Explosion sent accused bomber’s former lawyer to police, court told

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This article was published 27/11/2017 (2622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An accused bomber’s former lawyer said she had “concerns” that prompted her to go to police after she learned about a law office explosion more than two years ago.

“I had concerns that a former client of mine, Mr. Amsel, was involved in the bombing,” Sarah McEachern testified Monday morning during the attempted murder trial for 51-year-old Guido Amsel.

Amsel, who now faces several counts of attempted murder as well as aggravated assault, mischief and weapons and explosives-related offences, was represented by McEachern during a civil suit brought against him by his ex-wife, Iris Amsel, to settle a business dispute.

One of the suspicious packages he’s accused of mailing exploded in the hands of his ex-wife’s lawyer, Maria Mitousis. A second one was detonated by police near Iris Amsel’s Washington Avenue workplace. McEachern said when she heard about the second package, she worried about Amsel’s involvement and went to talk to police at about 4 a.m. July 5, 2015.

A third explosive package would be discovered at her former law office, addressed to senior lawyer George Orle, later that day.

“I had serious concerns for my safety and the safety of others,” McEachern said.

McEachern stopped working for Amsel in September 2014, when she withdrew from his civil case after a private meeting with him. Orle, who also testified briefly Monday morning, was present at the meeting.

“I brought him to reinforce certain advice that I was giving,” to Amsel, McEachern said. Provincial court Judge Tracey Lord ruled McEachern and Orle would not be allowed to testify about their discussions with Amsel during that meeting in order to avoid violating solicitor-client privilege.

McEachern formally withdrew as Amsel’s lawyer during a court appearance on Sept. 23, 2014. She testified Monday that she asked a colleague to attend the court appearance with her because of her “concerns” about Amsel, but the colleague couldn’t accompany her.

Afterward, she said Amsel stopped her outside the courtroom, wanting to ask her one question in the hallway.

“He said, ‘Did Iris or Maria Mitousis pay you?’ And what I took that to mean was whether or not I had been bought off. And I said, ‘No Guido. I’ve honestly just been trying to help you and do my best through this, but I can’t help you anymore.’ At which point, he said, ‘This is all going to come out in the end.'”

McEachern testified Amsel seemed “fairly agitated” during their conversation in the hallway. In response to defence lawyer Saheel Zaman’s questions during cross-examination, she agreed he didn’t verbally threaten her at the time.

Guido Amsel’s ex-wife Iris previously testified she and her husband divorced in 2004 but continued to work together at their autobody business for about five years afterward until their working relationship broke down and they decided to dissolve their business partnership. Iris said Guido didn’t pay her the money he owed to buy out her stake in the business, so she took him to court, launching the civil suit that Mitousis and McEachern were working on.

An explosion at her River Avenue law office on July 3, 2015 severely injured Mitousis and resulted in the loss of her right hand. Two more bombs were found in mailed envelopes near Iris’s workplace on Washington Avenue and at McEachern and Orle’s former law office on Stradbrook Avenue. They exploded after police bomb robots shot them with a water cannon.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay