Randall Steven Shepherd arrives at provincial court in Halifax on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.
The American woman and Halifax man accused of hatching a deadly plot to gun down shoppers at a busy city mall on Valentine's Day were arraigned in provincial court on several counts of conspiracy related to their alleged plan.
Randy Shepherd, a tall, gaunt 20-year-old with lank blond hair, and Lindsay Souvannarath, 23, of Geneva, Ill., a petite, dark-haired woman, were arraigned Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, arson and possess weapons, plus a charge of unlawfully conveying a threat through social media to cause bodily harm or death to members of the public.
The charges relate to a time period of nearly six weeks – between Jan. 6 and Feb. 14 – during which the two were allegedly conspiring to commit the offences.
Police had originally charged the pair with conspiracy to commit murder, but added the extra charges – the arson conspiracy charge also relates to the Halifax Shopping Centre, which was the planned target.
The two did not speak in court or seek bail. They will next appear in court on March 6.
Crown prosecutor Shauna MacDonald said that, if found guilty of the charges, the pair could face up to life in prison. They were represented by a duty counsel on Tuesday.
Also named in the document laying out the charges is James Lee Gamble. The 19-year-old was found dead early Friday morning in his suburban Timberlea home. The charges against Mr. Shepherd and Ms. Souvannarath say they "did conspire together and with James Lee Gamble to murder unnamed members of the public … " It also says they conspired with him to commit arson and "commit the indictable offence of possessing weapons for a purpose dangerous to the public peace … "
Police found three long-barreled rifles and ammunition at Mr. Gamble's home. Mr. Gamble and Mr. Shepherd were good friends, police said. They did not say how they connected with Ms. Souvannarath, but federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay said at a news conference Saturday morning that he believes they connected online.
A 17-year-old male from Cole Harbour, another Halifax suburb, was questioned but released.
Police were alerted by a tip that came into Crime Stoppers. They are saying little about that, as they are about the motive of the alleged plan, although they say it was not terrorism. At a separate news conference Saturday afternoon, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Brennan said the four were not part of any terrorist group. Rather, he said, they were "four individuals who formed a friendship and decided to plan and commit a heinous crime. … Their friendship was not based on culture or ideology."
Mr. Gamble's social media sites were full of violent images of guns, Nazis and U.S. serial killers. He seemed obsessed with the Columbine shooters – Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris – who killed 13 people at a Colorado high school in 1999. Many images and references to the Columbine massacre were featured on his site, as they were on Mr. Shepherd's.
On Tuesday afternoon, the RCMP sent out a release clarifying the new charges and saying they will not be using the accused's names in the future. "We do not wish to give these individuals further notoriety … " the release says.
Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), meanwhile, has been called in to investigate Mr. Gamble's death, as it is whenever there is a serious incident involving police. SIRT's director Ron MacDonald said there was "contact between them [police] and the individual [Mr. Gamble] prior to his death." However, he said "we do not have any evidence to suggest that he was shot by police."