Kurt Churchill — a man who beat a second-degree murder charge last September due to court delays — is fighting for the return of more than $435,000 seized from his home during the investigation.
Crown prosecutors are battling back in court, saying the money is “tainted by criminality” because of Churchill’s alleged connections to the St. John’s drug trade, though he’s never been convicted of a drug offence.
Both sides have filed applications urging Judge James Walsh to decide who should keep the cash.
Churchill was accused of killing 47-year-old James Cody in the early hours of July 5, 2020.
Cody was gunned down outside Churchill’s home on Craigmillar Avenue in St. John’s.
James Cody was charged with drug trafficking in 2010. His case — tossed due to trial delays — helped establish a precedent later used to free his alleged killer. (Submitted photo)
Police later executed a search warrant on the home, and found $435,000 in cash. The RCMP then launched a money laundering investigation, which has not resulted in charges to date.
In December 2021, a Supreme Court judge ruled the police could not hold the cash any longer to aid in their investigation. The Crown then applied to instead seize the cash permanently — not for investigative purposes, but because it is alleged to be the proceeds of crime.
Expert witness reveals Churchill’s bank records
The duelling applications led to a hearing in provincial court on Tuesday, where Crown prosecutor Elaine Reid called on Roberta Sullivan, a forensic accountant with the federal public service, to give an overview of Churchill’s finances.
Sullivan testified she had access to a number of bank accounts associated with Churchill and his businesses — one called Wheels in Motion, as well as one numbered company in Newfoundland and Labrador and one in British Columbia.
Bank documents show Churchill stated he was in the taxi business, Sullivan said. Despite that, she said his bank records indicate he spent very little on vehicles — as low as 75 cents in 2014 — and a modest amount on gasoline.
Sullivan also walked the court through other irregularities, such as him spending only $230 on restaurants and groceries in all of 2015, or when he deposited an entire year’s worth of paycheques from Gladney’s Bus Limited on one day.
“This indicates to me he doesn’t rely on his paycheques for his daily living,” Sullivan said.
WATCH: Doorbell camera captures sound of shots ringing out on Craigmillar Avenue in 2020
Sullivan testified Churchill made about $450,000 of net income over the seven-year period she analyzed, breaking down to about $65,000 a year.
Investigators also found a pile of receipts in Churchill’s home, which showed he made several large purchases with cash.
That cash spending exceeded the cash withdrawals shown in bank statements by $191,630.
“It does appear Mr. Churchill is supplementing his living situation with another source of funds,” Sullivan concluded.
Defence raises potential bitcoin windfall
Churchill’s lawyer, Robby Ash, asked Sullivan about eight other accounts she came across during her analysis, which she believed to belong to Churchill and his companies.
Sullivan said she flagged them for the RCMP, but was not given access to the accounts to analyze them. Ash suggested this meant Sullivan only saw an incomplete picture of Churchill’s finances for the seven-year period from 2014 to 2021. She agreed.
Ash also asked Sullivan if the RCMP told her about Churchill’s investment in bitcoin. She said they did, but it wasn’t part of the mandate for her work.
He then asked if the police had told her Churchill had invested in bitcoin in 2012, when a bitcoin cost $5. She said no.
The current value of a bitcoin is nearly $140,000.
Ash didn’t go into further detail, instead moving on to another line of questioning before wrapping up his cross-examination.
RCMP already taken heat on handling of case
Churchill won’t know the fate of the cash for months, as the hearing is now set over until April, due to a packed court schedule.
Reid is expected to call RCMP officer Chris Harris as her second and likely last witness.
Harris took over the case from Cpl. Laura Purchase, who was reamed out by a judge for her handling of the case in 2021, when the RCMP sought to hold onto the cash as part of its investigation.
Justice Robert Stack said Purchase either “deliberately misled the court” or “was less than forthright in her account” when she said the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to delays in the money laundering investigation, which would necessitate further detention of the cash.
Stack also took issue with Purchase stating in an affidavit that Churchill was connected to the drug trade, while failing to mention he was never convicted of a crime.
“It makes me question the extent to which I can rely on any of her evidence,” Stack wrote.
Kurt Churchill seen following his 2014 arrest in Operation Battalion. He would later be acquitted after his lawyer filed an application about unfair trial delays. (CBC)
Churchill was charged with drug trafficking as part of Operation Battalion in 2014. The charges were eventually dropped, again due to court delays.
On the stand Tuesday, Sullivan said Purchase was her main point of contact on the Churchill case, until Purchase was replaced by Harris.
While the 2021 decision went in Churchill’s favour, the issue of law is different this time around. The Crown will not have to prove it needs the cash as part of an ongoing investigation, but that the money could not have come from a legitimate source and is the proceeds of crime.
The court has double-booked the hearing over an unrelated trial for April 3 and 4, hoping the trial will not proceed on those days. If the trial goes ahead, the rest of the Churchill hearing will be punted to July.
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