VANCOUVER — Some things to know about Surrey couple John Nuttall and his wife Amanda Korody from undercover videos shown to the jury. The pair, who were found guilty of terror-related charges, were recent converts to Islam:
— Nuttall says he was drawn to Islam because of what he saw as the 9/11 hijackers' courage to "stand up."
— He says that before Islam, he and Korody were "heroin junkies." Court heard they were undergoing methadone treatment during the four-month surveillance period between March and July 1, 2013, when they were arrested.
— Nuttall tells an undercover officer that the thought of killing somebody "makes me sick ... but it has to be done. This is a war."
— Nuttall tells an undercover officer he is short on rent money and that his wife is stressed out and worried they may become homeless. He says jihad and ensuring his wife's happiness are his two main duties.
— Nuttall had shoulder-length hair and a beard in the videos, in which is also seen wearing a Middle Eastern scarf, but at the trial he had short hair and donned a suit.
— Korody is wearing a hijab in videos shown in court and continued to wear it, or a head scarf, during the trial.
— Court heard Korody had health problems. In one video, off-screen sounds of retching are heard and she is believed to be vomiting in the bathroom of a hotel room.
— In a video on July 1, 2013, the morning the Crown says the couple was to detonate pressure-cooker bombs, Korody tells Nuttall she's panicked and that her heart is racing.
— The trial heard the couple's laptops contained recordings of the Qur'an, along with extremist literature such as Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf'' and "The Anarchist's Cookbook." Files with instructions from an extremist online magazine on building and setting off explosives were also found.
QUOTES FROM VIDEOS SHOWN AT TRIAL OF B.C. COUPLE FOUND GUILTY IN TERRORISM CASE
VANCOUVER — Quotes from undercover videos shown at the trial of John Nuttall and Amanda Korody, found guilty of plotting to bomb the British Columbia legislature on Canada Day 2013:
Nuttall:
"We could have the equivalent of 9/11."
"It would be pure terrorism and it would cause the people to rethink their position of sending troops overseas to kill Muslims when they find out it was a white guy that did it."
"The first thing I said when I converted is, 'How do I worship God?' And my second question was, 'Where is my gun? Let's go do jihad.'"
"That's not good enough. It's small time." — Nuttall comparing his alleged plan to the Boston Marathon attack, which killed three people."
He singles out the issue of Palestinian independence as a particular grievance: "It's because of Canada that Palestine doesn't get Palestine Day, so why should Canada get Canada Day?"
"This is going to rock the world. The whole world is going to hear about this, you know that right?" Nuttall tells his wife.
"We're AQ Canada, al-Qaida Canada, that's who we are ... We're sleepers who've been woken, that's what we are." — Nuttall to Korody.
He suggests setting off a number of bombs at different times and at various locations in Victoria: "If they're on timers, we could freak the town out for two whole days."
After Nuttall and Korody plant what the RCMP had ensured were inert bombs, he says the imminent bombing will weaken the spirits of Canadian soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.
"What do you think's going to happen to (Canadian soldiers) when they learn about what happened in their own country and they realize, 'Shoot, I shouldn't be over here.'"
At one point, Nuttall suggests firing rockets over the United States border: "From Vancouver to Seattle it's about 20 miles, right?"
Korody:
In a video the couple recorded, Korody calls on Muslims to fight what she describes as the "Godless heathens.''
"If you have a stone, throw it; if you have a bomb, drop it,'' she says. "If all you can do is give them the finger, then give it to them.''
Korody, after the pair discuss detonating pressure-cooker bombs in the washrooms of strip club as a distraction from the main event: "The only reason a woman is going to be killed in a men's washroom is if she's turning a trick."
A TIMELINE OF THE UNDERCOVER RCMP STING INTO THE B.C. LEGISLATURE BOMB PLOT
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia couple has been found guilty by a jury of plotting to set off handmade pressure-cooker bombs at the provincial legislature on Canada Day two years ago.
The panel convicted John Nuttall and Amanda Korody of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an explosive substance on behalf of a terrorist group.
Their arrest was the culmination of a months-long RCMP sting operation involving hundreds of officers and countless hours of surveillance.
Here's a look at a timeline of the undercover operation, according to evidence presented in court:
Feb. 23, 2013
The primary undercover officer involved in the RCMP police sting operation, posing as an Arab businessman, first makes contact with John Nuttall. They reportedly lock eyes in a convenience store near Nuttall's residence. Two days later the officer approaches Nuttall with a request to help him look for his lost niece. Nuttall allegedly reveals to him that same day of his desire to wage holy war on behalf of Islam.
March 4, 2013
Nuttall delivers an unidentified package from the supposed Arab businessman to a locker in a Vancouver transit terminal. The officer later testifies in court that one of the motives behind this RCMP scenario was to gauge Nuttall's ability to follow directions from undercover police.
