.
Our lawyer, David Coles: this is appropriate, but we want not just the Information to Obtain (ITO), but also the warrant itself and list of the evidence seized.
Coles: federal & provincial crown have reviewed ITO and reviewed it with RCMP, etc, to redact it. That's fine. But now they say they need 2 more weeks to justify their redactions. They had the reasons when they redacted it. "It's beyond me why they have to take 2 weeks further"
Coles: "openness is the rule... it's not a question of the CBSA or the RCMP would prefer not to release it."
Coles: they then say it will be another two weeks to get someone to testify for the reasoning. That's an unnecessary month-long delay.
Federal crown: "I don't fundamentally disagree" with Coles, but we need to be "detailed and specific." We have "competing obligations." We're giving today "what we think is the most comprehensive ITO" to the media.
Crown: there are just a lot of documents. We have to be careful and particular.
Crown: the other 6 ITOs are completely different than this one we're releasing today.
Provincial crown: "Mr. Coles is at a disadvantage because he doesn't know what he doesn't know."
Judge: Halfpenny-MacQuarrie: Coles and I don't know what you have. But looking at the 1 have — it's 40 pages long.
Halfpenny-MacQuarrie: expediency will not trump thoroughness.
Halfpenny-MacQuarrie is basically siding with the crowns on timelines.
We get one redacted ITO today, and 6 more on May 26. We have until May 29th to say whether we will challenge the redactions. Further timelines and deadlines after that. It could go well into June.
The judge says there are still more production orders in process, that is more warrants coming through.
I expect I'll receive the one redacted 40-page ITO momentarily; when I do, I'll get off Twitter for a bit and read through it so I can report on it.
Or maybe I'll "live-blog" my reading of the warrant. That makes more sense, I guess.
We're now talking about an actual in-person cross-examination of the RCMP and CBSA officers who sign the affidavits. This will happen in Port Hawkesbury as that location apparently has the best setup in terms of protecting against COVID.
The next hearing is May 25 for the next 6 ITOs. The judge is about to sign the order to release the one ITO, and I guess it will show up in my email soon.
While I wait, I just want to quickly thank subscribers and people who have donated to the Examiner's legal fund. Your money is what makes it possible to hire the lawyer to proceed with these kind of court actions.
After payroll, legal costs are by far the largest cost faced by the Examiner. It includes pre-publication advice (so we don't get sued), insurance (in case we do get sued), and all sorts of other legal actions...
For example, the Examiner and @CBSpectator hired Coles to unseal the FOIPOP website (non)"hacking" documents. The Examiner, the CBC, and CP successfully got the documents unsealed in the Glen Assoun case. And now, these search warrant documents.
All this costs a lot of money, but it's a necessary expense to do the reporting.
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ITO received. Here are the details...
On the night of April 18, GW was observed assaulting someone (redacted, presumably his girlfriend).
The reporting person observed GW "pour accelerants in the cottage" and "the warehouse and observed that there were several firearms on the front seat of an out of commission police car."
The assaulted person (presumably the girlfriend) escaped into the woods.
Two other people (names redacted) saw a "large structure fire". The drove towards the fire and saw a "police car" parked nearby. The police car pulled up beside them, the driver of the other car rolled down his window thinking the cop wanted to talk to him, but he was shot at
The driver sped away and was met by a real police car coming into the town. The driver said he thought he was shot at by GW.
Things start to get more graphic here, so maybe mute me if you don't want to read these details.
Clint Ellison told responding RCMP officers that his brother Corrie was shot and was on the beach.
Two responding RCMP officers were Dave Lilly and Chris Grund. They arrived in Portapique and found Lisa McCully shot and dead. They then saw Greg Blair shot and dead.
They saw "numerous fires" on Orchard Beach Road.
In the morning, the woman emerged from the woods and told police that GW "had put a bunch of long guns into a car that looked like a RCMP car."
The information in the ITO comes from different reporting officers so there isn't a single narrative thread.
"A female was located deceased [redacted] Wentworth, NS and three (3) persons are unaccounted for."
GW "attended [address redacted] Highway 4, Great Village, Nova Scotia, and attempted to get into the residence but was unsuccessful."
"A female was located deceased in a vehicle near Hidden Hilltop Campground on Highway 4."
As was another. These were the two VON nurses, Heather O'Brien and Kristen Beaton.
The ITO places the location of the shooting of Cst. Chad Morrison at "near Exit 9 on Highway 2, near the EHS station."
