Connections made at J.P. Levesque trial between Hobbs, Zaitzeff

The trial ofThunder Bay, Ont.,police chief J.P. Levesque got underway Mondaywith the Crown calling five witnesses, with at least another ten scheduled for the week.

Jason Nicol, the Crown attorney, did not provide an opening statementand went right into bringing witnesses into the courtroom.

Nicol said there will be a number of police officersfrom the RCMP, OPP and Thunder Bay Police Service, along with some civilians.

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Craig Loverin, the first person to take the stand, referred to himself as a friend of Zaitzeff's. He testified that Hobbs told him that he should be careful if Zaitzeff asked him to sign an affidavit regarding the purchase of a house for Mary Voss, who was Zaitzeff's girlfriend at the time.

Voss also faces charges of extortion.

Loverintestified that he was asked to meet up with Hobbs at the Metro on River Street, and Hobbs gave him a USB key, to be handed to Zaitzeff. Hobbs told Loverin the USBdevice contained videos, which would be of interest to Zaitzeff. Loverinsaid he watched some of the videos with Zaitzeff, which included Zaitzeffsaying some profanities to Voss.

Loverintestified that Hobbs and his wife, Marisa, wanted to persuade Zaitzeffto purchase a house for Voss.

Zaitzeffalso faces charges of assault, sexual assault, and sexual-related offences.

Loverinsaid he was concerned about the videos that were given to Zaitzeffand told the RCMP on Dec.8 about the content of the USBkey, while theywere at his workplace to have their vehicles washed.

Corporal David Leonard with the RCMPtold the court thatLoverin seemed concerned on Dec.8, and after speaking with the officers about his concerns involving the videos and USB drive, it was arranged for Loverin to make a statement at the RCMP detachment.

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Loverinmet with RCMPand made a so-called KGB statement, which was taped by the RCMP. Loverinwas informed that his statement would be used in open courtand would hold up as his original statement, even if Loverinchanged his testimony at a later time.

Another RCMP officer, Cst. Daryl Waruk,took the stand in the afternoon, recalling how Loverin said he wanted to deal with the RCMPbecause he was fearful to talk to Thunder Bay Police about the incident with Hobbs.

Under cross-examination, Waruk said Loverinwas concerned that the case would get overlooked, as Hobbs was the mayor.

Critical phone call

Waruk testified that he was a friend of Hobbsand had socialized with him on numerous occasions. He said that, on Nov.23, 2016, Keith Hobbs contactedhim seventimesto speak about the arrest of Zaitzeff. Waruk testified that Hobbs seemed proud of thisand that Hobbs made it sound as if he had played a role in the arrest.

Zaitzeff was arrested on Nov. 23, 2016.

Waruksaid Hobbs called him numerous other times in December, saying he knew there was an investigation going onand that something was said about him and Zaitzeff.

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Waruk immediately met up with his superiors in the Thunder Bay RCMPdetachment, including Staff Sgt. Norm Roy, who then arranged to speak with J.P. Levesque about how Hobbs would be aware of an investigation. A call was made to Levesque on Dec.22, 2016.

Levesque told the RCMP, including Waruk and Roy, who were on the call, that he spoke with Hobbs at a retirement party for then Deputy Police Chief Andy Hay. Levesque told the RCMPhe pulled Hobbs aside, and Levesque told Hobbs that he did not want to take a statementand was not cautioning Hobbs, but said that the RCMPare investigating Hobbs, with a statement from the public that he had been extorting somebody.

Another RCMP officer, Corporal Ron Miller, agreed with Waruk'stestimony on the content of the phone call to Levesque. Miller added that Levesque apologized to the RCMP for not informing them that he had spoken to Hobbs. Levesque offered up the information, said Miller, and did not attempt to conceal any part of the conversation.

Following the conversation with Levesque, the RCMP made the decision to refer the case directly to the OPP. In a previous meeting on Dec.16,Levesque, then Deputy Police Chief Andy Hay and then Inspector Sylvie Hauth all agreed that an outside agency should handle the Hobbs investigation.

The trial continues Tuesdaymorning, with at least ten witnesses expected to be called this week.