The Samantha Lewis case reveals not only the lengths Ottawa prosecutors went to to protect an investigation from within the walls of the Elgin Street courthouse, but also reveals new details about a cold-case homicide investigation. That investigation, to date, has not resulted in murder charges against a group of male detectives once believed to be responsible for two homicides in the city. Ottawa police homicide detectives started Project Game in February 2021, Crown prosecutor Simon Heeney said in an Ottawa courtroom on June 15 of this year, according to a court transcript of that day’s proceedings obtained by the CBC News. Heeney, an out-of-town prosecutor, was brought in to try the case because of “some of the players” involved, he told the court when he identified himself.
2 homicides the ‘primary focus’
The project focused on historical unsolved homicides, with a “primary focus on two homicides in 2018,” Heeney said, both believed by police to have been committed by the same group of people in Ottawa. Ottawa police publicly announced the project in April 2021 as a task force looking into nearly two dozen unsolved homicides, just five days after securing court authorization to wiretap the private communications of several targets, including a man Heeney identified in court as Yasin Mohamed. No charges have been brought against Mohammed in connection with the project. In 2014, in an unrelated case, he was charged with human trafficking offenses in Newmarket, Ont. A judge’s permission to monitor private communications and violate the constitutional rights of any targets is only good for 60 days. During those first 60 days, Heeney told the court, police learned that Samantha Lewis was Mohamed’s fiancee and that she worked at the Superior Court of Justice as a court clerk.
Protection of research
A wiretap can only be authorized by a Supreme Court judge, and with Lewis working directly in those departments, police and prosecutors had to find a way to protect their investigation. Homicide investigator Det. Chris Benson informed Crown attorney Brian Holowka of Lewis’ employment, her relationship with a target and that he had not gathered information from police suggesting she was involved in criminal activity, Heaney told the court. Holowka then met with Judge Calum Macleod, a senior district judge of the superior court, “to mitigate any compromise in the investigation” and prevent Lewis from being exposed to the workings of the case, Heeney said. The plan devised saw assistant Crown attorney Carl Lem deliver Benson’s application to a specific court clerk who knew to take it directly to Judge Robert Smith, bypassing any handling by Lewis. In June 2021, the police applied for a second cable for another 60 days. This time, police identified Lewis as “another known person” whose communications may have been intercepted because of her relationship with the target. Granted. On June 4, police carried out an “authorised covert entry” into the Muscari Street townhouse shared by Lewis and Mohamed and planted a listening device.
Involvement in plans
Another 60 days were nearing completion when Justice Smith granted a third wiretapping license on 30 July. But an error in that sequence meant police had to correct a typo before returning the altered forms back to Smith, Heeney told the court. Prosecutor Carl Lemm was not available to carry out Lewis’ bypass plan. The documents were given to fellow prosecutor Mark Holmes, who was unaware of the intricacies of the case. He went to the jury room at 12:40 p.m. on August 5, he sought out someone at the counter, handed the file to a clerk and asked her to deliver it to Justice Smith. The clerk was Samantha Lewis. The problem, however, was that there were two Justice Smiths in the Ottawa Supreme Court. He had to know where to deliver the envelope. “Surveillance video revealed that Ms. Lewis took the envelope and returned to her office, where she was observed removing the contents of the envelope, then quickly reviewing it, then placing the contents back and exiting the camera where she delivered it as ought. “ The video evidence is clear that she saw the cover of the cable app for no more than 60 seconds — but when she did, she saw her name and her fiance’s name. Heeney called the circumstances that led to her discovery of the police investigation “unintentional and fortuitous.”
