WATCH: New video was released today in the terror trial involving a BC couple allegedly plotting to blow up the BC legislature. Rumina Daya reports.
VANCOUVER – A British Columbia man was anxious about carrying out his alleged plan to attack the provincial legislature on Canada Day without guns and constantly worried about leaving even the smallest trace of DNA on his homemade pressure-cooker bombs, a terrorism trial has heard.
John Nuttall and his wife Amanda Korody were charged in July 2013 after an RCMP investigation that captured dozens of hours of video recordings.
The videos have followed the couple as they developed their plan and shared the details with an undercover officer, who they believed was an Arab businessman.
In the latest video played for the jury, recorded on June 28, 2013, Nuttall and Korody are alone in a motel room south of Vancouver, where they are building bombs using plans they found on the Internet.
Nuttall curses several times and raises his voice as he insists he and Korody must be armed on Canada Day. He says he isn’t doing anything without a gun.
“I will not — no,” he says.
“He (the officer) can give it to me and say, ‘Don’t fire it until you see me fire it first or unless fired upon,’ I’ll accept those rules.”
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In previous videos, Nuttall has repeatedly asked the officer to secure automatic weapons, such as an AK-47, an Uzi or a sniper rifle. Nuttall has suggested his extensive experience playing paintball would help him use a gun, though he said Korody might need to be trained.
The officer has been non-committal on the subject, saying he’ll look into it but not promising to acquire guns for the couple.
Nuttall is also depicted in the videos as someone who is extremely worried about leaving anything that could contain DNA on the pressure-cooker bombs, tools, or in the hotel room.
He is seen cleaning the pressure cookers and wearing gloves whenever he handles them. Earlier, he has told Korody they must leave the hotel room “Jason Bourne-clean,” referring to the spy movies.
In the latest video, he warns Korody that just by touching a nail — which he plans to include in the bombs as shrapnel — she may leave evidence that could be traced back to them. He scolds her for picking one up.
“If you hadn’t have remembered which (nail you picked up), I would have had to go buy all new nails and I would have had to start all over again,” he says.
The Crown has told jurors they will see evidence that shows Nuttall and Korody place pressure-cooker bombs on the lawn of the legislature early in the morning on Canada Day. The bombs were timed to explode about 15 minutes apart starting at 10 a.m., the Crown has said, but the RCMP ensured the bombs were inert.
Nuttall has explained in the videos that he wants to launch an attack because of the Canadian military’s involvement in Muslim countries.
Nuttall and Korody each face four charges, including conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to place explosives on behalf of a terrorist group.
They have both pleaded not guilty.
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