Witnesses have testified about brutal cold along the border between Manitoba and Minnesota, where a family from India froze to death in early 2022 while trying to walk into the United States.
Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel are accused of being part of a ring that flew Indian nationals to Canada then had them walk across the border.
A meteorologist told the men’s trial in Fergus Falls, Minn., that there was blowing snow and wind chill values below -30 C on the day Shand was arrested in a van south of the border.
Hours later, the frozen bodies of a couple and their two children were found just metres north of the border, and authorities said they were part of a group of 11 that had been walking for hours on the open prairie.
The trial also heard from a gas plant worker who came across Shand’s van stuck in a ditch, and who said it was obvious the weather was not good for travelling.
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Patel and Shand have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to transport aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.
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