Cop defends undercover cop in murder trial

Article originally appeared in: Calgary Sun

The Calgary cop who posed as a “major league” criminal to draw a confession from triple-murder suspect [The Accused] insisted the accused’s statements were true.

Det. Reynold Bangloy told a city jury Friday he believes [The Accused] was being truthful when he admitted his involvement in Calgary’s New Year’s Day massacre.

Defence lawyer Greg Dunn grilled the veteran undercover officer on comments [The Accused] made during a three-month, undercover sting operation.

“Is it possible the statements and comments that [The Accused] provided ... were the result of him simply attempting to fit into this criminal organization?” Dunn asked.

“Boasting to you about past episodes that never happened in order to make him seem more like your character,” the lawyer continued.

“I don’t think so,” Bangloy said.

Dunn suggested by cops committing fake acts of violence “someone may be enticed into admitting something they didn’t do.”

“Absolutely not,” Bangloy said.

“When it came right down to it, and he was talking about the offence here, that was real,” the detective said.

“I was the one closest to the target.”

But Dunn suggested Bangloy may have been too tight with [The Accused] to know when he was embellishing the truth.

“You don’t think that you suffered from a little tunnel vision here?” Dunn said.

“No, because my job was to obtain that truth,” Bangloy said.

[The Accused] faces three charges of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of gangster Sanjeev Mann, his associate, Aaron Bendle, and innocent bystander Keni Su’a.

During his cross-examination, Bangloy admitted to Dunn he introduced [The Accused], a gang member himself with the 403 Soldiers, into a criminal world he had not yet encountered.

“We’re a step above his 403 Soldiers crew, but he was already in this lifestyle,” Bangloy said to suggestions [The Accused] was in over his head with the group.

“It was a step up,” the officer said.

“We were in the major leagues — the 403 Soldiers were in the minor leagues.”

Among the perks [The Accused] witnessed, was counting $150,000 cash and spending an afternoon on a Yacht near Vancouver with a group of undercover cops the day before he met the organization’s Mr. Big.