We see them every day. Inconsequential scenarios played out on the random stage of day-to-day living.
A good samaritan pulls over to help a girl with a flat tire on the side of the highway. A group of people meet for breakfast at a diner. The driver of a delivery truck pulls into a storage yard and unloads a shipment of boxes into a locker.
We don’t give them a second thought. They are just part of the mundane fabric of existence.
Most of the time.
Sometimes, though, they are part of an elaborate, eight-month, $311,000 undercover police operation involving more than 40 officers from various agencies, 43 distinct scenarios and plot twists worthy of a blockbuster Hollywood murder mystery.
As Andy Wyatt, representing the Crown, laid out the case against Jaycee Mildenberger during the first week of his trial last week at Court of Queen’s Bench in Yorkton for the 2009 murder of Gwenda Gregory in Usherville, a compelling narrative emerged. And it starts right here in Yorkton.
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Readers are cautioned that everything that follows has not yet been proven in a court of law. The narrative presented is based entirely on the testimony of Crown witnesses. The names and ranks of undercover operatives have been changed pursuant to a publication ban issued to protect their identities. The exception is Staff Sgt. Murray Chamberlin who is not an undercover operative. The names of children have been purposefully omitted on compassionate grounds.
Case for the Crown
After a dramatic opening statement June 8 that gave the jury and judge a gruesome overview of the crime and high points of the “Mr. Big” operation that led to Mildenberger’s arrest, Wyatt began presenting the prosecution’s evidence starting with testimony from family and friends of the victim.
Erin Gregory, Gwenda’s daughter, who lived in Sturgis, testified she had dropped off her youngest daughter, just 18 months old, with Grandma on March 5, 2009 so Erin could take her two older daughters to a concert in Yorkton.
Originally, Erin was going to pick the girl up the next day, Friday, March 6, but a late winter snowstorm with freezing rain led to a change of plans. Gwenda would bring the toddler back to Sturgis the next day, Saturday.
At around 10 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, around the same time the Crown alleged during his opening statement that Mildenberger had prevented Gwenda from taking a call by punching her in the chest, Erin said she tried to call to check in. She said getting no answer was “odd” but not “concerning.”
When Gwenda did not show up the next day and after several unanswered calls, however, Erin jumped in the car to travel the 35 kilometres from Sturgis to Usherville to make sure mother and daughter were not in the ditch somewhere.
When Erin arrived at Gwenda and Alton Gregory’s home in Usherville, the driveway and sidewalk to the house were clean despite the recent snow and the Gwenda’s van was in the garage.
She uncovered a hidden spare key and entered the house. It was quiet, but nothing appeared out of order except the TV was uncharacteristically left on. She could hear running water coming from the direction of the bathroom. She went there where she saw blood on the wall. She screamed for her daughter, who she found, soaked to the skin and half undressed in the crib in the spare bedroom.
She went back to the bathroom and saw her mother prone in the bathtub with her throat slashed. She fled the scene looking for help from the neighbours. The first house she stopped at was her mother’s nearest neighbours, Jan and Jaycee Mildenberger. There was nobody home.
Changed forever
Over the course of the first two days of the trial, the Court heard testimony from friends and neighbours of the Gregory’s and from Alton Gregory, Gwenda’s husband. The focus of the Crown’s examination was to establish that Jaycee Mildenberger’s behaviour dramatically changed after the murder.
Witnesses including Erin and neighbours Ernie Leibel and Robert Kowalchuk, who attended the murder scene, testified that Mildenberger became very nervous, looked down and refused to comment when the subject of the murder came up and was constantly scratching to the point of causing sores, which he picked at.
Dale Strelezki, who worked with both Alton Gregory and Jaycee Mildenberger hauling oil in southeastern Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Manitoba told the court he started barracading the door to his hotel room door when he heard Mildernberger hollering in the middle of the night.
On one trip home from the oil fields to Usherville with Mildenberger and Alton Gregory, Strelezki testified Alton got a phone call from the RCMP suggesting they may have some information and wanted to talk to him. After that, Strelezki said, Mildenberger, who was driving, opened the window and chain smoked for four-and-a-half hours all the way back to Usherville, fidgeting and sweating despite the fact it was very cold outside.
On cross-examination, the defence, led by Saskatoon attorney Brian Pfefferle, challenged these witnesses on the basis that everything in Usherville, a hamlet of only eight families, changed after that horrific day in 2009.
