Cases of 3 people accused of giving N.S. gunman ammunition adjourned until March

The cases of three people charged with giving ammunition to the man responsible for killing 22 Nova Scotians last April were in court briefly Wednesday morning and have been adjourned until March. 

The gunman's common-law spouse, Lisa Banfield, 52, her brother James Blair Banfield, 54, of Beaver Bank, N.S., and her brother-in-law Brian Brewster, 60, of Lucasville, N.S., are accused of unlawfully providing the shooter, Gabriel Wortman, with .223-calibre Remington cartridges and .40-calibre Smith & Wesson cartridges in the month leading up to the massacre that started in Portapique, N.S. 

When RCMP announced the charges in December, the force said in a press release that the three were not aware of Wortman's plans.

None of the accused appeared in provincial court in Dartmouth, N.S., in person. Lawyers representing them called into the arraignment by phone.

Prosecutor Shauna MacDonald said the Crown plans to proceed summarily, meaning the cases will be heard in provincial court and the accused don't have to appear in person. A summary offence is considered less serious than an indictable offence. 

Tom Singleton represented Brewster. Michelle James and Brittni Deveau represented James Banfield. Jessica Zita, a lawyer from the Toronto firm Lockyer Campbell Posner, acted on behalf of Lisa Banfield. 

They told Judge Jean Whalen they were still waiting for disclosure from the Crown and without seeing the evidence that has been gathered, their clients could not yet enter pleas. 

The next court appearance has been scheduled for March 9. 

On April 18 and 19, Wortman killed 22 neighbours, acquaintances and strangers in several rural communities while driving a decommissioned RCMP cruiser adapted to look like a real one. 

Police believe he attacked Lisa Banfield that night and she escaped. The denturist torched their cottage, garage and three other homes before being shot dead by police at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 13 hours after the violence started. 

When police searched the stolen car he was driving, they discovered he was carrying two semi-automatic pistols, two semi-automatic rifles and the service pistol of Const. Heidi Stevenson, whom he had killed.

Wortman did not have a firearms licence and police believe he obtained all the weapons he carried illegally. Search warrant documents show that investigators traced a Ruger Mini 14 .223 calibre rifle to a now-dead Fredericton lawyer who was a friend of Wortman's. 

They determined he also adapted a Glock 23 .40 calibre pistol with an over-capacity magazine. Police found casings from that loaded handgun — which was traced back to Maine — in the Mazda that belonged to Gina Goulet, the last person he killed on April 19.

Banfield has never spoken publicly. She and Wortman were a couple for 19 years and lived above the denture clinic where they worked together in Dartmouth. Search warrant documents show numerous people told investigators Banfield was abused in the relationship. 

She is suing Wortman's estate, valued at $2.1 million. It includes six properties, three corporations and $705,000 in cash seized from the wreckage of the couple's cottage in Portapique.

In her statement of claim, which was filed with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Banfield said she was the victim of assault and battery, and she suffered physical, emotional and psychological injuries and trauma.

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