Unsealed court documents offer new disturbing details provided by Mantha's alleged victims
Disturbing new details about a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women in Calgary have come to light, as court documents exposing accounts from his alleged victims have been unsealed.
Richard Robert Mantha faces numerous charges involving five women who describe being drugged, choked, held at gunpoint, raped and stabbed.
All allegations against Mantha have yet to be proven in court.
Mantha is accused of targeting sex workers, bringing them to a Quonset on a Langdon, Alta. property.
One woman says she saw what appeared to be blood on the walls, while another says she saw what looked like bodies or heads in a trailer near Mantha's bed.
One says she saw a pig mask and gun in his vehicle.
In April 2023, Mantha's sister in Quebec contacted police after seeing her brother on the news.
She provided police with photos her son received, showing his uncle with a gun tucked in his belt.
Mantha at one point visited them, driving his vehicle to Quebec and thoroughly cleaning it before flying back to Calgary.
Mantha's blue BMW is now in possession of police in Quebec.
A pellet gun, women's clothing, boots and a purse were found inside.
One woman described losing these items when running for her life.
Police believe it's reasonable they will also find bodily substances including blood inside the car.
Police have also seized electronic devices with images and videos, including a dozen cell phones, five laptops and several tablets, digital cameras and storage devices.
Mantha faces numerous charges, including kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault with a weapon, sexual assault causing bodily harm and administering a noxious substance.
It's believed the alleged offences occurred over a period of 17 months.
Mantha was charged after officers cordoned off a property east of Calgary in April and brought in cadaver dogs, but police said at the time that no bodies were found.
The documents also reveal undercover officers -- in Operation Skana -- posed as fellow prisoners following the arrest of Mantha, who went by the name "Poncho" on the streets.
The 59-year-old's bail hearing began this week and is scheduled to continue on June 22.
CTV was part of a push by multiple media outlets to unseal these documents regarding the case against Mantha.
Details of Mantha's bail hearing are under publication ban.
With files from Damien Wood
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.