May 5, 2013
The undercover officer drives Nuttall and Korody to Whistler, B.C., so Nuttall can drop off a hard drive to one of the officer's supposed terrorist associates containing an outline of his alleged plot to hijack a Via Rail passenger train on Vancouver Island. During the drive it quickly becomes apparent that Nuttall has not yet started to work on the document. The three spend several hours in a Whistler parking lot as Nuttall types up an outline. The undercover officer later scolds him for coming up with a poorly researched plan after it's revealed that the targeted rail line stopped operating years earlier.
June 16 to 19, 2013
Officers set up Nuttall and Korody in a hotel room in Kelowna, B.C., where they are told they can relax and work on their terrorist plot in peace. An officer testified later in court that part of the reason for the trip was to gain access to Nuttall and Korody's basement suite during their absence. When the primary undercover officer eventually learns Nuttall has made no progress on the plan, he chastises him for not being invested enough in his terrorist plot, calling his actions a "sign of disrespect."
May 24 to 25
Nuttall and Korody head to Victoria for a reconnaissance mission, to scope out possible targets for their alleged terrorist plot. The trip involves a guided tour of the B.C. legislature, during which Nuttall points out various symbols in the building, including a Star of David in stained glass, which he describes disparagingly as a "Jewish symbol." They also scope out the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt for a possible attack.
June 29, 2013
Nuttall and Korody meet with an undercover officer posing as a high-ranking terrorist liaison. The couple is at first unsuccessful at convincing him to provide C4 plastic explosive for the pair to arm their pressure-cooker bombs but he is eventually convinced to help. Nuttall and Korody disguise themselves with head scarves and film a jihadist video, which they intend to have released once their mission is complete. In it they outline their reasons for carrying out the bombing, from waging war against the non-believers to hurting the morale of Canadian troops overseas in countries like Afghanistan.
July 1, 2013
Nuttall and Korody covertly stash sports bags containing their homemade pressure-cooker bombs under bushes flanking the B.C. legislature shortly before 4 a.m. They head to a hotel after taking a ferry back to the B.C. mainland but soon become agitated when news of the explosions doesn't air on television. The two leave the hotel at 2 p.m., and are immediately arrested by police. Sounds of a struggle are recorded on video.
June 2, 2015
A jury finds Nuttall and Korody guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an explosive substance on behalf of a terrorist group. In an unusual twist, the conviction won't be entered until next week, after the defence has a chance to argue that police entrapped the couple during the elaborate sting operation.
Key numbers from trial of couple found guilty of plotting to bomb B.C. legislature
Tue, 02 Jun 2015 21:08:55 -0400
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia couple has been found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an explosive substance on behalf of a terrorist group.
John Nuttall and Amanda Korody were convicted by the panel of plotting to set off homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the provincial legislature on Canada Day 2013.
An undercover RCMP sting operation that led to the couple's arrest involved hundreds of police officers and months of investigation. The accused terrorists' trial has also lasted months, with relatively few witnesses providing jury members with lengthy testimony.
HERE'S A BY-THE-NUMBERS LOOK AT THE ALLEGED BOMB PLOT AND THE ENSUING TRIAL:
128: Number of days the undercover RCMP sting lasted. First contact with Nuttall on Feb. 23, 2013. His and Korody's arrest more than 18 weeks later on July 1, 2013.
240: At least this many police officers took part in the sting operation at one point or another. Between 20 and 30 officers were involved on a daily basis.
3: Number of pressure-cooker bombs Nuttall and Korody are alleged to have planted on the B.C. legislature lawn on the morning of July 1, 2013.
1: Number of grams of C4 plastic explosive used in each of the pressure-cooker bombs, which court heard were rendered inert by an RCMP explosives expert.
0.5: Number of kilograms of C4 plastic explosive Nuttall allegedly requested for each pressure-cooker bomb.
3: Number of kilograms of C4 plastic explosive Nuttall and Korody were ultimately told had been put into each pressure-cooker bomb by their supposed terrorist liaisons.
102: Approximate number of hours of video and audio surveillance submitted to the court as evidence.
4: Number of witnesses who were called by the Crown to testify in court. The defence did not call any witnesses.
47: Number of days the operation's primary undercover officer — also the Crown's key witness — testified in court. About 40 of those days were in front of the jury.
4: Number of months the trial lasted before the jury was sequestered on May 30.
14: Number of jurors who stayed on until B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce delivered her instructions to the jury. That number was unchanged from Day 1 of the trial — a relative rarity for such lengthy proceedings. The number of jury members was whittled down to 12, as legally required, before they were sequestered and tasked with deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused.