“You get me in trouble”
What happened next was the basis of the accusation that led to her conviction. “Ms. Lewis was observed returning to her office and texting on her mobile device,” Heeney said. But the police had intercepted some of her communications. Monitors in the Ottawa police wire room alerted investigators that Lewis was sending messages telling her she had seen the warrant. At 2:18 p.m., Muhammad was caught on wire telling another person whose identity was not released in court that Lewis texted that he learned something bad at work and that he should be home when he got there. After the wiretapping was revealed, intercepted communications… largely ceased.- Simon Heeney, Prosecutor At 4:28 p.m., Lewis arrived home from work and then immediately asked Mohamed where his phone was and told him to turn it off. The house, however, had already been broken into. As they left the mansion, the last words were caught on film: “What I’m about to tell you, I shouldn’t know this information…” A few hours later, sound control heard them back at the house fighting, Heeney told the court. “You’re getting me in trouble and ruining my life and ruining everything I’ve worked for,” Lewis told her fiancé. She told him he was ruining her life and her family and to “pack up your shit and get out.” “I saw ‘Yasin Mohamed’ and my heart just fell out of my head,” he said on the recording. “I saw my name,” he said, and the address to Muscari. Later, police intercepted Mohamed communicating with “a few other men,” informing them of the police investigation and the wire. Their identities were not revealed in court. It was a very difficult situation and he reacted somewhat impulsively.- Michael Spratt, defense attorney That same month, after Lewis’ wiretapping was revealed, police appealed to the public for help solving cold cases and only highlighted the lack of evidence in the 2018 murders of Tarek Dakhil and Yonis Barkhadle. “After the disclosure of the wiretapping, wiretapping … largely ended,” Heaney said. “The murders remain unsolved.” Lewis did not disclose any material part of the investigation or counsel Muhammad to destroy the evidence, Heaney said. But she also did not mention what she had done to her superiors.
He was arrested and charged
Police knew what was happening in real time, but arrested Lewis on September 10, 2021 and released her on a promise to appear. A CBC reporter’s request for the information — a public court-held document listing the charges and allegations against a defendant — in Lewis’ case sent on April 29 of this year went unanswered by court staff for nearly two months . Without prompting, staff sent the requested information on June 27 — 12 days after Lewis pleaded guilty and the case was resolved. I agree with what my lawyer said, all I would like to say is that I am truly sorry.- Samantha Lewis That resolution led District Attorney Heeney and Lewis’ defense attorney, Michael Spratt, to jointly seek a conditional discharge that would have allowed Lewis to avoid a criminal record after a year of probation. A condition of her dismissal is that she not seek or retain employment in the justice sector. Lewis, now 30, was first hired by the Attorney General’s Department in 2018. She initially worked as a court reporter, taking notes and documenting court proceedings. Less than a year later she became a court clerk, passing a security clearance and swearing not to divulge any of the information she learned in her role. Lewis clerked in the Superior Court of Justice’s Ottawa courthouse during the spring and summer of 2021. “This type of offense strikes at the very core of the administration of justice, but on the other hand, you have a young offender with no criminal record who happens upon it and sees his name,” Heeney said. Heaney said the wiretapping had made only “modest progress” on the cold cases since it was compromised. Spratt told the court his client had never been arrested or even pulled over and led a pro-social life. The person you thought you knew probably wasn’t who you knew.- Justice Michael March “It was a very difficult situation and she reacted somewhat impulsively,” Spratt said. “She acknowledges … that she should have acted differently and that she made an error in judgment.” Louis addressed the court directly: “I agree with what my lawyer said, all I’d like to say is that I’m really sorry.” Ontario Court Justice Michael March accepted Lewis’ plea and joint sentencing motion. “I believe you when you express your regrets … You realized it was way over your head. The person you thought you knew probably wasn’t who you knew,” he said. “What Mr. Mohamed’s level of involvement was, if any, we will probably never know at this stage. It was just a coincidence that you were there to get that file from Crown counsel that day.” Perhaps this is a life lesson you will carry with you to the grave.-Justice Michael March March said Lewis was likely shocked and worried, and her survival instincts kicked in. “Human nature took…
title: “Magistrates Clerk Pleads Guilty To Obstruction After Telling Fiance It Was Wiretapping " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Betty Rosenbaum”
The Samantha Lewis case reveals not only the lengths Ottawa prosecutors went to to protect an investigation from within the walls of the Elgin Street courthouse, but also reveals new details about a cold-case homicide investigation. That investigation, to date, has not resulted in murder charges against a group of male detectives once believed to be responsible for two homicides in the city. Ottawa police homicide detectives started Project Game in February 2021, Crown prosecutor Simon Heeney said in an Ottawa courtroom on June 15 of this year, according to a court transcript of that day’s proceedings obtained by the CBC News. Heeney, an out-of-town prosecutor, was brought in to try the case because of “some of the players” involved, he told the court when he identified himself.
