Some are calling the charges against the 8 Toronto PS members the biggest police crime/corruption case in Canada’s history.

Some are calling the charges against the 8 Toronto PS members the biggest police crime/corruption case in Canada’s history. I would argue that it would be the Barry Nielsen/Jerry Stolar crimes of the early 80s in Winnipeg and the murder of Paul Clear.

I was posted in Winnipeg then and knew very well the RCMP members involved in the investigation.

Nielsen and Stolar were partners in the Winnipeg police service then and while on duty began stealing and breaking into businesses extensively. 1/

IIRC that theft even included a motor home. Nielsen ended up being caught with stolen snowmobiles and a trailer and charged.

The two suspected, wrongly, that Nielsen’s brother-in-law Paul Clear had informed on them. They laid in wait for him as he drove to his midnight shift at a brewery and beat him to death. They parked his car out of sight and buried him in a pre-prepared shallow grave near Steinbach.

Three weeks later foragers discovered the grave, eventually leading the conviction

of the two, now former, police officers.

@NunavutBirder WPS corruption was well known in the 80s and early 90s. I have an anecdote.
One Friday night my friend was involved in a brawl outside the big A, I was there as well. There were a lot of guys swinging and a female officer tried to put a choke hold on my friend. He broke the hold turned around and swung on her. He immediately understood and took a step back but not before two other officers got him into the back of a cruiser. He showed up to work 3 days later with a broken face.