Judge denies bail for fourth murder conspiracy suspect in Coutts, Alta. protest

Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators leave in a truck convoy after blocking the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

LETHBRIDGE -

A judge has denied bail for the fourth man charged with conspiracy to commit murder at a border blockade earlier this year in southern Alberta. 

Queen's Bench Justice Johnna Kubik ruled in Lethbridge court today that Jerry Morin, who is 40, must remain in custody until his trial.

Morin, Anthony Olienick, Chris Carbert and Christopher Lysak are accused of conspiring to kill police officers at a blockade near Coutts, Alta., in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions. 

Olienick, Carbert and Lysak had already been denied bail. 

A trial for all four accused is to be held in June of next year.

The four suspects were among 14 people charged in February after RCMP found a cache of long guns, handguns, body armour, large amounts of ammunition and high-capacity magazines in three trailers at a protest near Coutts. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2022.