Madam Justice C.L. Dawson felt it appropriate to instruct the jury that any such evidence given, which she dubbed “after-the-fact-conduct” is circumstantial and cannot be used to infer guilt unless the members have ruled out any other possible explanation for the change of behaviour beyond a reasonable doubt.
Experts
The next phase of the Crown case was to present the physical evidence. Wyatt called five expert witnesses including Sgt. (retired) Randy Hooker a blood spatter expert and Dr. Shawn Ladham, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Gwenda Gregory’s body.
The prosecutor painstakingly introduced each exhibit from photos of the crime scene to the alleged murder weapon.
Hooker would say only that Gwenda was not in a standing position when she died. Ladham concluded the cause of death was “excessive blood loss coupled with an inability to breathe” due to a wound to her throat.
Ultimately, the Crown’s theory is that, for some unknown, or yet-to-be-disclosed motive, Jaycee Mildenberger, described by witnesses as an intelligent, regular guy and devoted husband, father and grandfather killed his neighbour with a knife from her own kitchen.
The defence has pointed out and the Crown has admitted, there is no physical evidence linking Mildenberger to the crime scene.
After an exhaustive traditional investigation, which included thousands of interviews with hundreds of people, Staff Sgt. Murray Chamberlain, who was the sergeant in charge of operations for the “F” Division [Saskatchewan] Major Crimes Unit in 2009, testified late on Monday they had run into a dead end. They did not have the evidence to charge Mildenberger, nor did they have the evidence to eliminate him as a suspect.
Mildenberger himself was interviewed three times, including once by Chamberlain.
Two years later, for reasons not presented in court as of press time, the RCMP decided this case was a candidate for a “Mr. Big” or “Crime Boss” operation. The basic premise being that police create an elaborate fictional reality for a suspect that ultimately culminates with a meeting during which an undercover officer posing as an underworld kingpin elicits a confession.
On Thursday, June 11, after the context for the Crown’s case had been set by the local witnesses and the gruesome details of the crime had been laid by the expert witnesses, Wyatt called Sgt. Philip Vance, the assigned cover officer, whose job it was to plan and resource the undercover activities, to provide the overall narrative of the sting.
Mr. Big
On November 18, 2011, Jaycee Mildenberger was driving from Usherville toward Yorkton when he encountered a woman with a flat tire. He stopped and offered assistance to change the tire, but found there was no spare. She asked him to drive her to Yorkton where she was headed to meet her cousin.
Her cousin “Matt” met them at Humpty’s at the intersection of Highways 9 and 10 in Yorkton. It would be the most regrettable acquaintance Mildenberger, then 46 years old, would make in his life.
Vance testified that Matt’s job as the initial contact was to establish a relationship with the “target,” introduce him into what is typically a simulated criminal enterprise and prepare him to meet the primary undercover operator, to “set the hook” so to speak.
Matt offered to buy Mildenberger breakfast that first morning and asked for a ride back to the broken down car, but the suspect didn’t have time that day. Vance had a backup plan, though, he had told the female undercover agent to “accidentally” leave something in Mildenberger’s vehicle. Matt asked for a phone number so he could buy him a bottle of liquor at a later time to thank him for helping his cousin.
Three days later, on November 21, 2011, Matt contacted Mildenberger about his cousin’s lost phone. Mildenberger found it and the two made arrangements to meet at Boston Pizza in Yorkton. Matt bought lunch and then offered Mildenberger some work moving a snowblower, some compressors, drills and other items to Weyburn claiming his own truck was in the shop. It was the first snag in the operation. Mildenberger was concerned, Vance said, that the items were stolen. The target did not want any part in criminal activity so Vance adjusted the plan making the goods legit, but letting on the business was avoiding paying tax. Several witnesses would testify Mildenberger was okay with “screwing the tax man.”
Matt assured Mildenberger the goods were not stolen and he accepted the job. The three hour drive gave the two men a chance to bond and for Matt to start introducing Mildenberger to the man who would be the primary undercover operator in the sting. Matt was a member of a crew working for a savvy young businessman from Vancouver played by Sgt. John Unger. John payed well and treated his guys really well Matt told Mildenberger.
The next few scenarios were just moving more merchandise around giving Matt and Mildenberger a chance to bond more. Matt continued to build up John.
