The rescue of a couple of American septuagenarians in September 2020 in the Magog region was a real race against time and a whole labyrinth for the investigators of the Sûreté du Québec, said one of them, Guillaume Poirier, Thursday at the jury trial of Gary Arnold, accused of kidnapping, forcible confinement and threats.
September 21, 2020
Mackenzie Helm is intercepted with 50 kilograms of cocaine in Vermont, as part of a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation
September 28, 2020
At 6:20 a.m., Michael Helm reports to the residence of his parents, Sandra and James Helm, on State Route 95, in Moira, New York. His parents’ car is there, there are signs of a break-in, but the couple is not in the house.
Michael Helm contacts the New York State Police, which sends investigators to the scene. A kidnapping investigation is launched.
A tracking warrant is obtained for James Helm’s cell phone. The results show that the device was near the couple’s home around 11 p.m. on September 27, but was in a town called North Bangor, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, at 1:30 a.m. on the night of September 28. .
At 9:30 a.m., Michael Helm received calls from an individual whom police later identified as Kosmas Dritsas. There is talk of a ransom in exchange for the hostages.
Five of the eight conversations are recorded by the New York State Police.
“I don’t know where my brother Mac is. I searched everywhere. If I can’t find it, please don’t hurt my mom and dad. I’ll search all night if necessary. They said they could release my mother tonight. She needs meds [médicaments] “, writes in particular Michael to his interlocutor.
At 10:30 a.m., the FBI contacts the RCMP, as the investigation tends to show that the victims are in Canada.
Shortly after, the RCMP alerted the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) since the victims would be in the province.
SQ Crimes against the person investigators verify information relating to the telephone number with which a suspect communicated with Michael Helm, but the analyzes and the geolocation do not give anything.
Around 9:00 p.m., American police informed the SQ that a second telephone number – which the police would later link to Lawrence Taylor Martin – had contacted Michael Helm. The device is then precisely geolocated at 2041 River Road in Akwesasne.
This residence is monitored throughout the night, in particular using a drone, in collaboration with the Mohawk police of Akwesasne. In addition to geolocating the device, the police can intercept text messages and conversations.
PHOTO THE PRESS
The trial of Gary James Arnold, accused of kidnapping, sequestering and threatening the Helm couple, has opened in Montreal.
On the night of the 28th to the 29th, around midnight, Gary Arnold, the accused in this trial, called the Suroît hospital, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. He shows up at the facility at 1:33 a.m. to retrieve three different sized catheters, for Sandra Helm, according to the lawsuit theory. However, this information will not be known until later to the police.
September 29, 2020
Between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., the SQ’s Tactical Intervention Group (GTI) was called to Akwesasne, as investigators believed the victims were at Lawrence Taylor Martin’s residence on River Road.
At 7:30 a.m., Martin is arrested as he leaves the house. The members of the GTI search the residence, but the Helm couple are not there.
Martin’s phone is seized and analyzed. The police then find the photo of the victims filed in court on Tuesday and taken from the place where they were sequestered. This photo had been sent to Michael Helm at 5:48 p.m. on September 28.
PHOTO FILED IN COURT
Photo of Sandra and James Helm taken by the kidnappers and sent to Michael Helm via text message late afternoon, September 28, 2020
The police identify another cell phone number and carry out the same search. The device is geolocated in a residence in Magog, in the Eastern Townships, in a circle with a radius of two kilometers.
The investigators cannot precisely identify the house and they ask their colleagues from the Régie de police de Memphrémagog if any individuals of interest live in this circle. Around 11:45 a.m., an individual was identified: Franco D’Onofrio, who owned a chalet on Grande Allée.
Shortly after, the surveillance team is deployed around the chalet.
Around noon, two individuals left the chalet, boarded a Nissan Rogue SUV and went to a pizzeria in downtown Magog.
Investigators can track the last identified phone that moves according to the vehicle. The two individuals return to the chalet with a box of pizza. They would later be identified as Franco D’Onofrio and Kosmas Dritsas.
Let’s go back a bit, between 9:00 and 10:00: another phone communicated twice with D’Onofrio’s device. This number is that, according to the police, of an individual who will later be identified as Gary Arnold.
During the afternoon of the 29th, Arnold’s device was geolocated in a field in Saint-Isidore. Another surveillance team is sent to the scene.
Meanwhile, at 4 p.m., a GTI team deployed around the Grande Allée chalet in Magog.
Around 5:10 p.m., the suspects were arrested and the victims released, as reported in court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in the Saint-Isidore field, several farm vehicles are busy, including combine harvesters.
At 5:30 p.m., the police intercepted the vehicles and identified their driver. They dial the phone number that will later be identified as Gary Arnold’s, but the device is found abandoned on the ground.
Arnold is at the scene, but he is not immediately arrested. It will be on 1er October, after investigators recognized his voice in intercepted conversations.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.