J-Tornado police agent grilled by defence over 'memory problems'

The man hired by policeto collect evidence against Saint John drug suspects struggled with his memory in court on Monday, but stuckto his story that Shane Williams is the major dealer in the ongoing trial,not him.

"I'm going to put it to you you supplied him (Williams) with cocaine," said Williams's defence lawyer Brian Munro.

"No," replied the man, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

"I was hooking him up with people.I know people who know people.I would say, 'Shane Williams wants a kilo of coke.'"

Williams, of Smithtown, and Joshua Kindred, of Saint John,have been on trial in Court of Queen's Bench for various drug possession, trafficking and conspiracy charges since April.

The co-accused, who are both in their 30s,were among 28 people arrested by police in September 2014 as part of Operation J-Tornado, a three-year investigation into drug trafficking in New Brunswick. They remain in custody.

The investigation depended heavily on evidence gathered by a Saint John businessman, and former friend of Williams, who has been giving evidence at the trial for nearly two weeks.

'I am being honest now'

Munro has been suggesting the man is a skilled deceiver, who lied for years to Williams about their friendship, to the police about his own drug-dealing, and is beingno different at trial in the witness box.

"I am being honest now," the man insisted.

He acknowledged going to dinner at Williams's home, attending a barbeque at Williams's house and attending Williams's 2009 wedding, even as he was informing on him to police.

"Did you consider him a friend?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We were together all the time."

Munro pressed for details on who he called in Montreal to set Williams up with cocaine, but he could not give a name.

"I can't remember.I didn't even really know the guy," he said.

He said he also couldn't recall when he first set Williams up with a supplier in Montreal.

"In 2007?" asked Munro.

You seem to have serious memory problems.Do you have a medical condition? A mental illness?- Brian Munro, defence lawyer

"I can't remember."

"In 2008?"

"I don't know."

"In 2009?"

"I'm not denying it. I just can't remember," he said.

"You seem to have serious memory problems.Do you have a medical condition? A mental illness?" asked Munro.

"No,"said the man, although he continued to be hazy on other details throughout the day.

He said he could not remember how much police paid him to inform on Williams and others, starting in 2007, or whether he ever informed on a particularsuspect Munroinquired about.

"I can't remember.Can you show me a picture?"

Munro showed him a police report where the manwas said to have informed on the suspect for buying twokilograms of cocaine, buteven that did not seem to refresh his memory.

'The big guy'

Munro asked about another police report in 2013, where he tells his handlers he is "perceived to be the big guy behind Shane Williams."

"What did you mean by that?" asked Munro.

"I don't know what that meant exactly," he said. "I take that meant I'm the bigger-sized guy."

Munro suggested it really meant he was Williams's boss and went on to challenge the man about drug deals he made in Montreal, Fredericton, Moncton, Halifax and Saint John while the J-Tornado investigation was underway.

The man denied each of them, claims Munro suggested he may return to later in the trial.

The day ended with Kindred's lawyer Reid Chedore beginning his own cross-examination of the man, which will continue after a nine-day break, onJune 15.