2 homicides the ‘primary focus’
The project focused on historical unsolved homicides, with a “primary focus on two homicides in 2018,” Heeney said, both believed by police to have been committed by the same group of people in Ottawa. Ottawa police publicly announced the project in April 2021 as a task force looking into nearly two dozen unsolved homicides, just five days after securing court authorization to wiretap the private communications of several targets, including a man Heeney identified in court as Yasin Mohamed. No charges have been brought against Mohammed in connection with the project. In 2014, in an unrelated case, he was charged with human trafficking offenses in Newmarket, Ont. A judge’s permission to monitor private communications and violate the constitutional rights of any targets is only good for 60 days. During those first 60 days, Heeney told the court, police learned that Samantha Lewis was Mohamed’s fiancee and that she worked at the Superior Court of Justice as a court clerk.
Protection of research
A wiretap can only be authorized by a Supreme Court judge, and with Lewis working directly in those departments, police and prosecutors had to find a way to protect their investigation. Homicide investigator Det. Chris Benson informed Crown attorney Brian Holowka of Lewis’ employment, her relationship with a target and that he had not gathered information from police suggesting she was involved in criminal activity, Heaney told the court. Holowka then met with Judge Calum Macleod, a senior district judge of the superior court, “to mitigate any compromise in the investigation” and prevent Lewis from being exposed to the workings of the case, Heeney said. The plan devised saw assistant Crown attorney Carl Lem deliver Benson’s application to a specific court clerk who knew to take it directly to Judge Robert Smith, bypassing any handling by Lewis. In June 2021, the police applied for a second cable for another 60 days. This time, police identified Lewis as “another known person” whose communications may have been intercepted because of her relationship with the target. Granted. On June 4, police carried out an “authorised covert entry” into the Muscari Street townhouse shared by Lewis and Mohamed and planted a listening device.
Involvement in plans
Another 60 days were nearing completion when Justice Smith granted a third wiretapping license on 30 July. But an error in that sequence meant police had to correct a typo before returning the altered forms back to Smith, Heeney told the court. Prosecutor Carl Lemm was not available to carry out Lewis’ bypass plan. The documents were given to fellow prosecutor Mark Holmes, who was unaware of the intricacies of the case. He went to the jury room at 12:40 p.m. on August 5, he sought out someone at the counter, handed the file to a clerk and asked her to deliver it to Justice Smith. The clerk was Samantha Lewis. The problem, however, was that there were two Justice Smiths in the Ottawa Supreme Court. He had to know where to deliver the envelope. “Surveillance video revealed that Ms. Lewis took the envelope and returned to her office, where she was observed removing the contents of the envelope, then quickly reviewing it, then placing the contents back and exiting the camera where she delivered it as ought. “ The video evidence is clear that she saw the cover of the cable app for no more than 60 seconds — but when she did, she saw her name and her fiance’s name. Heeney called the circumstances that led to her discovery of the police investigation “unintentional and fortuitous.”
