Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

SELKIRK — It was a whirlwind romance between two professionals that ended in an ugly fashion — with the administration of justice seemingly caught in the middle.

Now the fate of a Manitoba RCMP officer accused of criminal harassment against his ex-girlfriend, a provincial Crown attorney, rests in the hands of a judge.

Cpl. Jeff Moyse has pleaded not guilty, suggesting he is the real victim of a vindictive plot by his former lover, Debbie Buors. Lawyers made closing arguments Wednesday in the high-profile case but will have to wait until March 25 to hear the verdict.

“This was a man who just didn’t want to leave Debbie Buors alone, despite her wishes to be left alone. This was a man who was not thinking rationally. His communications with her are mentally unstable,” special prosecutor Ryan Rolston said in his summary of the evidence.

Defence lawyer Gene Zazelenchuk claims there is no evidence to suggest Buors was ever fearful of Moyse, which is required to prove the charge of harassment.

Buors told court last week Moyse wouldn’t accept the end of their eight-month relationship in December 2008 and flooded her with hundreds of unwanted phone calls, emails and text messages. Many of the communications were read in court, including the transcript of two obscenity-filled phone messages he allegedly left for Buors two days after her father died suddenly. Buors’ friend, prosecutor Lisa Carson, said she transcribed the calls verbatim and found them threatening. Moyse claims he has “no memory” of making the calls, which were not permanently recorded.

In a text message, Moyse allegedly told Buors she had pushed him as far as she could and “I hope you get everything you deserve.” In another, Moyse is accused of telling Buors “Careful how you treat me. Think hard about what I know. Watch your tone.” He also tells Buors to “quit hiding in your cyberworld. Just wait until we meet face to face.”

Rolston argued Moyse was trying to frighten and intimidate Buors, who finally sent an email on March 11 saying she was putting Moyse “on notice” she would seek a restraining order and/or criminal charges if he had any contact with her.

But Zazelenchuk noted she then appeared at the Powerview RCMP detachment the following day to interview two victims of crime. Moyse initially refused to let her in the building, causing a big scene. Zazelenchuk claims Buors was “baiting the bear” and would frequently send “mixed messages” to Moyse by contacting him days after claiming she didn’t want to speak with him again.

Rolston argued Wednesday that Moyse was clearly in the wrong with the RCMP station incident by trying to interfere with her work.

“He thought what a great opportunity… to really stick it to her. He was the one who made the big deal out of it, who elevated this personal issue between them into something public,” said Rolston. “He chose to press her buttons.”

Moyse testified in his own defence last week and accused Buors of trying to goad him into a confrontation.

“She told me if she wanted to, she could make my life miserable, that I better watch my step with her. She told me she was capable of anything,” he said of an alleged conversation with Buors in early March 2009.

Moyse said he believes Buors was trying to “set up something physical” so she could build a criminal case against him.