Bail denied for two accused of conspiring to kill RCMP officers

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 28, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

Two of four men accused of conspiring to kill RCMP officers have been denied bail, while a third still hopes he’ll be released after sitting through a lengthy bail hearing Friday in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench.
Anthony Olienick, who appeared in court by CCTV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, will have to wait several days to learn if he’ll be released, after Justice Vaughan Hartigan reserved his decision until June 9. And co-accused Chris Carbert, who had a bail hearing May 20, will remain in custody following Madam Justice Johnna Kubik’s decision Friday to deny his release. Carbert returns to Court of Queen’s Bench June 13 for arraignment, and to June 14 in provincial court to transfer his charges to the higher court.
Another accused, Christopher Lysak, was denied bail in March, while the fourth accused, Jerry Morin, has yet to have a bail hearing.
All four men are, by direct indictment, to stand trial in Court of Queen’s Bench. Direct indictment, which was previously filed by the Crown, bypasses the defence option for a preliminary hearing.
During Friday’s bail hearing for Olienick, the details of which cannot be published under a court-ordered publication ban, Olienick often shook his head lightly as Crown prosecutor’s Matt Dalidowicz and Steven Johnston presented their arguments to the judge. The hearing then concluded with arguments by Calgary lawyer Alain Hepner.
The four accused were charged in February with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and mischief by impeding the lawful use of property. A person found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder is liable to imprisonment for life. The charges stem from alleged offences in the Village of Coutts during the border protest, when police seized numerous long guns, handguns, a machete, ammunition, high capacity ammo magazines and body armour.
Nine other individuals were also arrested in relation to the protest and charged with mischief by impeding the lawful use of property and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Ursula Allred, Johnson Chichow Law, Evan Colenutt, Justin Martin, Eastin Stewart Oler, Joanne Person, Janx Zaremba, Luke Berk, and Jaclyne Martin, were released shortly after their arrests, and the matters for all the accused, with the exception of Zaremba, were in provincial court Friday then adjourned until early next month. Zaremba is set  to stand Trial on Dec. 5.
Person, who is self-represented, also faces one charge of dangerous driving, stemming from an incident Feb. 1 when a pickup truck drove through the blockade and headed toward oncoming traffic before becoming involved in a head-on collision.

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