Jury trial of men charged with murder conspiracy at Coutts blockade to resume

By The Canadian Press on June 11, 2024.

A jury is set to return today to hear evidence in the trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta. A city employees walks over words of support chalked on the sidewalk outside the courthouse as the trial for two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder during the border protest at Coutts, Alta., gets underway in Lethbridge, Alta., Thursday, June 6, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – A jury is set to return today to hear evidence at the trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

The jury heard opening arguments and testimony from an RCMP witness on Thursday.

The trial was tied up over the following days with arguments that are under a publication ban.

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were arrested after RCMP found a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition in trailers.

They are also charged with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and Olienick faces a further charge of being in possession of a pipe bomb.

The blockade paralyzed traffic at the busy Canada-United States border crossing for two weeks.