Atlantic Update – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
May 24, 2017

(Dalhousie-Homicide)

A Halifax police detective says he examined a bloodied tarp and duffel bag found on a farm belonging to William Sandeson’s family.

Detective-Constable James Wasson testified yesterday about the items seized from a farm near Truro.

He is accused of killing 22-year-old Taylor Samson in August 2015, but his body has never been found.

Wasson told the jury he also photographed and swabbed a nine-millimetre Smith and Wesson handgun found inside a safe in Sandeson’s bedroom.

(Global News)

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(NS-Lobster-Losses)

High winds are again causing havoc for a lobster fishing area off Nova Scotia.

Winds first delayed the start of the season and fishermen from Alder Point to Port Morien now say they’ve lost thousands of dollars in traps that were blown on shore and smashed by more winds this past weekend.

Workers at the dock at Glace Bay harbour say the damage is widespread, with some trap sets being wiped out completely.

Fishermen say the loss of the traps has also destroyed female lobsters which could affect future catches.

(Cape Breton Post)

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(RCMP-Labour-Trial)

A senior Mountie says he’s not sure additional training or guns would have made a difference for officers responding to a shooting rampage in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2014.

Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brosseau made the statement in testimony yesterday at the R-C-M-P’s Labour Code trial in Moncton provincial court.

The force is accused of failing to provide members and supervisors with the appropriate information, instruction, equipment and training in an active-shooter event.

Carbine rifles were not available to front line officers during Justin Bourque’s shooting rampage and Crown witnesses have testified the high-powered weapons could have made a difference in the tragedy that killed three Mounties and wounded two others.

(The Canadian Press)

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(RCMP-Harassment-Suit)

A settlement in a class-action lawsuit over sexually harassed Mounties is expected to get the green light today.

The approval paves the way for tens of millions of dollars to start flowing to the women involved.

One key part of the agreement is that the victims can make a claim for compensation without the R-C-M-P knowing who they are.

Former RCMP officer Janet Merlo who now lives in Newfoundland says she suffered depression, panic attacks and other health effects due to her mistreatment.

(The Canadian Press)

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(NB-Domestic-Violence)

The New Brunswick government is setting up services for victims of intimate partner violence for three First Nations communities in the Miramichi region.

The Eel Ground First Nation is providing office space for the program, and an outreach co-ordinator will travel to two other nearby aboriginal communities to meet with women.

A co-ordinator will also help aboriginal women living off First Nations.

The program is offering crisis intervention, risk assessment, safety planning, sexual assault services, and the arrangement of safe meeting places.

(The Canadian Press)

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(Atlantic Update by The Canadian Press)

(The Canadian Press, Sydney Cape Breton Post)

INDEX: ATLANTIC