A B.C. Supreme Court trial began Monday for a Prince George man accused of not only possessing several stolen firearms but also trying to sell them over the phone while in custody at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.
Jamie Hal Hammerstrom, 37, faces 23 charges primarily in relation to the seizure of five rifles, two shotguns and a handgun from a 2000 block Quince Street home on Jan. 7, 2012.
By that time, Hammerstrom was in custody after he was arrested at the home on Dec. 23, 2011 on suspicion of fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck earlier the same day.
In her opening statement to Justice Brenda Brown, Crown prosecutor Cassandra Malfair said evidence, including 14 phone calls recorded by authorities, will be presented to show Hammerstrom had directed others to sell the firearms to raise money to cover his bail.
She alleged Hammerstrom engaged in "cryptic conversations referring to selling or getting rid of quote, 'things for money.'"
"It's the Crown's theory that these 'things' are stolen and prohibited firearms," Malfair said.
Acting on a tip, Malfair said RCMP went on to seize the firearms and arrest five other people at the home. On Feb. 23, 2012, they also seized a sawed off shotgun found in the bedroom closet of a 200 block Kelly Street home and arrested one more person as part of the investigation, the court was told.
In February this year, Hammerstrom was found not guilty of the charges related to the pickup truck after the Crown was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was behind the wheel when the driver took off from a Prince George gas station as police moved in and then drove over a spike belt to evade RCMP.
The trial is expected to last five weeks and over that time, 20 witnesses are scheduled to be called, beginning with the RCMP's lead investigator on the file.
Two of the witnesses, Geofferey John Last and Zachary Michael Curtis Doolittle, are co-accused who lived in the same home as Hammerstrom and accepted plea arrangements earlier this year.
It is expected they will testify that after Hammerstrom was arrested, they were warned someone would try to steal the weapons and so, they hid the firearms around various spots in the home where police subsequently found them.
It is also expected the court will hear testimony that identification from one of the homeowners from where many of the firearms were stolen was found in the pickup truck when it was located the day after Hammerstrom's arrest.
On Friday, Samantha Nicole Patrick was sentenced to nine months in jail for possession of a stolen firearm and to 30 days for possessing a firearm without a licence in relation to the incident.
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