SASKATOON – The trial of an American man charged with the shooting death of his former girlfriend in 2006 got under way at Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench on Monday.
George Mitchell Allgood, 49, is accused of shooting the mother of his child, Susan Reinhardt, and her boyfriend David Ristow in their City Park home in 2006.
Ristow survived but Reinhardt died in hospital.
Allgood arrived at court with his head hidden, denying charges of first degree murder and attempted murder.
The first witness to take the stand was an RCMP officer who can’t be identified for safety reasons.
He oversaw an undercover operation that lead to Allgood’s arrest in 2010.
He played the part of a crime boss to which Allgood confessed to the shootings.
The court was shown a video recording of the undercover operation where various officers posed as members of a large organized crime gang.
The witness said it was a common tactic to involve the suspect in a series of fictitious crimes until they felt comfortable discussing their criminal history.
But the so called “Mr. Big sting” was a contentious issue for the defence, questioning if the evidence should be admissible.
“Don’t forget the Mr. Big scenarios are not allowed in any other country, Britain doesn’t allow it, United States doesn’t allow it because you’ll hear eventually in our argument that there are many techniques used to intimidate and threaten individuals, you’re maybe seeing some of them today,” said defence lawyer Morris Bodner outside court.
“I’ll leave it up to the judge to watch the tape and decide if Mr Allgood felt that way,” said Crown Prosecutor Robin Ritter.
Reinhardt and Ristow were shot as they lay in their bed in their house in the 800-block of 4th Avenue North in July 2006.
In the video recording played to the court Allgood, who also goes by the name of Reno Trevor Hogg, said he was angry he wasn’t being allowed to see his son, he said he shot at the pair through an open sliding door.
He told the fake crime boss, “I saw an opportune moment, stood at the back of the door and did what i had to do.”
He said he wore gloves and threw the shotgun in a dumpster 4 or 5 blocks away.
The court also heard Allgood walked for an hour and a half to reach the crime scene.
Allgood took notes as the recording was played to the court.
The trial is set down for three weeks and is expected to hear from 18 witnesses.
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