As week two of the marathon attempted murder trial of Guido Amsel continues new video evidence from the Winnipeg Police Service bomb robot has come to light.
Amsel is facing five counts of attempted murder and several explosives-related charges after letter bombs were sent to his ex-wife and two law firms in 2015.
The video is centered around the second scene on Washington Avenue in July 2015 where police detonated a second letter bomb.
READ MORE: New, grisly details surface in case against accused letter bomber Guido Amsel as trial begins
Inspector Brian Miln was a member of the bomb unit at the time and said they “strongly suspected there was a live bomb inside” the auto shop on Washington Avenue.
A package was found inside that had similar writing to the one which exploded the day before on River Avenue, and severely injured lawyer Maria Mitousis.
READ MORE: Winnipeg lawyer injured from letter bomb opens up about experience
“I was able to see some stamps on the package,” Insp. Miln said. “I was able to make out some writing.”
It took nearly an hour of slow maneuvering, methodical movements to be able to line up the robot with the package.
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At the front of the robot, there are two water cannons and green laser beams that make up the “disruption device”. When activated, it propels water at a very high velocity.
“The water would rip apart the circuitry” of an explosive device and essentially short circuit the wiring before it could explode.
“I loaded these cannons and I started to drive it down,” Miln said.
After the cannons were shot, a loud boom can be heard on the video along with an explosion.
“There was a tremendous amount of debris that’s in the air,” Miln said. “It was apparent to me that the package had in fact functioned how it was intended. It exploded.”
Miln said based on the explosion and volume of debris there “was something substantial inside.”
READ MORE: Guido Amsel trial continues in Winnipeg court
Copper fragments were found in the roof and there were letters stamped into some pieces.
Investigators said the device had been shattered in the explosion and only a portion of the message could be made out: Turn what you sto ll your helpers of cr
Other messages were recovered at the River Avenue and Stradbrook Avenue bomb scenes.
On Wednesday, Miln testified about a “sneak and peak” search warrant executed at Amsel’s friend’s house on Minaki Bay.
This particular kind of warrant is a “covert warrant.” It allows officers to go inside a building unbeknownst to the owner. However, it does not give them the ability to seize anything.
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Inside the basement there was a letter punch set found. However, Miln said the punch found in the workshop did not match the size or font of the lettering found stamped into the copper pieces. A disassembled greeting card was also found in the workshop which Miln said was similar to the card located at the Stradbrook Avenue scene.
A second search warrant was also executed at Amsel’s house at 613 Pandora Avenue.
Inside, officers located a “floor to ceiling” safe that held two digital voice recorders and passports. Police previously said at least one of the explosives was stored in a voice recorder.
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