Ottawa Citizen

Normandy veteran outwitted invader

But Ernest Côté, 101, was able to free himself, call 911, prosecutor tells trial

- MEGAN GILLIS AND GARY DIMMOCK mgillis@postmedia.com gdimmock@postmedia.com

At 101 and stooped over his walker, Ernest Côté may have looked “frail and feeble,” but when a stranger barged into his New Edinburgh condo, bound him with duct tape and covered his head with a plastic bag, he fought to live, the Crown told his alleged assailant’s trial Wednesday.

Ian Bush left him to suffocate, but Côté — who could tell from the condensati­on on the bag that he had mere moments left — struggled to free himself, made it to his bedroom, seized a pair of scissors and cut a hole, James Cavanagh said during his opening statement to the jury Wednesday.

“Mr. Bush utterly underestim­ated Mr. Côté’s toughness and will to live,” Cavanagh said, noting that “appearance­s can be deceiving” because the decorated veteran of the Normandy invasion who went on to become a senior public servant was both tough and absolutely “calm, cool and collected.”

Côté can’t tell the jury what happened on Dec. 18, 2014. He died months later of unrelated causes, but “because he extracted himself from his deadly predicamen­t” he was able to leave behind a videotaped statement to police, Cavanagh said.

Along with attempted murder, Bush, 62, is charged with robbery, unlawful confinemen­t and firearm charges linked to two guns, one a sawed-off rifle Cavanagh said were discovered in subsequent searches.

The prosecutor pointed to a web of evidence against Bush that he said the jury will see and hear, including DNA tests, surveillan­ce video from the lobby of Côté’s building and ATMs where he attempted to use Côté’s credit card. and evidence of travel recorded on bus transfers and on a Presto card to which an OC Transpo employee will testify.

Cavanagh said Côté began his routine that morning of working out on an exercise bike and was in his pyjamas and about to have breakfast when a man claiming to be from the City of Ottawa buzzed, asking to be let inside the building. The buzzer sounded again and the caller asked which apartment he was in. There was a knock at the door.

The “large, strong-looking” stranger took $500 in cash and a credit card, but Côté had the presence of mind to twice give the intruder the wrong PIN — it was really 1913, the year of his birth, but he scrambled the numbers.

Then the assailant bound Côté with duct tape and with the plastic bag over his head tightly sealed with more tape, Cavanagh said. He “worked desperatel­y” to free one hand, injuring his wrist, then made his way to his bedroom and got the scissors as the bag inflated and deflated with every breath.

“He knew he didn’t have long,” Cavanagh said.

Côté cut a hole in the bag so he could breathe but didn’t remove it, knowing it might carry valuable forensic evidence, then called his son, Benoît, and 911. DNA on the duct tape indeed later linked it to Bush, Cavanagh said.

In a bid to identify the robber, police released to the media an image captured by a surveillan­ce camera during an attempt to use Cote’s credit card at Place d’Orléans.

Bush’s common-law wife and adult children realized to their “shock and dismay” that the accused was the man in the picture, Cavanagh said. “They found it initially almost impossible to believe. It was quite horrifying.”

Three of them confronted Bush while a fourth called police who soon arrived to arrest him, Cavanagh said.

Searches of his home at 481 Valade Cres. in Orléans turned up a plastic bag containing a knife, duct tape and Côté’s credit card.

Police also found mail to another resident in Côté’s building at 31 Durham Pvt. The Crown believes this was the intended target of the robbery, but he wasn’t home that day. That man had noticed that his mail was going missing.

Letters found in the home also revealed that Bush was $20,000 in debt yet had arranged to marry a woman in England with whom he was having a relationsh­ip. She’d already bought a wedding dress and rings, the prosecutor said.

“Money wasn’t going to be a problem,” Bush told her, Cavanagh said.

The jury also listened to a voice from the grave.

In a 911 call played in court, Côté sounds calm and in seemingly good spirits for a man who had just been bound, gagged and left to suffocate. His voice is muffled from the bag over his head.

He reports the robbery and says he doesn’t need an ambulance and that he wasn’t injured. When asked his date of birth he says “the 12th of June 1913. Like I’m 101 plus.”

The dispatcher remarks: “That’s uh, incredible.”

“I’m still in good health,” the war vet says.

“Yeah, I hear that,” the dispatcher replies.

Then Côté, having just cheated death, laughs and then says, “This bastard” and blames himself for letting the man in without proper identifica­tion.

Côté said he wouldn’t be so stupid next time. Asked if the attacker had weapons, he laughed and replied, “No ... just brute force.”

His son, Benoit Côté, who testified about his father’s ordeal, was the first to get to the condo, with police in tow. He found his father sitting in his walker, still on the phone with 911, and with the plastic bag over his head.

The son smiled and sometimes laughed from his front row seat in the gallery as he listened to his father’s voice in one of the most lightheart­ed 911 calls ever played at the Elgin Street courthouse.

The trial continues Thursday.

 ??  ?? Ian Bush, 62, is on trial for charges that include the attempted murder and robbery of Ernest Côté, 101, who was tied up in his condo.
Ian Bush, 62, is on trial for charges that include the attempted murder and robbery of Ernest Côté, 101, who was tied up in his condo.
 ?? MIKE CARROCCETT­O (LEFT)/ERROL McGIHON ??
MIKE CARROCCETT­O (LEFT)/ERROL McGIHON

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