Fingerprint at remote N.S. firearms theft scene leads to charges

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

A fingerprint at the scene of a firearms theft could cost a South Shore man his freedom.

Police got a call from Kathy Mooers on Aug. 21, 2022, reporting a break-in at a home on Mooers Road in Milton, Queens County.

"Kathy and her husband Paul Mooers had returned from an out-of-province trip and were driving home past Norman Mooers’ residence when they observed that the front door of Norman's residence was wide open and there was no vehicle parked out front," RCMP Const. Vladimir Dounin said in a warrant application.

"Kathy and Paul stopped by and had called out loud into the residence but got no response."

Dounin, an officer with the Queens detachement since August of 2019, drove to the "very isolated area off River Road, which itself is an isolated road leading from Highway 8 to the Ponhook Lake Reserve."

The home where the break-in happened is a seven-kilometre drive down a bumpy gravel road from the highway.

"There was a shed by the driveway which had the door wide open and obvious pry marks by the shed's lock," Dounin said in information to obtain a warrant filed at Bridgewater provincial court.

He found a can of corned beef in the middle of the driveway and the door to the house wide open. A window screen from the door lay on the kitchen floor.

"The door frame was visibly split at the point where the door latches, showing that someone had forced their way into the home," Dounin said.

He and another Mountie walked through the crime scene to make sure the thief wasn't still inside and to get the lay of the place.

"The interior was in disarray starting from the living room. The kitchen had been mostly untouched, with a few cabinet doors open," said the constable. "There were various items knocked over on the ground in the living room."

Both bedrooms in the house had been disturbed, he said.

"The bedroom at the back of the house was ransacked with the bed flipped over and contained a blue metal cabinet that appeared to have had its door bent when it was pried open," Dounin said.

On the top right corner of the front door's window, he spotted "a latent fingerprint that was faintly visible" on the outside glass.

Dounin reached Norman Mooers by phone and told him about the break-in.

"Norman mentioned that there had been several firearms stored in a gun cabinet in the corner of the bedroom at the front of the house," he said.

But investigators couldn't see it.

"Norman also mentioned that there had been ammunition stored in a blue metal cabinet in a bedroom at the back of the house."

Dounin had already spotted the cabinet, which had been pried open. There was no ammunition left inside.

"Finally, Norman mentioned there had been a power saw stored in his shed," said the constable, noting that was gone, too.

Norman Mooers later came up with a list of items stolen from his home, including cash, a 177 pellet gun, seven firearms, and a Husqvarna 45 power saw.

The homeowner was missing $2,300, including $300 in loonies and toonies, a Cooey 60 rifle, a Ruko Magnum rifle, a Sears, Roebuck & Co. .410 shotgun, two Remington Arms Co., Inc. shotguns including a 12-gauge and a 20-gauge, and a Cooey 20-gauge shotgun.

Dounin applied a developing powder to the fingerprint on the front door window, to make it "better observable to the naked eye."

He took photos of it, then lifted the print off the glass using a clear plastic sheet with a sticky surface that allows police to preserve evidence.

"Smudged finger marks were observed elsewhere inside the residence, but no other detailed fingerprints were located during the examination" of the home.

Dounin handed the print over to an officer with the Yarmouth RCMP's forensic identification section.

On Oct. 8, 2022, he heard back that the fingerprint had been "analyzed and determined to be a match to the right middle impression of Michael David Gibson," said the investigator.

The 27-year-old is "well-known to police in Queens County," and Dounin said he’d had several run-ins with him in the past.

"The vast majority of Gibson's numerous interactions with police over the last few years have been over traffic-related offences, as he continues to habitually operate motor vehicles without a driver's licence, and with some other instances of police files over threats and assaults," Dounin said.

"He owes $44,620 to the province as of the 1st day of November 2022."

Gibson was sentenced in July of 2018 for possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose, mischief and assault. The judge gave Gibson a suspended sentence and a year of probation.

Police took his fingerprints around the time of that 2018 conflict in Liverpool, Dounin said.

"In 2014, Gibson was arrested for stealing a motor vehicle in Liverpool," he said. "Gibson was referred to restorative justice at that time and completed that successfully, so the charges were withdrawn."

In 2018, Gibson was banned from shopping at Liverpool's Atlantic Superstore "after he was reported to be habitually shoplifting from the store," Dounin said. "In 2020, Gibson was again banned from shopping at the Liverpool Atlantic Superstore after he was reported to the police for stealing food there."

Last July, police charged him for possessing a stolen Nova Scotia licence plate and driving a motor vehicle with that plate attached.

"In October 2022, Gibson was arrested along with his father for threats to his aunt in relation to disagreements over her custody of his late grandfather's firearms, which are currently being held up in probate."

While Gibson had been a break-in suspect in the past, he’d never been convicted, Dounin said. "In 2017, he was accused of breaking and entering into a home in Charleston, Queens County … and stealing a TV, which he later pawned. When confronted by (a Mountie) about this at the time, Gibson denied having done any break and enters for over three years."

In late October, Dounin asked Norman Mooers if he knew Gibson, who lives on M Smith Road in White Point.

"He does not know who David Gibson is."

The investigator asked if there was any reason the White Point man's fingerprint would be on his door window.

"Norman replied that he could not think of one. Norman had not had any kind of work done to that door recently."

Gibson doesn't have a possession and acquisition licence, and cannot legally possess firearms, said the investigator.

"Furthermore, Gibson is presently at large on an undertaking that forbids him from possessing firearms as a condition for his release," Dounin said.

He wanted a warrant to search Gibson's property for the missing guns.

"It is also possible that the stolen property would have been stored elsewhere entirely or sold off to other individuals," said the constable.

Gibson had told Dounin in the past that he collects firewood to heat his home. "Gibson would have a use for a power saw such as the one stolen from Norman Mooers to cut his firewood."

The Mountie also wanted to search Gibson's mobile phone and any computers for any evidence about selling stolen property.

"Communications may include the planning phase of the theft and may involve digital photographs of the stolen property after the fact."

During a Nov. 15 search of Gibson's place, Mounties seized a Grizzly 177 pellet gun, seven shotgun shells, a Vigilante 177 pellet gun, a loaded Remington Arms shotgun with the serial number removed, a Remington Arms shotgun barrel, an Apple iPhone and a laptop computer.

Gibson is slated to appear in Bridgewater provincial court Feb. 8 for election and/or plea on charges of break and enter, theft, mischief and firearm theft. The offence dates on those charges range from Aug. 16-21, 2022.

He's also facing several gun charges, including one for possessing a firearm knowing that the serial number on it has been altered, defaced, or removed, and possession of stolen property. Those offence dates range from Aug. 16 to Nov. 15, 2022.

An investigation last year revealed that of the 555 firearms reported stolen in Nova Scotia since 2018, less than one fifth had been recovered.