“You get me in trouble”
What happened next was the basis of the accusation that led to her conviction. “Ms. Lewis was observed returning to her office and texting on her mobile device,” Heeney said. But the police had intercepted some of her communications. Monitors in the Ottawa police wire room alerted investigators that Lewis was sending messages telling her she had seen the warrant. At 2:18 p.m., Muhammad was caught on wire telling another person whose identity was not released in court that Lewis texted that he learned something bad at work and that he should be home when he got there. After the wiretapping was revealed, intercepted communications… largely ceased.- Simon Heeney, Prosecutor At 4:28 p.m., Lewis arrived home from work and then immediately asked Mohamed where his phone was and told him to turn it off. The house, however, had already been broken into. As they left the mansion, the last words were caught on film: “What I’m about to tell you, I shouldn’t know this information…” A few hours later, sound control heard them back at the house fighting, Heeney told the court. “You’re getting me in trouble and ruining my life and ruining everything I’ve worked for,” Lewis told her fiancé. She told him he was ruining her life and her family and to “pack up your shit and get out.” “I saw ‘Yasin Mohamed’ and my heart just fell out of my head,” he said on the recording. “I saw my name,” he said, and the address to Muscari. Later, police intercepted Mohamed communicating with “a few other men,” informing them of the police investigation and the wire. Their identities were not revealed in court. It was a very difficult situation and he reacted somewhat impulsively.- Michael Spratt, defense attorney That same month, after Lewis’ wiretapping was revealed, police appealed to the public for help solving cold cases and only highlighted the lack of evidence in the 2018 murders of Tarek Dakhil and Yonis Barkhadle. “After the disclosure of the wiretapping, wiretapping … largely ended,” Heaney said. “The murders remain unsolved.” Lewis did not disclose any material part of the investigation or counsel Muhammad to destroy the evidence, Heaney said. But she also did not mention what she had done to her superiors.
He was arrested and charged
Police knew what was happening in real time, but arrested Lewis on September 10, 2021 and released her on a promise to appear. A CBC reporter’s request for the information — a public court-held document listing the charges and allegations against a defendant — in Lewis’ case sent on April 29 of this year went unanswered by court staff for nearly two months . Without prompting, staff sent the requested information on June 27 — 12 days after Lewis pleaded guilty and the case was resolved. I agree with what my lawyer said, all I would like to say is that I am truly sorry.- Samantha Lewis That resolution led District Attorney Heeney and Lewis’ defense attorney, Michael Spratt, to jointly seek a conditional discharge that would have allowed Lewis to avoid a criminal record after a year of probation. A condition of her dismissal is that she not seek or retain employment in the justice sector. Lewis, now 30, was first hired by the Attorney General’s Department in 2018. She initially worked as a court reporter, taking notes and documenting court proceedings. Less than a year later she became a court clerk, passing a security clearance and swearing not to divulge any of the information she learned in her role. Lewis clerked in the Superior Court of Justice’s Ottawa courthouse during the spring and summer of 2021. “This type of offense strikes at the very core of the administration of justice, but on the other hand, you have a young offender with no criminal record who happens upon it and sees his name,” Heeney said. Heaney said the wiretapping had made only “modest progress” on the cold cases since it was compromised. Spratt told the court his client had never been arrested or even pulled over and led a pro-social life. The person you thought you knew probably wasn’t who you knew.- Justice Michael March “It was a very difficult situation and she reacted somewhat impulsively,” Spratt said. “She acknowledges … that she should have acted differently and that she made an error in judgment.” Louis addressed the court directly: “I agree with what my lawyer said, all I’d like to say is that I’m really sorry.” Ontario Court Justice Michael March accepted Lewis’ plea and joint sentencing motion. “I believe you when you express your regrets … You realized it was way over your head. The person you thought you knew probably wasn’t who you knew,” he said. “What Mr. Mohamed’s level of involvement was, if any, we will probably never know at this stage. It was just a coincidence that you were there to get that file from Crown counsel that day.” Perhaps this is a life lesson you will carry with you to the grave.-Justice Michael March March said Lewis was likely shocked and worried, and her survival instincts kicked in. “Human nature took…
