False Witness Read Online Free Page A

leader of Alberta’s largest motorcycle gang, will be behind bars for at least a quarter of a century.
    Hodge, 38, leader of the Wild Roses and believed to be the largest organized crime kingpin in the province, was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in the execution-style shooting of Calgary security guard Thomas Ferbey last October. Justice Gregory Larocque handed Hodge life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years – the maximum punishment for such an offense – in an unusual same-day sentencing.
    Dunn, the Chronicle’s long-time crime reporter and author of the bestseller The Devil’s Wristwatch , was an eye-witness to the slaying. He said the verdict and sentence were “justice served” and that he hopes it will bring some peace to Ferbey’s widow, Katherine, and their 14-year-old son, Josh.
    “I’m just glad this is all over,” said Dunn. “I hope now we can all get some sleep, knowing that Rufus Hodge is off the streets for good.”
    Katherine Ferbey was not available for comment. She did not attend any of the three-week trial and has not spoken to the media since her husband’s death.
    Tom Ferbey was killed last Oct. 10 after uncovering a huge cache of methamphetamine in a warehouse at the Highland Storage Yard in the city’s southeast corridor. Ferbey, who worked as a security guard at the site, had called Dunn several times in the evenings leading up to Oct. 10, saying he had a hunch that one of the warehouses was being used for illicit purposes.
    Dunn said he initially thought Ferbey was overreacting, but decided to investigate after the guard called to say someone had entered the compound without authorization and was skulking around a particular warehouse. Shortly after arriving at Highland, Dunn watched in horror as Rufus Hodge shot Ferbey at point-blank range, killing him instantly.
    Dunn described the event in his testimony last month as “something no one should ever have to see. That single moment will be with me for the rest of my life.”
    The chaos didn’t end there, however. Within moments of Ferbey’s death, the warehouse containing the drugs was destroyed by what forensic investigators determined to be C4 military-grade plastic explosives. The resulting blaze caused more than $2 million damage to the Highland compound before firefighters got it under control four hours later.
    RCMP Sgt. Charles Palliser testified that the storage unit had been rented by a shell corporation owned by the Alberta-based Wild Roses, believed to be the most powerful outlaw motorcycle gang west of Quebec. Palliser, who spent many years working undercover for the Quebec Provincial Police before joining the interjurisdictional Western Canadian Organized Crime task force two years ago, told the court that the explosion had destroyed any evidence, but he believes the building likely housed as much as a ton of methamphetamine. The drug, commonly known as meth, crystal or crank, was cooked in Wild Roses labs located deep in the extensive bush country between Edmonton and Grand Prairie.
    “The explosives were a fail-safe,” Palliser testified. “It’s a lot easier to cook more meth than it is to serve a prison sentence. So when Hodge realized that Mr. Ferbey was on to what was being stored in the unit, he killed him. When he realized that Mr. Dunn had witnessed the event, he blew the warehouse. The only reason Hodge didn’t kill him, too, is that Mr. Dunn was smart enough to call 911, and there happened to be police close by. If it weren’t for that, I have no doubt that Mr. Dunn would not be here today.”
    Hodge was acquitted on charges of possession and use of illegal materials dangerous to the public. Justice Larocque said the prosecution failed to prove Hodge had actually planted or detonated the explosives himself. That conviction could have added another 10 years to Hodge’s sentence.
    Hodge’s defense case was dealt a serious blow when the man who had provided his alibi for Oct.