"At Highway 224, near Milford Street," GW "was involved in some sort of accident with the police car being operated by Cst. Heidi Stevenson... Cst. Stevenson was located deceased and her firearm and two magazines were missing."
Much of the paragraph related to Joey Webber is redacted.
GW "then took a grey tracker and went to civic [address redacted] on Highway 224 and parked the vehicle behind the residence. One female was located deceased..." This was Gina Goulet.
Much of the information about the Big Stop interactions is redacted.
I will discuss this with my lawyer later, but I think I challenge this redaction in court.
The ITO continues: "At least one firearm was observed in the backseat of the grey Mazda... there were 5 firearms and ammunition located in the grey Mazda..."
Another officer describes the weapons, as follows...
"Rifle [redacted] calibre, semiautomatic. The selector switch was set to 'FIRE.' There was not a round in the chamber and the action was opened."
(same weapon) [redacted] "A shoulder carry strap was found for the firearm. Sgt. Peyton was able to source this firearm [redacted]"
Next weapon. "Rifle [redacted] calibre, semiautomatic [redacted] There was a found in the chamber [redacted]" The redactions here ware quite long.
(same weapon) Sgt. Peyton was able to source this firearm [redacted] [GW] as he did not possess a firearms license and has never had a firearms license."
(next weapon) "Pistol, [redacted] There was a round in the chamber. There were spent shell casings for this gun located in the vehicle [redacted]"
(same weapon) "Sgt Peyton was able to source this firearm [long redaction]"
(4th weapon) "Pistol [redacted] There was an empty magazine seated in the firearm and the hammer was cocked and safety was off. There was a round in the chamber [redacted]"
"Sgt Peyton was able to source this firearm [redacted"
(fifth weapon) "Pistol, Smith & Wesson, 9mm calibre. This firearm is RCMP issue and was the firearm assigned to Cst. Heidi Stevenson..."
"There were boxes of ammunition and a green metal ammunition can with ammunition on the front seat."
There are more details about what went down in Portapique, but it's somewhat redundant right now. The next statement is from a witness to the shootings on Highway 224.
"[redacted] said [redacted] hollered for [redacted] because there was a shooting going on. [redacted] the bald headed guy with a green fluorescent vest was going back and forth doing the shooting"
"The gun fire sounded like popping, where it was windy before [redacted] called to [redacted] the first thing [redacted] thought of was the siding was coming loose. Then [redacted] realized it was gun fire"
"[redacted] said that [redacted] the first thing [redacted] saw was the bald guy shooting [long redaction]"
"[redacted] thought the bald guy was a Mountie because you could see the shirt and you could see the white and green vest. But it seemed funny to [redacted] that the bald man would be shooting at a Mountie."
"[redacted] saw the bald man shooting towards the car" That person called 911.
Just another warning that details in this thread are graphic. If you don't want to read them, you should unfollow me.
Or mute for an hour or so.
"A grey SUV came up the ramp and stopped. The man in the SUV saw the two Mountie cars smashed together and it looked like he had gotten out to help them"
This would be Joey Webber. The next four paragraphs are entirely redacted, except for Webber's name and the word "deceased"
"[redacted] said [redacted] didn't see the gun used [redacted] just heard it. [redacted] believes it was a handgun. It was just a popping sound. If it had been a rifle, there would have been a cracking sound. The bald man was doing a lot of gun fire."
"The bald man opened up the trunk of the car [he] had been driving and a couple of seconds later you could see smoke coming from the trunk. The bald man set the car he had been driving on fire and then jumped in the grey SUV and left"
"[redacted] said that the bald man must have had a gas can or something set up in the trunk because it was only 10 seconds when he flipped the trunk open that the smoke started. [redacted] knows the man set it on fire because it wasn't smoking before..."
An entire paragraph redacted. Then: "The bald man took things from both the car he had been driving and the police car and started putting them in the grey SUV. When the bald man took off in the SUV he went off towards Milford on the 224 headed south"
Two more paragraphs entirely redacted. Then: "After the man took off in the SUV a woman showed up driving a red car. The woman saw [redacted] she went back up to stop traffic down the ramp."
"The phony Mountie car was fully engulfed then the next thing both cars were on fire."
Another reminder. There will be more unsettling content in this thread. If you don't want to read it, please mute me for an hour or so.
The next person quoted in the ITO is the common law spouse of GW. This part if mostly redacted, but there is information that is, I don't know, telling.