On December 14, 2011, it was time to hand the target over to his primary handler. Matt and Mildenberger met John at Tapp’s in Yorkton. John explained the business some more and the tax evasion scheme. He said he wasn’t looking for anybody full-time, but would be happy to keep throwing Mildenberger some work. Mildenberger was happy with that.
A couple of scenarios later, on December 30, 2011, disaster almost befell the whole operation. John asked Mildenberger to come along to a meet with a customer in Saskatoon to act like “muscle.” The scenario had a couple of objectives. One was to see how Mildenberger would feel about the role of “muscle” and another was to lend some credibility to the business with the exchange of some pretty significant cash, $5,500.
As soon as the customer arrived, John testified on Friday of last week, Mildenberger started acting really nervous. After the exchange he told John the customer was an undercover cop, that he had worked with the officer’s father in Pilot Butte. John told the Court he thought the whole operation was over at that point, but he quickly improvised that he was going to check with some connections he had in Vancouver to find out what was going on.
After a debriefing with Vance, John quickly set up another meet with Mildenberger at the Tomas Cooke restaurant in Saskatoon. He also brought along another member of his crew, “Cory,” whom Mildenberger already knew through Matt. John again assured Mildenberger that his business was totally legit except for the tax evasion scheme. He told Mildenberger he had a criminal past with his uncles who were big time crime bosses in Vancouver, but that was all over. He suggested the undercover officer might have been trying to get to the uncles through him.
The crisis for the operation was averted and the team went back to scenarios designed basically to make Mildenberger feel comfortable, what they call “lifestyle scenarios.” They moved boxes, socialized, went to clubs and restaurants and held private parties at the “company” warehouse in Winnipeg. Mildenberger was paid in cash and there were lots of perks.
During this time, John also fired someone who was selling drugs, not because of the drugs, but because the employee lied to him. This was designed to underscore that honesty was paramount, something Vance referred to as training wheels for the target.
This went on until the end of February when Vance decided it was time to start grooming Mildenberger for the eventual Mr. Big confession.
One of the officers in some of the preceding scenarios was a woman playing Cory’s girlfriend, Joni. During a dinner at a restaurant with Cory, John and Mildenberger, Joni stormed in and threw water in Cory’s face. A week later in Mildenberger’s presence, John staged a phone call to his uncles asking them to help Cory with a legal problem. The story was he had been charged with beating up Joni outside a club.
The main goal of these scenarios, Vance testified, was to demonstrate to Mildenberger that he would not be judged for violence against a woman and that the uncles had the ability to corrupt justice. It also gave Vance the opportunity to introduce Mildenberger to “Mr. Big” and reinforce the honesty theme.
On March 11, 2012 Mr. Big came to Saskatoon to meet with Cory. John and Mildenberger were also present. John prepped Cory for the meeting telling him to “just tell the truth” and don’t leave anything out. More training wheels. John continued, telling Cory he won’t be judged. He told them both that his uncles had fixed a much bigger problem for him when he was younger.
In April, John took the whole crew out to Vancouver. They ran several scenarios including a meeting with one of John’s uncles during which Cory profusely thanked the man for getting him out of his legal jam reinforcing the idea these crime bosses actually could corrupt justice.
Vance also engineered a scenario in which some rough looking characters randomly run into John at a gentleman’s club. They showed him respect. He told them he was legit now. John also discussed a promotion opportunity for Mildenberger to take over the Saskatchewan territory. Matt testified Mildenberger was very excited about it.
Nothing much happened with the operation in May and there had been no success whatsoever in getting Mildenberger to talk about the murder. Vance decided it was time for a “stimulation scenario” to apply pressure on Mildenberger.
Vance called on Sgt. Chamberlin and another officer to randomly run into John and Mildenberger at Chili’s in Regina. After John and Mildenberger were seated, Chamberlin approached the table. Pretending to be drunk, he belligerently reminded Mildenberger about their interview and told him police were not done with him, that he would be arrested. Chamberlin then turned to John and introduced himself and asked John if he knew he was having dinner with a murderer. The other officer quickly ushered the sergeant out of the restaurant.
At first, Mildenberger denied involvement in the murder, but John still made the offer for his uncles to look into it. After a couple of more lifestyle scenarios, Mildenberger came around setting the stage for a Mr. Big visit on June 5, 2012.
At press time, the Crown had yet to present the testimony of Mr. Big or the confession video.
The Crown was expected to wrap its case last night.
