(Montreal) Gary Arnold, accused of kidnapping a couple in their seventies in upstate New York and then smuggling them to Quebec in September 2020, denied any knowledge of the plot on Friday at the trial in Montreal.
He actually testified that he had never been to their home and never even met them.
On the stand for a second day at his trial, Arnold told the jury that he did not know Sandra and James Helm, or any of their family members. He also said he had never been to Magog, where the couple was held until their release by police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), after two days.
“Do you, in any way, have any knowledge of an abduction?” asked his lawyer, John T. Pepper.
“No,” replied the accused.
Arnold, 54, faces seven counts, including kidnapping, forcible confinement, extortion and conspiracy, in connection with the September 27, 2020 kidnapping of the Helm couple. The prosecution believes the two septuagenarians were abducted for a drug debt incurred by their grandson, Mackenzie Helm.
The Crown believe the couple were used as bargaining chips to recover a missing drug shipment, or else $3.5 million in cash.
The Helms were abducted from their home and transported to Quebec through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, which straddles New York State and Quebec. They would then have been taken to a chalet in Magog.
Members of the SQ’s Tactical Intervention Group released the couple on September 29, 2020 in a chalet in Magog, in the Eastern Townships. Arnold was arrested two days later, on 1er october.
The Crown had concluded its case this week after hearing from Sandra Helm, who said Arnold was one of those present at her home. Her husband has since died.
The defendant told jurors on Thursday that a criminal group had threatened him and his family.
He claims he was called to a meeting with a man, whom he called “Big”, who allegedly gave him tasks such as texting various numbers, carrying cell phones and retrieving a catheter in a hospital in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. This visit to the hospital, on September 28, was captured by a surveillance camera.
Arnold explained on Friday that after his arrest he did not inform investigators of the threats for fear that the co-accused in the case would find out.
“I thought about it and I thought to myself: if I say things about this guy, “Big”, or that I have been threatened […] are they going to tell “Big” that I have denounced them?, explained the defendant in his testimony. Either they would put me in jail or they would go after the children and (my wife). »
Arnold also told jurors that a cell phone given to him by “Big” was not in his possession for several hours between the evening of September 27 and the morning of September 28, as he was instructed to trade it with someone else.