A transcript of RCMP’s May 2020 interview with Sean Conlogue – a Houlton, Maine man who knew Gabriel Wortman for more than two decades – has been posted online by a public inquiry into the April 2020 massacre.
A CBC News investigation has found that while Conlogue and at least one other man in Maine may have violated U.S. federal law by helping the gunman acquire two of the weapons he used during the April 2020 outbreak, they are unlikely to face categories.
It is illegal for an American to transport, sell, trade, give, transport or hand over a firearm to someone who knows he or she is not a US resident. Investigators believe the perpetrator, who did not have a firearms license, took three of the weapons he used in the Houlton massacre and smuggled them to Canada.
Police found two of his guns behind Conlogue, who told investigators he had no idea what his friend was up to. In a four-hour interview, RCMP Staff Sgt. Greg Vardy asked him about their relationship, the weapons and the border crossing.
The gunman often stayed at Conlogue’s home and electronic orders were sent to his address. Conlogue said he had given Wortman a Ruger pistol as a “token of appreciation” for the work he did around his property during his visits.
The gunman often stayed at the home of Sean Conlogue’s friend in Houlton, Maine. He had parcels, including pieces from the replica of the cruiser he built, would send them there and drive them across the border. (Eric Woolliscroft / CBC)
In response, Vardy told Conlogue that it was illegal to do so.
“I’m not interested in charging you … I want to know the truth,” Mountie said.
“We have no idea to come here, to come after Sean Conlogue for this event. It is to know what happened to these 22 families, so that in the future these things do not happen again. In the future, these things weapons will never cross the border. ”
Frequent border crossings
Investigation warrant documents show that the Canadian Border Patrol decided that the gunman had crossed the border in Woodstock, NB, a short distance from Houlton, 15 times in the two years before the shooting.
That included April 2019, when the shooter stayed with Conlogue for a week to help him after a leg operation. During the raid, police believe Wortman bought a high-powered rifle – a 5.56 mm Colt Law Enforcement semi-automatic rifle – after attending a local weapons show.
After police shot and killed the gunman at a gas station in Anfield, New York, they found in his possession five firearms, three pistols and two rifles. He acquired three of them in Hilton, Maine. (Committee on Mass Accidents)
Conlogue said he was in bed recovering and did not go to the show, but assumed Wortman went with a mutual friend. Vardy named the man, but the public investigation did not release any documents related to his interviews.
He told Vardy that he saw the gunman counting cash and remembers seeing a rifle the day before the gunman left to return home to Nova Scotia.
“I said, ‘What the hell do you need that for?’ And I think his words were “I always wanted one,” according to a copy of his statement to the RCMP.
Crossing the border
Conlogue also told RCMP that he believed Wortman took the rifle back to Canada by wrapping it in his truck’s tonneau aluminum cover.
“The day they left … he was working on his roll-up top,” Conlogue said, adding that he “did not want to move the boat” and never asked about the gun or crossing the border in particular.
Others, including Conlogue’s friend Scott Shaffer and gunman’s partner Lisa Banfield, also told investigators they believed the weapons were smuggled that way.
A photo of the gunman’s multiple cars, including the Ford F-150 truck, rear right, witnesses say he used frequently on trips across the Maine border. (Committee on Mass Accidents)
Banfield said she asked her husband about it and he explained that she would leave the cover wrapped and the back of the F-150 pickup open.
“So if they’re looking for something, they’re looking inside, they would have no reason to open the lid of the tonneau,” Banfield told RCMP on April 28, 2020, adding that he denied ever taking up arms while she was at the border. . with him.
Conlogue also knew that Wortman had taken up arms across borders in the past.
After the death of their mutual friend, Fredericton’s lawyer Tom Evans, Konlog said that Vortman wrapped Evans’s Ruger Mini in a blanket and brought it to Maine. This rifle was another weapon found by police at the end of the 13-hour riot.
