Murder suspect met with undercover cops more than 40 times, court hears

Undercover police created a complex, fictitious world over the course of several months in an attempt to gain the trust of a murder suspect, one of the officers involved in the plan testified Wednesday in Montreal.

Abiram Subramaniam, 23, is charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of 18-year old Joshua Williams in 2011.The young man was stabbed while at a parking lot in Montreal'sPlaza Cte-des-Neiges.

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The jury in the Quebec Superior Court trial, which began Nov. 5, has already heard that police went ahead with a controversial "Mr. Big" operation,where officers attempt to recruit the suspect into a fake organization in the hopes of getting a confession, after an eyewitness to the crime was reluctant to cooperate.

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canadaupheld a lower court ruling in Newfoundland, in a decision that puts stricter rules on how policeobtain confessions through such sting operations.

'Cover man'

The witness in the Montreal case, who testified behind a screen on Wednesdayto protect his identity, is being referred to as the "cover man" because, in this case, he was tasked with coaching the undercover officers with their stories during the sting.

We were portraying a bunch of criminals, so we talked like them, we dressed like them, drove fancy cars.- Undercover police officer who testified Wednesday

The cover man told the courtmembers of his team met with the suspect more than 40 times over a three-month period, and during some of those encounters, Subramaniam was paid for his work.

The cover man is a 29-year veteran of the RCMP, with most of those years spent undercover.

He currently works on a specialized joint force, with undercover agents from the RCMP, the Suret du Quebec, andMontreal police.

The man told the court his force was approached by the Montreal police in May 2012, and was asked to take over the undercover operation because Montreal officers didn't feel they had the right experience.

They had already made contact with the suspect, who was then 19 years old.

"We were portraying a bunch of criminals, so we talked like them, we dressed like them, drove fancy cars," the witness said.

'Are you a cop?'

The undercover operation faced a major challenge at one point, the court heard.

Subramaniam correctly guessed the first officer to approach him, known as "Maria," was an undercover cop, the court heard.

After the initial contact at a gym where the suspect worked out, Maria was not part of the three-month undercover operation.

She told the court Tuesday that she had ignored flirtatious messages from Subramaniam, including one where he declared he had fallen in love with her the first day they had met.

Maria later told him she was not interested in a relationship, and after several weeks, she broke off contact.

On Aug. 10, 2012, she received a text message from the accused that read: "Are you a cop?"

She testified that she called to ask why Subramaniam believed that. He responded that he had not written the message.

More than two weeks later, Subramaniam sent another text that read: "I'm sorry, you're not a cop, you're a goddess. I need to see you. Can you answer my calls?"

The jury is expected to see the accused's videotaped confession, obtained as part of the undercover operation, later this week.