Mr. Big trial: Jury hears taped confession obtained through police ruse

The jury at a Montreal courthouse Fridayheard a much-anticipatedtaped confession in the murder trial of Abiram Subramaniama recording that police went to great lengths to obtain.

• Murder suspect met with undercover cops more than 40 times, court hears
• Montreal Mr. Big trial: RCMP paid suspect $18K as part of ruse
• Joshua Williams murder trial: 'Mr. Big' confession front-and-centre

Abiram Subramaniam was heard confessingto the killing of 18-year-old Joshua Williams in March 2011 in a taped conversation with an RCMP agent who Subramaniambelieved wasa major gang leader willing to hire him in a lucrative business.

The conversation begins with the RCMP officer whose real name has been kept hidden telling Subramaniam that the gang hadlearnedpolice were going to arrest him for murder, and that without the help of the gang,he wouldbe arrested soon.

The RCMP officeris heard telling the suspect that police have DNA evidence and that some witnesses are "rats."
He then insists Subramaniam tell him everything so he can cover itup.

Subramaniam initially hesitatesand says that he doesn't feel right.Eventually, Subramaniam opens up and explains that he was drinking beers and smoking with friends when he decided to try to rob his friend Clinton for a ring.

"I just snapped out of nowhere," he says.

Subramaniam then saysthatJoshua Williams intervened to stop the theft. Subramaniamadmitsthat he stabbed Williams five or six times and that he saw thebody fall to the ground.

He then says thathe drove north on Highway 15, stopped on the bridge en route toLaval, put on his vehicle's emergency flashers, smoked a cigaretteand discarded theknife inthe water below.

He thenwent to a cousin's house and burned his clothes.

In the tape, Subramaniamis also heard sayingthere were three witnesses who fled when he stabbed Williams.

The confession came duringthe second meeting between Subramanian and the fake crime boss.

The first meeting took place in an empty dining room in a luxury hotel on Montreal'sSouth Shore after Subramaniam failed a surveillance exercise.The officer told the court Friday that Subramaniam was honest and precise when he recounted the mission.

Their second meeting took placeat a warehouse in Vancouver where he set out to get a confession from Subramaniam.

The same RCMP witness said that he has played a role in 70 to 100 such cases across the country.

His testimony will continue Monday morning.

The confession was the culmination of an elaborate police sting, known as a Mr. Big operation, that aimed to makea case against the accused.

Several other police officers whoalso playedroles in the fake criminal organization have already testified in the case, including oneofficer who testified Thursday that the RCMP had paid Subramaniam$18,000 to work forthe fake crime syndicate.