Murder-conspiracy trial hears two Edmonton police officers supported Coutts’ blockade

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A COVID-era protest blockade in Coutts, Alta. — now at the center of a murder-conspiracy trial — received outside support, including from two members of the Edmonton Police Service, heard Monday.

An undercover Mountie who infiltrated the roadblock posing as a volunteer testified: “I had a little chat with a lady there. Her husband was a member of the Edmonton Police and she was a nurse.

“She wanted to come see it and show her support.

“I think her husband was there.

“He was a member of the Edmonton police and there was another female member of the Edmonton police there, and she had kind of a heavy Russian accent,” the Mountie added.

“A lot of people came up and shook their hands and talked to them and thanked them for coming. They were very happy to be there and show their support.”

Mountie cannot be identified to protect his safety.

She was the third female undercover RCMP officer to testify at the trial of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.

Olienick and Carbert are accused of conspiring to kill Mounties during the blockade, which paralyzed traffic for two weeks in early 2022 at the Canada-US border crossing to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccination mandates .

The two were arrested after Mounties raided the area and found a cache of weapons, armor and ammunition in trailers.

The undercover officer, identified in court as HQ1485, echoed the testimony of the two previous agents that Olienick characterized the blockade as his mission in life and one he was willing to die for.

“He was talking about meeting like-minded people and they formed a community and learned to live off the land and survive if they had to,” she testified.

“He mentioned – and this is specific… ‘this is the fight against evil.’

“He was talking about how they should all die… he did a ‘cut their throat’ action with his hands.”

Earlier, another officer testified that Olienick referred to the police as pawns of “devil” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that Olienick said that if the police came to break up the blockade, he would “cut their throats.”

The defense suggested one of the undercover officers broke the rules by flirting with the accused by sending heart emojis in text messages. That officer testified that there was no flirting and that the hearts showed support for the message, not the person.

The officers told the court that legally and ethically they could not use seduction to obtain information.

During cross-examination Monday, Olienick’s attorney, Marilyn Burns, asked the third officer if she was bothered by the undercover work.

“Where does the lie end? Is there ever a point where you’re uncomfortable?” Burns asked.

“You are working to accomplish an objective and we have specific rules that we follow,” the officer replied.

The defense argued that the undercover officers did not make audio recordings to substantiate their recollections of what was said with the accused.

The trial judge took this up with the jury. Judge Dave Labrenz said officers cannot secretly record those conversations without a judge’s prior approval.

“In this case, the undercover officers and the police did not have judicial authorization,” Labrenz said.

The officer also testified that the mood of the protest was upbeat.

“Everybody was in a good mood. You were happy to be there. You had a sense of patriotism,” she said.

“They had the Canadian flag up.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 17, 2024.

— By Bill Graveland in Calgary

The Canadian Press