"[redacted] they were just at the warehouse having drinks. They weren't married but had Face-timed friends."
GW "had guns like military people have. He had approximately five (5) guns, two (2) handguns, [redacted] and a military firearm [redacted]"
More info on setting fires, hiding in woods, etc. then this: GW "does not have a cell phone and smashed her cell phone and didn't have access to any other cell phones."
"[redacted] said that [GW] wasn't a police officer wannabe and didn't like police officers and thought he was better than them."
Another person was interviewed by police, about GW. That person said: "... [GW] had been disturbed and that he was severely abused as a young boy. [redacted] said that [GW] was very smart, cheated, was a psychopath and abused [redacted]."
Some more redactions and then: "[GW] owned a denture clinic and [redacted] worked with him there. [GW] had a mental breakdown and talked about the deed for property in Portapique [long redaction]."
"[redacted] said there were guns at the warehouse [i.e., in Portapique] and the dental office; [GW] was paranoid about the pandemic [long redaction]"
"[GW] talked about all types of guns, assault rifles, hand guns but [redacted] did not know where or how he got them." Two more paragraphs redacted.
Another person spoke with police, and that conversation follows.
"[redacted] received a text from [redacted]which was a picture of her and [GW] in the warehouse around 6:00 pm"
"[the informant] said that [GW] was a sociopath, abusive [long redaction]."
This is new info: "[GW] was a funeral director and embalmer."
More info about his various properties, then: "[GW] also recently purchased a bunch of gas."
"[GW] showed [redacted] a gun [redacted] and [redacted] was uncomfortable and described it as being like a machine gun. This gun was kept by the fire place in the warehouse."
Yet another person talked to police about what should have been (in my estimation anyway) alarming things worthy of some intervention. As follows:
"[GW] has assaulted [redacted] in the past."
"[GW] is very intelligent but paranoid... [GW] was wealthy. [GW] recently bought $800 worth of gasoline"
"[GW] showed [redacted] where he kept a high powered rifle. [long redaction] This occurred eight (8) years ago."
"In the shed of [GW's] residence in Dartmouth [redacted] on the right side of the shed [redacted] showed [redacted] this a few years ago."
Still another person was interviewed by police. Many of the same details... "Years ago, [GW] was abusive [redacted]"
"A few weeks ago [GW] bought $800 of gas and bought propane bottles."
Then there's a highly redacted statement of someone who met GW in 2011, but hadn't seen him in 8 months. The statement includes these details:
"[GW] had [redacted] a stockpile of guns. [GW] would speak of getting rid of bodies, burning, and chemicals. [GW] was controlling and paranoid."
Two paragraphs redacted, then: "[GW] would tell [redacted] different ways to get rid of a body and had lime and muriatic acid on the property. The barrels of these would be underneath the deck."
"[GW] was a licensed embalmer."
Police also spoke with two employees of a decal shop. One told police that they "told [GW] that he would get in trouble for driving the car (with decals) and [GW] said that he knew and it would be illegal."
This ITO is for a search warrant of the Dartmouth property and 2 properties in Portapique.
Another reminder that this thread can be graphic. If you don't want to read that, please mute me for a bit.
The ITO says that the services of an anthropologist are needed as the scenes in Portapique are so disturbed that the medical examiner is unable to identify all remains. There was a delay in getting the anthropologist to NS from Ontario.
The ITO is summarized: "[GW] showed a complete disregard for human life as he shot at people sitting in their cars, people walking on the side of the road, and at people in their private homes."
Several witnesses "describe [GW] as a person who collected firearms, decommissioned police cars, and police uniforms and equipment....
"People also talked about there being [redacted] on his properties."
This search warrant is in particular for GW's computers. But there are as many as 20 search warrants, so there is much more ground to cover. We'll get six more next Monday.
There's more detail I'll get into in a full article, but I've gotten the gist of it in this thread. My overall reaction and takeaway, however, is this:
The ITO shows that LOTS of people describe GW as "a psychopath," a "sociopath" and "paranoid." They knew he beat women. They knew he had lots of guns, and assault-style guns. They knew he had recently bought an enormous about of gas, and propane tanks.
I'll let others debate the merits of red flag laws and such, but it doesn't appear from this document that any of these people even attempted to intervene in any meaningful way.
Can someone determined to go on a killing spree be stopped? I don't know. But surely to god there were warning signs that were cast aside.
Adding: these were people interviewed by police within one day of the killing spree. Undoubtedly there are many, many more who knew about GW.
