VANCOUVER — An accused terrorist described as the perfect, submissive, Muslim wife lived an isolated life marred by poverty and drug-addiction before undercover police ensnared her in a plot to blow up the provincial legislature, a B.C. court has heard.
Amanda Korody's lawyer, Mark Jette, presented his closing submissions to a B.C. Supreme Court jury on Wednesday, depicting his client as the victim of both a controlling husband and an overeager RCMP operation intent on "pulling her into their orbit."
"You might be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that Ms. Korody is rather impressionable," Jette told the jury. "You might conclude that Ms. Korody drank the Kool-Aid more than once."
Addressing the jury, Jette referenced video and audio evidence presented earlier in court of Korody's belief in outlandish conspiracy theories, her penchant for joining cults and her uncritical endorsement of far-fetched plans for terrorist attacks.
Korody and her husband John Nuttall have each pleaded not guilty to masterminding a plan to detonate homemade pressure-cooker explosives on the crowded grounds of the B.C. legislature during Canada Day festivities two years ago.
Their arrest on July 1, 2013, was the culmination of an elaborate sting operation involving hundreds of RCMP officers, the court has heard.
In his closing address to the jury, Jette pointed to a written objective outlined in RCMP documents that officers were to establish a relationship with Korody, despite Nuttall's initial decision not to include her in any plot.
Her lawyer said it was only at the RCMP's insistence that she became involved.
Jette went on to describe the relationship between Nuttall and Korody as "controlling," referencing numerous instances in video evidence of Nuttall giving commands to Korody and her responses of "Yes, sir," as though he were her commanding officer.
He criticized the operation's primary undercover officer and accused him of playing a heavy-handed role in directing the couple.
"He'd frequently lead Nuttall and Korody down a path. When they took the bait he'd step back and say, 'Well it's up to you. It's your decision, not mine,'" said Jette, describing the tactic as passive aggressive.
"But every time he did it, it was manipulation because there was a certain decision he wanted to hear," Jette added.
"This was the man with everything … and he was prepared to guide, support, babysit and coddle these two former street people — methadone-dependent drug addicts surviving on social assistance."
Jette asked the jury to question the likelihood that Nuttall and Korody would have been able to accomplish their alleged plot without the support and guidance of the police.
He also challenged the Crown's insistence that police offered Nuttall and Korody many instances to back out of a plan after the couple was provided free meals, trips, clothes, groceries, money and following a frightening meeting with the supposed head of an international terrorist group.
"Backing up after all that had happened was not an option," he said.
