Letter bomber who cost lawyer her hand says he was framed, wants appeal

A Manitoba man sentenced to life in prison for sending letter bombs wants to appeal and is making more accusations of a conspiracy in the justice system. Guido Amsel, acting as his own lawyer, is asking the province’s Court of Appeal to overturn his convictions on four counts of attempted murder and other charges.

Amsel is accusing one of the three lawyers who had represented him at various points in the proceedings of planting evidence with the Winnipeg Police Service.

“Implanting DNA evidence and exhibit numbers is not legal, it is unlawful,” Amsel wrote in documents filed with the court this week.

Amsel, 52, was convicted in May of sending letter bombs to his ex-wife and two lawyers in 2015, as well as setting an explosive outside his ex-wife’s home two years earlier.

One of the letter bombs exploded, causing severe injuries to Winnipeg lawyer Maria Mitousis, who had represented Amsel’s exwife in a dispute over a company the couple had owned.

The bomb was contained in a recording device, which exploded when Mitousis pressed a play button. She lost her right hand and underwent numerous surgeries.