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CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Accused in Alberta Avenue arsons knew details only someone involved could know: Crown
The Edmonton Police Service has released photos of a person of interest in connection with a string of arsons near 118 Avenue in 2021 and 2022. On June 30, they confirmed that the person in the photo is Darcy Willier. (Suppled: EPS) An Edmonton man on trial for a string of arsons in the Alberta Avenue area will know his fate by the end of the week. Darcy Willier is accused of setting 10 fires between 2021 and 2022, as well as firearms charges. During the trial, the court heard a police theory that Willier was directed to set the fires by notorious landlord Abdullah Shah, also known as Carmen Pervez. Police said the possible motives included insurance fraud, extortion or an attempt to drive down property values. Officers involved in a Mr. Big undercover operation also testified Willier admitted to setting some of the fires or getting someone to do it for him. The Crown says Willier told the officers details about the fires that only someone involved could have known. Willier's lawyers argue the Crown's evidence is circumstantial and say there are no fingerprints or DNA linking him to the fires. A verdict is expected friday.
Toronto Sun
30-04-2025
- Toronto Sun
Accused Edmonton arsonist allegedly worked for notorious landlord later killed in shooting, trial told
Abdullah Shah, shot to death outside his home in 2022, was named in a recent court decision involving an alleged associate accused of setting arson fires in the Alberta Avenue area. Darcy Willier faces 16 counts and is facing a trial set to last through June 2025. Photo by Larry Wong / POSTMEDIA NETWORK A man facing trial for a series of arsons in central Edmonton allegedly lit the fires on the orders of a notorious landlord who was later gunned down in an assassination-style slaying, court has heard. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Court of King's Bench Justice Nathan Whitling issued a decision Friday on a pair of search warrants in the trial of Darcy Willier, who is facing 16 arson and weapons-related counts after dozens of suspicious fires in the Alberta Avenue area in 2021 and 2022. Police previously claimed the arsons were linked to Abdullah Shah, the notorious Edmonton landlord shot to death outside his home on March 13, 2022 in an unsolved homicide. Whitling's latest decision — on Willier's attempt to toss a search warrant and a production order — revealed more details about the investigation. According to Whitling, police believed the fires stemmed in part from a 'litigious dispute' between Shah — a convicted mortgage fraudster and accused drug dealer also known as Carmen Pervez — and Gina Cai — a developer who had purchased some of Shah's central Edmonton properties. Also identified as players were Willier — allegedly Shah's 'muscle' who set the fires or directed others to do so — and Tony Singh — an associate and possible relative of Shah's. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The police's theory was that Shah and Singh were intentionally directing others to set fires to their own properties for such purposes as insurance fraud, and that Shah was also directing others to set fires to some of Cai's properties to extort money from Cai and to generally drive down the value of Cai's properties,' Whitling wrote. Cai told police she believed Shah was responsible for orchestrating the fires at her properties and claimed he had been threatening her, Whitling said. Her basis for believing this was 'less than clear' — according to Whitling. Cai's former property manager told her 'Carmen's people' destroyed one of her properties shortly after Shah was released from jail, though the property manager later denied certain parts of her story. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Investigators also relied on information from a confidential informant, who claimed Shah and Singh were burning down their rental properties for insurance money and that Shah 'openly brags about his insurance scams.' The informant told police Shah hired Willier to burn down houses, and that Willier later recruited 'followers' to help with the task. Corroborating this information was one of the alleged followers, Kasey Hetherington, who pleaded guilty to burning down a home belonging to Cai at 11921 91 St. Hetherington told police he lit the fire on June 2, 2021, after Shah approached him and threatened to hurt his sister if he didn't do what he said. Hetherington claimed Willier gave him a red jerry can and later confronted him 'for not doing the job well enough.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hetherington also told police he'd seen Willier around that time with 'massive' burns all over his body. After Hetherington told them about the injuries, police spoke to health officials and learned Willier had received treatment for burns on June 10-11, 2021, around the time of one of the suspicious fires. A judge later granted a production order for Willier's medical records. Yodit Kidane, one of Willier's defence lawyers, argued the police and health officials violated her client's rights under Section 8 of the Charter, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Whitling agreed, saying that while the Health Information Act allows police to request health information under limited circumstances, Willier had a reasonable expectation of privacy in seeking medical treatment. He threw out any information obtained as a result. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Police also sought a warrant to observe and track Willier, which Whitling upheld. The defence sought to exclude some of the information obtained under the warrant, because Hetherington — one of the sources cited in the warrant — had been using fentanyl at the time of his police interview. Kidane argued Hetherington's rights were violated, but Whitling said the accused has no legal standing to raise that issue and there is no evidence Hetherington's information was 'manifestly unreliable.' Whitling also shot down the defence's bid to exclude information obtained from interviews with Cai, saying police are not required to corroborate information from a named informant and that investigators were appropriately skeptical about parts of her statement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Willier's trial is expected to continue through early June. Shah was killed in a shooting outside his southwest Edmonton after surviving being shot in the head the previous year. 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