Jury deliberations in Coutts blockade murder-conspiracy trial enter third day

The jury at the murder-conspiracy trial for two men charged after the 2022 blockade in Coutts, Alta., will begin deliberations for a third day. 

The five-man, seven-woman jury was handed the case late Wednesday afternoon after a five-hour instruction from Alberta Court of King’s Bench Justice David Labrenz. 

There was no verdict reached after a full day of discussions Thursday into the guilt or innocence of the two men.

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert face the conspiracy to commit murder charge as well as mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, while Olienick faces a further charge of possessing a pipe bomb.

The two men were arrested after police seized a stockpile of guns, ammunition and body armour in an early morning raid in February 2022.

The Crown says the two men were planning to use Coutts as a launch pad to start a revolution and were prepared to use violence against the RCMP if law enforcement sought to shut down the protest.

The blockade tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Alberta-U. S. border crossing to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

The judge has instructed the jurors that to convict either man of conspiracy to commit murder they must first be convinced if an actual conspiracy took place where two or more people planned to commit a crime.

He said the next step would be to decide if Olienick and Carbert were part of it.

The trial is in its eighth week.

It was originally expected to be completed by the end of June.

There was a single question from the jury Thursday where 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. 

The judge replied that memory doesn’t matter if he was still in possession of the pipe bomb.