ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Tara Bradbury
The Telegram
@tara_bradbury
Police Operation Tarantula started as an investigation into Dustin Etheridge's alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Armed with information from sources and other intelligence, police obtained authorization to intercept Etheridge's phone calls and texts and to plant hidden recording devices in his home and a business.
On a day two months after the investigation began, police officers got the sense something was about to go down, and it wasn't drug-related.
"This day there were plans being put in place and there seems to be an urgency to get things done," explained RNC Sgt. Chris Hussey, who was, at the time, a member of the RNC/RCMP Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
That same day, police arrested Etheridge and his friend John Squires, charging them both with conspiracy to commit murder as well as firearms offences. When they were apprehended, Squires was allegedly carrying a loaded handgun.
Three months later, Brandon Glasco and Shane Clarke were also arrested and charged with participating in the murder plot.
The potential murder victim, police say, was Bradley Summers, a man once alleged to have ties to the Hells Angels outlaw biker gang.
While Etheridge, 28, was not in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John's Tuesday afternoon, he was a subject of most of the evidence presented as the trial for Squires, 36, Glasco, 21, and Clarke, 26, got underway.
Etheridge's case has been severed from the other men's. While they have pleaded not guilty, he has admitted his guilt when it comes to murder conspiracy, a weapons offence and drug trafficking charges. He's set to be sentenced at the end of the month.
Nevertheless, his voice rang loudly through the courtroom on a series of wiretapped cellphone conversations obtained by police in April and May of 2018. There are roughly 100 recordings in all, the court heard, though only a handful have been played so far.
"You making any progress or what?" Etheridge is heard in one phone conversation with a man alleged to be Squires. "I got some info that could speed this up real quick."
"Drop up to the house later," Squires replied.
In another call, Etheridge asked Squires about, "That thing I loaned you," saying, "There's another one kicking around, but I want that one."
"We need to do something," he said at another time.
In another short phone call, Etheridge appeared upset at a man police say is Glasco.
"I told you to be here," Etheridge said in a raised voice. "Why didn't you do what I told you? I can't wait here with this shit, man."
"I'll be there in two seconds," Glasco replied.
Some of the conversations appear to be in code, with the men referring to an unknown "she."
"Are you still with her?" Etheridge asked Glasco in a phone call.
"Yep, just up in my room," Glasco replied.
"Is she up there with you?"
"Yep, right here."
More wiretap recordings will be presented as Hussey's testimony continues Wednesday. He is the first of 17 witnesses prosecutor Lloyd Strickland intends to call to the stand over the course of the three-week trial. Fifteen of them are police officers.
"The Crown expects to call evidence that, in our submission, proves that there was a conspiracy and that John Squires, Brandon Glasco and Shane Clarke are parties to that conspiracy. Dustin Etheridge was clearly the leader, we expect the evidence to demonstrate that, but the other three did communicate for the furtherance of this conspiracy. They agreed with the execution of same and they assisted in the planning of this offence and the Crown submits that each took substantial steps in the execution of the plan," Strickland told the court.
Strickland said police grew concerned that the plot to murder Summers was being put into action, and tracked both Summers and Etheridge with surveillance teams throughout the day on May 16, 2018.
"On the evening of May 16, the task force completed a takedown and arrested Dustin Etheridge and John Squires a relatively short distance away on the very same street as Brad Summers. Upon arrest, the officers discovered that John Squires had a loaded firearm on his person," Strickland said.
Of the three men on trial, Squires is the only one in custody. He sat in the prisoner's dock Tuesday, while Clarke and Glasco sat at a table along the side of the courtroom.
Before things got underway, Squires changed his pleas to charges of carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a restricted firearm with ammunition and breaching a firearms prohibition order, pleading guilty to them instead.
"At the end of the trial it will be clear how he's guilty," defence lawyer Derek Hogan told Justice Robert Stack, when Stack asked how the facts of those offences would be read into the court record.
All three men are also facing charges related to cocaine trafficking, while Glasco also has weapons charges.
The day after Etheridge and Squires' arrest, investigators executed search warrants at residences, hotels and businesses in the St. John's area, seizing seven kilograms of cocaine, about $240,000 in cash, drug trafficking paraphernalia, 20 firearms and ammunition, a 2014 Cadillac CTS and a 2012 Dodge Dually truck.
At least three other men were charged with drug offences as part of Operation Tarantula, which police say spanned Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
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