‘Long, difficult’ police operation led to MacRae’s confession
Posted Mar 3, 2011 05:43:22 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Repeated interrogation didn’t crack Jason MacRae, so major crime investigators tried a different approach.
MacRae was the top suspect in Paula Gallant’s murder from the beginning, but maintained his innocence through several police interviews.
In October 2009, police launched a covert operation, inventing an organized crime syndicate that gained MacRae’s trust over a span of months using several scenarios.
It was so real to MacRae that he quit a ten-year job at Nova Scotia Power.
“He was prepared to join what he thought was a life of crime and give up the position that he had held for some time,” explained Crown Attorney Denise Smith.
In early August of last year, MacRae met with the imaginary crime boss, who said that he knew police had something on MacRae. The supposed crime boss said his gang could maybe make the problem go away – but first MacRae would have to tell him everything.
Smith says MacRae obliged.
“He ultimately confessed his crime to undercover officers, unbeknownst as to their true identities as police,” she said.
MacRae, believing he was talking to the syndicate’s boss, gave operatives a full walk-through of the murder which was captured on audio and video.
RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae says the operation took considerable resources, with more than 15 officers dedicated to the case.
“Today marks the conclusion of a very long and difficult investigation,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “This investigation was a huge undertaking.”
Police used a similar ruse to elicit a confession from Bridgewater mother Penny Boudreau, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her daughter in January 2009. Boudreau confessed to killing 12-year-old Karissa, also thinking she was talking to an organized crime boss.
Smith says that’s no guarantee the same ruse would or wouldn’t work again in another case.
“Various circumstances that are at play for each individual would determine whether a particular investigative technique would work or not,” she said.
Smith says the fact that MacRae fell for the ploy speaks to his character.