Police found a Ruger P89 9mm semi-automatic pistol back in Hilton, Maine, and Konlog told them he had given it to the shooter as a gift. He said his friend took a Glock 23 .40 caliber automatic pistol from his home. Police found the pistol in the stolen car driven by the gunman when he was killed. (CBC News / Illustration)
While initially talking to Vardy, Conlogue was vague about two Glock pistols missing from his home before explaining that Wortman called him in the fall of 2017 to say he had them. Conlogue said his friend was allowed to use the guns, but the agreement was that they should stay at his home in Houlton.
“I did not know until he told me that he took these weapons across the border and I did [pretty] “He had a heart attack nearby,” Conlogue told the RCMP.
“My heart broke because he betrayed the trust I had in him; I probably should have said something at that moment.”
Information vital to border security
Ronald Vitielo, a former U.S. border patrol chief, said reporting on the gunman’s activities could have affected the way agents interacted with the gunman during his many border crossings.
He said that people who know an perpetrator are the best source of up-to-date information.
“If someone who had suspicions of their illegal activity went to the RCMP or went to the local authorities or went to the border authorities and said, ‘Hello, look, we think this person is doing X, Y and Z’ … that can “It was enough to look a little further at his journey back and forth,” he told CBC News.
“It underscores the need for individuals to report suspicious activity. It underscores the need for both countries to work together in a secure way to protect both the border community and the homeland in general, right? Both Canada and the United States.”
The tonneau cover on the back of a vehicle would be a common place to search if the shooter had been identified as a potential threat, he said.
According to search warrant documents, the gunman drove about five hours to Maine 15 times in the two years prior to the shootings, according to the Canada Border Service. (CBC News / Illustration)
The Canadian Border Patrol told CBC it was using “data, information and risk indicators to detect illegal firearms”.
“Information-driven” border agents use tools that include X-ray machines, including manual ones, and tracking dogs, the government agency said in a statement to CBC News.
“Their specialized training, know-how and knowledge, in detecting smuggling and prohibited or restricted goods, allows them to always be on the lookout for dangerous goods,” he said.
But eyewitnesses who spoke to police, including Banfield, said Wartman was rarely investigated. He had a NEXUS card, which meant that both the US and Canada considered him a low-risk traveler.
NEXUS card for low risk travelers
Anyone can apply for NEXUS. The program was designed to speed up border crossings. Applicants must go through an interview process and pass risk assessments at US and CBSA customs and border history checks. Criminal convictions will appear in these audits and the new convictions will result in the cancellation of one’s membership, said Rebecca Purdy, a senior CBSA spokeswoman, in an email statement. Wortman did not have a criminal record, although he was released on parole after pleading guilty to assault in 2001. The court’s conditions, which included a nine-month probation period and a $ 50 fine, meant the case could be settled without conviction. in his file. Once approved, NEXUS members crossing the land border show their card to a reader. They then pass a border officer who decides if they should enter an inspection area, the CBSA told the CBC. Members may continue to be subject to in-depth investigations because anyone crossing the border can be referred for secondary investigation, the agency said in a statement. References occur as a result of factors such as the ratification of documents, the declaration of goods and the payment of duties and taxes. He said everyone is required to report controlled or restricted items such as firearms and importers are not supposed to use the NEXUS strip.
The CBSA has a top line
Vitielo said authorities needed people to identify the illegal activity in order for the system to work properly. “Having a regime that allows travelers and low-risk people to enter and exit the two countries comfortably and without friction is good, right? It helps grow both economies,” Vitiello said. “Emphasizes the need for co-operation between border authorities – co-operation in relation to information and threats against criminals or in the regime of terrorism.” The CBSA said people can always report concerns to the CBSA Border Watch by calling the Advice Line or submitting information online. During the financial year 2021-2022, the agency seized 955 firearms at border crossings, including unrestricted, restricted and prohibited firearms. That was over …
