Hearing for partner of Nova Scotia mass killer put over, no plea entered

The common-law wife of the man responsible for the country’s largest mass shooting did not enter a plea Wednesday during her arraignment on charges of providing him with the ammunition used in last spring’s massacre in northern Nova Scotia.

Instead, during a teleconference hearing, at which Lisa Banfield was not present, lawyer Jessica Zita settled another court date in March to enter a plea, pending further disclosure from the Crown.

Banfield, 52, of Dartmouth, had been charged with unlawfully transferring ammunition between March 17, 2020 and April 18, 2020. James Banfield, 64, of Sackville and Brian Brewster, 60, of Sackville face the same charges.

Lawyers for James Banfield and Brian Brewster also held off entering a plea until the March court date.

Those charges are the only ones to be brought by police since the investigation into the killings began.

Police stated in laying the charges that, based on their investigation, the three accused had no prior knowledge of the gunman’s actions on April 18-19.

The ammunition specifically cited by police was .223-calibre Remington cartridges and .40-calibre Smith & Wesson cartridges. RCMP investigators allege that the ammunition was purchased and trafficked in Nova Scotia.

Gabriel Wortman, a 51-year-old denturist, terrorized residents of Colchester County last spring when he went on a murderous rampage, beginning with an assault on Banfield in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18.

She managed to escape captivity and hid out in the woods surrounding the property until finding police the next morning.

Over the next 13 hours, Wortman killed 22 people in four different communities — including one RCMP officer — shot pets and set homes and cars on fire.

During much of that rampage, he was driving a replica RCMP car and wearing a Mountie uniform.

The killings ended April 19, when police spotted him and killed him at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., almost 100 kilometres from Portapique.

A public inquiry has been launched by the federal and provincial governments. The three commissioners on the inquiry panel are expected to produce an interim report in May 2022, with a final report coming in November of the same year.

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