Former friend says man accused of abduction mentioned taking daughter to live 'off the grid'
Michael Gordon Jackson has pleaded not guilty to abducting his daughter in 2021
The trial of a Carievale, Sask., man charged with abduction has entered its fourth day at the Regina Court of King's Bench.
Michael Gordon Jackson allegedly failed to return his seven-year-old daughter to the care of her mother in 2021. He is representing himself in the trial.
Witnesses have testified this week that Jackson took the girl because he did not want her to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Thursday morning, court heard from Kurt Jedel, a former friend of Jackson's from Carievale. Jedel testified that prior to August 2021, he often drove Jackson to and from Regina to pick up and drop off the seven-year-old at her mother's home.
He said Jackson often spoke about taking his daughter away. He said the accused was "dead set" on the girl not being vaccinated. Jedel also said Jackson wanted to have his daughter live with him.
"He just felt that he was a better parent than [the mother]…. That [his daughter] was better off with him than [the mother]," said Jedel, adding that there was "no love lost" between Jackson and the mother.
CBC has chosen to not name the mother in an effort to protect the identity of the daughter.
Jedel said Jackson had talked to him about taking his daughter to B.C. to live "off the grid."
"The idea was that he would sell his building in Carievale. And that would give him the finances to build on a piece of land," Jedel said.
"He needed to sell it if he were to do anything."
Jedel also testified that he and Jackson had a falling out because Jedel did not want to be involved in any conflict between Jackson and his daughter's mother.
Searching for Jackson
The court also heard Thursday morning from an RCMP constable who was involved in the effort to locate Jackson and his daughter, beginning on Nov. 26, 2021.
Carnduff Const. Calvin Tsang said his department was informed there was a custody order that had an enforcement clause to "locate and apprehend" and "bring the child into physical possession of the mother."
Tsang said they were to do so by "any steps necessary," which they believed included entering Jackson's house on Nov. 26 with two other officers.
They did not find anyone on the property that day. Tsang told the court that on Nov. 27, police received a fax from Jackson.
"He [said] that we had no authority to enter his house. He said we were intimidating him," Tsang said, adding that Jackson told them he had filed an appeal related to custody.
Whether that appeal was stayed that day has been at issue during day four of the trial and was central to Jackson's cross-examination of Tsang.
Communication between Jackson and police
RCMP Const. Curtis Yausie took the stand after the lunch break at Court of King's Bench. He is a member of the general investigation team in Regina and was brought in to assist Carnduff RCMP with the Jackson case, and eventually take over the file.
The lead investigator testified that police were in contact with Jackson through his friend Shawn Sim, who acted as a "go-between." Yausie said Jackson was distrusting of police and thought they would try to track his phone.
The constable testified that his team facilitated having the mother sign an affidavit stating she would not get her daughter vaccinated against COVID-19. The goal was to convince Jackson to return the seven-year-old and turn himself in. This was not the outcome, according to Yausie.
While cross-examining Yausie, Jackson told the constable he was under the impression the affidavit was "useless," and questioned how it would be enforced. Yausie said that was out of his area of expertise and that he could not answer the question.
Court also heard testimony from a crisis negotiator who was brought on the case in February 2022 to communicate with Jackson and try to come to a solution.
Ultimately, it was a phone belonging to Jackson that was suddenly turned on that helped police track him down on Feb. 24, according to Yausie.
Jackson was arrested that day in Vernon by local police. The daughter was then returned to her mother.
The abduction trial continues Friday morning at 10 a.m. CST and is expected to last two weeks in total.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
