It took all night from September 28 to 29, 2020, for the kidnappers of Sandra and James Helm to abduct the American couple in their seventies from their home in Moira, New York, and bring them to a cabin in Magog. , where he was held for a day, before being released by the police.
This is what marked the day Monday at the jury trial of Gary Arnold, accused of having kidnapped, kidnapped and threatened the two American citizens, and which takes place in Montreal.
The couple were abducted and held for ransom because of a cocaine importation gone wrong, following the arrest of the Helms’ grandson.
In a filmed interrogation filed in court which took place in a room of the Hôtel-Dieu de Sherbrooke a few hours after his release, James Helm told in detail the police officer Patrick Fournier, of the Sûreté du Québec, and two police officers Americans how he had experienced the whole affair.
PHOTO FROM A VIDEO SHOWN IN COURT
James Helm was questioned by the police in a room at the Hôtel-Dieu de Sherbrooke on September 30, 2020, in the hours following his release.
“It was Sunday evening, it was 10 or 10.30 p.m. I had just gone to bed and my wife was watching television when she heard a loud noise outside. They kicked down the door and came into the room, telling us to get dressed, because we were going to leave with them,” Helm described.
Two individuals entered the house. Their faces were hidden. One of them was wearing ski goggles. Mr. Helm tried to grab his phone to call 911, but one of the intruders grabbed it.
The suspects spoke English. “Four other people are waiting outside,” one of the kidnappers told them.
With their faces covered, he by a mask and she by a cushion cover, the couple were invited to board a dark van in the style pickup.
“After a while, we turned right, then left. I thought we were going to the Akwesasne reserve,” Helm continued.
A long wait
After a trip during which no word was spoken, the kidnappers and their victims came to rest near a wharf. The couple and two of the suspects boarded a small four-seater boat. During the trip, which lasted about twenty minutes, assessed Mr. Helm, there seems to have been a question of the health problems of Ms.me Helm and that his medical situation required catheters.
The small boat then moored at a wharf, probably in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, near a railway line and a boat ramp, Helm said.
That’s when the kidnappers said they would try to find catheters for M.me Helm.
The couple waited for a long time inside and near the boat. Then a small vehicle arrived. Mr. and Mr.me Helm were asked to come upstairs, but there was another wait of about 45 minutes, according to Helm, before suspects joined them with the requested catheters.
Arrival at lunch
Then the vehicle started. Mr. Helm believes he found that he took the 132, 15 and 10. Again, no words were exchanged between the kidnappers and their victims. The suspects, however, talked to each other without Mr. Helm being able to hear, because “crazy” music was playing in the cabin. “There are soft drinks, water and crisps, if you are hungry,” offered one of the suspects.
The trip on expressways only lasted about two and a half hours before the vehicle stopped in the entrance of a house, around 7:30 or 8:00 am.
“I had no idea where I was,” said Helm, who said the kidnappers were always courteous, frequently asking them if they needed anything.
He added that he had not been threatened at any time and had not seen a weapon. During the day of September 29, the kidnappers went to Magog to buy a pizza and there was talk of going to the grocery store.
“The oldest him [à sa femme] made a sandwich. I had nothing to eat and drank a lot of coffee during the day,” said Helm.
After arriving at the cabin, one of the suspects took an initial photo of the couple inside the cabin, then another outside, near the fireplace and blue chairs, Helm recalled.
Sudden U-turn
“I don’t know why you two were taken away, with her being sick. We’re going to take you back to a place where you can go home,” one of the abductors later told Mr. Helm and his wife.
According to the latter, the suspects and the couple were about to board the vehicle, so that Mr. and Mr.me Helm were brought home, when members of the Sûreté du Québec’s Tactical Intervention Group (GTI) freed them and arrested the suspects.
Mr. Helm was unable to testify at Gary Arnold’s trial because he died of a cause unrelated to his kidnapping and forcible confinement.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.