Killer proudly showed off illegal firearms
HALIFAX — The gunman who killed 22 Nova Scotians in a 13-hour rampage in April 2020 had a bent for buying, illegally importing, firing, displaying and showing off highpowered firearms.
On April 19, 2020, the final day of the two-day rampage, RCMP recovered five firearms from the grey Mazda3 that the killer, Dartmouth denturist Gabriel Wortman, had stolen from his 22nd victim, Gina Goulet, less than two hours earlier.
The weapons recovered from the Mazda3 after the perpetrator was shot and killed by RCMP at the Enfield Big Stop were a Glock 23 pistol with a laser-point grip, a Ruger P89 pistol, a Colt carbine semi-automatic rifle, a Ruger mini-14 semi-automatic rifle and the RCMP issue Smith & Wesson handgun that he stole from Const. Heidi Stevenson after killing her that morning at the cloverleaf interchange in Shubenacadie.
The RCMP recovered a black 40mm Aftermath handgun from the residence of Greg and Jamie Blair, the first two of the killer's victims in Portapique on the evening of April 18. The RCMP also recovered nine firearms from the Wentworth residence of Sean McLeod and Alanna Jenkins, who were also victims of the mass killings on the morning of April 19.
The commission does not have evidence that the firearms recovered from those residences belonged to the killer.
The killer did not have and had never applied for a firearms licence but evidence from his common-law wife, neighbours and acquaintances show that he had a number of weapons at his residence in Portapique, a coastal community in Colchester County.
Commission lawyer Amanda Byrd, in presenting a foundational document Tuesday morning at the public inquiry in Dartmouth, said it is illegal in Canada to possess a firearm without a licence.
On April 28, 2020, Lisa Banfield, the killer's common-law wife, told commission investigators that he had “Rambo” and military-style guns and two handguns, one of which she believed was a Glock.
Banfield said the killer purchased the firearms in the United States and brought them into Canada, hidden under the cover that extended over the bed of his truck.
HIDING SPOTS
Banfield told police that the killer had a hiding spot for a gun in one of the liquor dispensers in the bar at the Portapique warehouse he owned. She said the killer kept a long “military gun” in a small cavity in a stone bench.
She said the perpetrator acquired a number of “hunting type” firearms from Tom Evans, a now-deceased friend of the perpetrator.
Banfield said the perpetrator had two handguns, one black and one silver, which both had lasers attached. He kept one of these handguns in his nightstand in the bedroom.
Banfield said the killer once showed her a gun that shot 32 rounds and that he showed his guns to “other people,” several of whom, including family members of the killer and Banfield, neighbours, friends and acquaintances, are quoted in the document attesting to having been shown various firearms.
The killer's willingness to show off his stock of weapons, along with several threats he issued, led to police complaints.
“In June of 2010, police received a complaint from the perpetrator's father (Paul Wortman) that the perpetrator had told his uncle that he was going to drive to his parents' house and kill them,” Byrd recounted from the document.
"The investigating officer from Halifax Regional Police, Sgt. (Cordell) Poirier, spoke to the perpetrator's father, who said he was still convinced that his son had weapons in the cottage in Portapique, although he said the last time he had seen them was five years prior.”
Without recent knowledge of the weapons, a public safety warrant could not be obtained, police reported.
Poirier spoke to Banfield and the killer about weapons. Banfield reported that there were no weapons in the house and the killer said he only had a pellet gun and two inoperable antique muskets. That police file was closed Aug. 25, 2010, because Paul Wortman did not contact police again and Poirier was unable to reach him.
Const. Greg Wiley of the Bible Hill RCMP detachment, who had had previous contact with the killer, told Poirier that he would attempt to speak to the perpetrator about the complaint.
Wiley said in a statement that he had not seen weapons or a gun rack in the killer's Portapique residence.
On May 4, 2011, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Nova Scotia issued an officer safety bulletin to all police agencies about the killer, stating that information had been received that he “wanted to kill a cop” and was in possession of at least one handgun, and potentially several long rifles.
Cpl. Greg Densmore, the Truro Police Service officer who authored the bulletin, said in an interview after the mass killings that the information came from an unknown individual who approached him while he was on duty.
ILLEGAL WEAPONS COMPLAINT
Brenda Forbes, a former Portapique neighbour of the killer, told the RCMP in a May 14, 2020, statement that she had reported to the RCMP in the summer of 2013 her belief that the perpetrator had illegal weapons.
The 2013 statement by Forbes was part of her complaint about a domestic violence incident involving the killer and Banfield. Forbes said she had seen the weapons in 2007 or 2008. Forbes said two RCMP officers spoke to her and she said the perpetrator's uncle, Glynn Wortman, who was a witness to the incident leading to her domestic violence call, would not speak to the RCMP because he was afraid the perpetrator would kill him.
Forbes said the officers told her they had no proof there were any weapons, but they would keep an eye on the perpetrator.
Forbes later told media that the killer forced her and her husband, both members of the military, to sell their Portapique house and move to Halifax because they feared for their lives. Still not feeling safe, the couple moved to western Canada, Forbes said. The Glock 23 recovered in the Mazda3 after the perpetrator was killed was traced to the United States. It was purchased as a used item by Sean Conlogue, a friend of the killer's living in Maine, on Nov. 21, 2009.
The killer obtained the Glock 23 from Conlogue in Maine and in statements made to U.S. authorities, Conlogue said he kept his firearms, including a Glock 23 pistol and a Glock 36 pistol, in a locked bedroom he used for storage.
Conlogue told the RCMP in a May 20, 2020, statement that he was aware that the perpetrator took the Glocks without his knowledge sometime in 2017 or 2018. Conlogue said the killer, after returning to Canada from a visit to Maine, told him he took the firearms because he needed them for protection.
The foundational document also described the shells recovered and the firearms that could be identified as discharging rounds at the 12 murder scenes and the three scenes where victims were injured.