Jurors ask about pipe bomb while discussing verdict in Coutts murder-conspiracy trial
Jurors deliberating the case of two men accused of conspiring to commit murder at the Coutts, Alta., blockade returned to court briefly Thursday to ask the judge about a pipe bomb.
One of the accused, Anthony Olienick, is also charged with possessing a pipe bomb.
They asked if Olienick had to remember having the explosive to be found guilty of that charge or whether the simple fact he had the bomb on his property was enough to convict.
"(Memory) doesn't matter," Justice David Labrenz told the panel. "You're still in possession of (the pipe bomb)."
The defence has suggested the pipe bomb, found at Olienick’s home, was not for a nefarious purpose. A former employer of Olienick's has told court he remembered Olienick using what he called "firecrackers" to blast rock.
Jurors in Court of King’s Bench began late Wednesday deliberating the fate of Olienick and Chris Carbert.
The jury had deliberated for 11 hours when it called it quits for the evening.
Olienick and Carbert are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, a charge that carries a maximum life sentence.
They’re also charged with mischief over $5,000, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
The two were arrested after police seized a stockpile of guns, ammunition and body armour in an early morning raid near the blockade in February 2022.
The barricade of trucks and big rigs at the Canada-U. S. border point near Coutts tied up traffic for two weeks to protest COVID rules and vaccine mandates.
The Crown says the two men were planning to use Coutts as a launch pad for a revolution and were prepared to use violence against the RCMP.
Carbert's lawyer, however, told the jury that while her client was a "bit of a wing nut" who fell down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, there was no plot to kill police.
The lawyer for Olienick said her client had been taken in by three female undercover officers who tricked him into making incriminating statements.
Labrenz told the jurors that to convict on the conspiracy charge they must follow a two-step process. They first have to be satisfied there was a conspiracy in which two or more people were colluding to commit the crime.
If so, he said, the jurors would then have to be satisfied Olienick and Carbert were part of that conspiracy.
The trial is in its eighth week.
--
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Aug. 1, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Beautiful in its own way': New forest emerges in Jasper National Park, bringing protection and new opportunities
Charred stumps and the remains of fire-ravaged trees still cover large tracts of land on the Jasper landscape, but life is returning quickly down below.
Bloc Quebecois ready to extract gains for Quebec in exchange for supporting Liberals
The Bloc Québécois says its ready to wheel and deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party for support during confidence votes now that the Liberal government's confidence and supply agreement with the NDP has ended.
Dog mauled to death in B.C. yard after 3 pit bulls jump fence: police
A 12-year-old collie was killed by three pit bulls in the B.C. Interior Sunday morning, according to authorities.
video ‘Not checking out yet’: Woman with incurable cancer vows to keep fighting
Heather Appleton just renewed her passport for another ten years. “I’m not checking out yet,” said Appleton, 61, who has the incurable cancer, Multiple Myeloma.
Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate
With just days to go before his first and likely only debate against U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, former U.S. president Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.
'It's morally wrong': A rural Alberta town reacts to homeless shelter closure
At the end of a side street in Slave Lake, Alta., Lynn Bowes looks at a grey job-site trailer with boarded-up windows and doors that once operated as her town's only homeless shelter.
Over 200 firearms seized in weapons investigation: Waterloo Regional Police
According to police, during a traffic stop in Waterloo, officers noticed firearms and ammunition inside the vehicle.
Military surplus store in Calgary, destination of celebrity shoppers, closing doors
Cher, Anthony Hopkins, Heath Ledger, Alec Baldwin and Tom Hardy are just a few of the celebrities John Cumming met while growing up in his family's military surplus store.
Slide over salsa: K-pop takes socialist Cuba by storm
Socialist Cuba, the birthplace of salsa and other rhythms that have conquered the world, is now surrendering to the invasion of South Korean pop music.