A Case Of Vandalism Of Wiebo Ludwig

Ludwig trial put cash-strapped RCMP under scrutiny BOB WEBER EDMONTON (CP) - Wiebo Ludwig was the defendant, but many times it seemed the RCMP were the ones on trial. Eight weeks of testimony at Ludwig's oilpatch vandalism trial raised repeated questions about a police force relying on tired, outdated equipment and in danger of taking bids on its integrity. But it's not the first time. The Ludwig trial revealed only the latest example of a national icon so stretched that it sometimes no longer even tries to get its man.

The trial sputtered to a close Thursday with allegations of abuse of process and 10 charges against Ludwig and friend Richard Boonstra abandoned along the way for lack of evidence. During the investigation, energy companies victimized by repeated vandalism in northwestern Alberta grew so frustrated by the slowness of RCMP response that they helped set up a community group they could use to funnel money to police.

Defence lawyer Paul Moreau said that biased the police so badly that Ludwig should be cleared even if the evidence pointed to his guilt.

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And when the RCMP did get serious, their covert agent relied on a 30-year-old hidden tape recorder that produced tapes so distorted that they seriously hindered the prosecution. It's all too familiar to Cpl. Mike Funicelli, president of the British Columbia Mounted Police Association. "The issue of a shortage of resources, both human and financial, is clearly documented," he sighs. In B.C., the fabled RCMP closed dozens of commercial crime files last fall because there weren't resources to investigate them.

Some officers are responding to calls with personal vehicles. In an effort to raise money, some RCMP vehicles in B.C. bear both the logo of the force and those of corporate sponsors.

The vehicles are used for community police officers, not enforcement. But Funicelli calls it "a very, very fine line. "Whether it's used for enforcement or not, in my view it's a clear ethical breach of the office we hold. We cannot become a private police force for anybody. "If I am a sponsor and I place my logo on a car, I may expect preferential treatment." Journalist Paul Palango has written two books on the ailing RCMP and the developments of the Ludwig trial didn't surprise him, either. "The RCMP right across the country are doing this. They're soliciting funds from local businesses in various communities to help them, say, with undercover work or whatever. "They just don't have the resources. "Politicians are complicit in this . . . They're getting policing on the cheap, and when you get it on the cheap you get what you pay for. "You can't have policing operating as a business. You can't have police operating too close to the public or too close to the powerful elements in that public."

The federal government tacitly acknowledged the force's problems this year when it boosted RCMP funding in the budget by $584 million over three years. But the problems aren't just financial, says Palango. "It's a combination of factors - the cutbacks, the bureaucratic inertia and the promotion system." The RCMP polices everything from small Prairie towns to major offences to international crimes. The different roles have little to do with each other, yet officers in search of promotion are moved freely between branches. "They're being torn in every possible way, so you're not getting the right people in the right positions," Palango says. Sgt. Bob Bilodeau, former head of the northwestern Alberta detachment where Ludwig lives, has said both resources and inertia were factors in the Ludwig investigation.

The first reports of vandalism came in as early as 1996, but he says senior RCMP officials refused to recognize its potential to escalate. "Violence always escalates," says Bilodeau, now on leave after a seven-month tour in the former Yugoslavia. He blames the RCMP for both the problems with the prosecution's case and the death of Karman Willis, a 16-year-old girl who was shot on Ludwig's Trickle Creek Farm last summer. No one was ever charged in the shooting.

Last month, during the vandalism trial, Bilodeau wrote a letter to prosecutor George Combe in which he said the RCMP failed to disclose information because it drew attention to its inaction. "From all the available evidence, it only appears that we (the RCMP), in order to protect our prior inaction in the earliest stages of the global series of events that surround the matters before the court, dug a hole to cover the prior inaction. "It appears that we have continued to dig that same hole, until . . . we managed to bury a 16-year-old girl in that same hole."

Whether or not the RCMP bear any blame for Willis's death, their oilpatch vandalism investigation may cost the Crown any convictions against Ludwig and Boonstra on the remaining 27 charges. Officials of Alberta Energy Company testified that they were growing increasingly frustrated by the RCMP's lack of results in investigating incidents of vandalism. Although they weren't mentioned at the trial, some of the early incidents were quite serious. In one, someone placed a propane cylinder inside a shack at a sour gas well and fired bullets at it. Fortunately, the cylinder didn't explode, which could have released deadly sour gas over a wide area.

After repeated meetings with the RCMP over such incidents, AEC officials concluded the problem was lack of resources. Defence lawyer Paul Moreau has claimed that the money and other assistance provided by the energy companies allowed them to steer the police in the direction of Ludwig, a vocal critic of their industry. Because of that, Moreau says Justice Sterling Sanderman should clear Ludwig even if the evidence points to his guilt. During the trial, Sanderman referred to the possibility of an "unholy alliance" between the RCMP and Alberta Energy Company - although evidence did show the RCMP rebuffed offers of help from AEC's security firm. Sanderman is expected to deliver his ruling on April 19. Alberta RCMP will wait and see what he says before deciding if they need to examine their role, said Supt. Dennis Massey. "The evidence is before the court, it's in their hands. Let them make their decision and we'll go from there." But Funicelli shakes his head at the whole mess. He hopes the new funding will prevent it from happening again, but asks why the situation exists in the first place. "If we had that kind of funding going back a few years, we would not have to compromise our position as we have, I think."

A quick primer of the case facing Wiebo Ludwig and Richard Boonstra and highlights of the arguments: Counselling - Five counts. Crown points to wiretap evidence of Ludwig and RCMP informant Robert Wraight discussing purchase of dynamite and Ludwig paying for it. Defence says tape shows purchase was Wraight's idea, not Ludwig's. Vandalism conspiracy - Nine counts, relating to attacks on two wells. Crown has suggestive wiretap comments on bombs and timers, defendant's arrest near bombed wellsite, explosive residue on Ludwig's hands, video and photos of burning wellhead in Ludwig's possession. Defence says comments are ambiguous, evidence circumstantial, Wraight's testimony unreliable. Explosives conspiracy - Three counts relating to possession. Crown has wiretap of defendants discussing purchase, videotape of them picking up fake dynamite. Defence says purchase was Wraight's idea, no dynamite found at Trickle Creek. Explosives possession - One count. Crown points to pickup of fake dynamite. Defence suggests RCMP entrapment.