Details of the Mr. Big sting that gathered valuable information and evidence – including a recorded confession – during the investigation of the Naomi Onotera homicide have been released by the B.C. courts.
A ruling admitting the confession into evidence by Justice Martha Devlin, made May 15 but only released in July, details how multiple undercover police officers gained the trust of Obnes Regis, eventually coaxing him into discussing details of the killing.
Regis was given a 16-year sentence by Devlin on Tuesday, July 16, for manslaughter and committing an indignity to human remains. After spending more than two and a half years behind bars awaiting trial, counted at a rate of 1.5 days for pre-trial custody, Regis still has 12 years, one month, and 17 days left to serve.
The operation involved at least six undercover operatives, none of whom can be identified by either their real names or their undercover identities. They are identified as UC#1 through UC#6.
The undercover operation began on Sept. 17, 2021, a little over three weeks after Onotera was reported missing by her family, and three days after a police dog search at the home Regis and Onotera shared had turned up small pieces of human remains. Police had not told Regis about the discovery of the remains, which were later determined to be Onotera's.
While the home was still being searched by police, Regis was staying at a hotel. An officer, UC#3, chatted with Regis outside the building, and when Regis mentioned he had a painting job coming up, UC#3 said that his boss had a warehouse that needed painting.
In short order, Regis had asked to be taken to the warehouse, and quoted a $2,000 price for doing the job.
After painting the warehouse, undercover officers kept in contact with Regis, hiring him for small jobs, and on Sept. 26, travelling with him to Vancouver Island, where they said UC#2 had to deliver a crate.
They also took him along for a scenario in which the officers pretended to be repossessing a car and a boat from other undercover operatives pretending to be in debt.
On Oct. 4, Regis met UC#1, who was playing the "Mr. Big" role, as the supposed head of a criminal organization.
The meeting was to see if Regis could do more work, and Regis was eager to sign up for a variety of jobs, including renovation, painting, and landscaping, as well as some odd jobs. Regis actively negotiated a salary including a $2,000 monthly stipend plus $40 an hour for jobs.
Devlin noted that this was the first time UC#1 had ever had a target try to negotiate his salary.
Over the next few weeks, Regis was put to work for the fake crime ring, doing jobs such as delivering crates or bags around B.C., moving automatic teller machines or counterfeit casino chips, and keeping an eye on people who were meeting with the undercover operators.
"All of these scenarios involved non-violent activity and, while specifics were not discussed, it was made clear to Mr. Regis that they were illegal," Devlin noted in her ruling. "The purpose of the scenarios was to build trust between Mr. Regis and the undercover operators, and also to establish the credibility of the organization by revealing the scope and extent of its criminal activity."
They also showed Regis the benefits of the organization in another way – a scenario in which Regis saw UC#3 come to Mr. Big with a legal problem, and Mr. Big offered help. The next day, another undercover officer, pretending to be a nurse, offered to create a fake hospital admissions record for UC#3, to give him a fake alibi.
This led up to an important interview with Mr. Big about a lucrative new project, which they dangled as a possibility for Regis.
On Dec. 14, Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) officers told Regis that he was a suspect in the death of his wife. Regis told UC#3 about this that same day, and UC#3 assured Regis that the organization would stand by him.
This led to an interview with UC#1, Mr. Big, on a boat at a marina in Vancouver.
The Mr. Big operative assured Regis that they could help him, but if he was not truthful with them, they would cut him loose.
If they chose to help him, they would have a member of the "gang" who had a terminal illness make a deathbed confession to killing Onotera, Mr. Big told Regis. To do that, they needed details about what had happened to her.
"It has to match," Mr. Big told Regis. "You can't just make s--t up… They got you solid. They're coming for you and you're gonna go to court and be charged with the murder of your wife…"
Offered a chance to protect himself from criminal charges, Regis then immediately told Mr. Big what happened, beginning with "I chop her," making a chopping motion with his hand.
He answered numerous questions during that interview, including talking about the punch that killed Onotera and his subsequent disposal of her body.
He drew maps on an envelope of locations in his house where he dismembered Onotera's body, as well as the location in Fort Langley where the threw her bones towards the river.
"As he was departing the boat, Mr. Regis thanked UC#1 and gave him a fist bump," noted Devlin.
Mr. Big then sent Regis to Fort Langley with other undercover officers to look for cameras, and to Onotera's house to locate knives, saws, clothing Regis was wearing at the time of the killing. They told him they would dispose of the evidence, but it was collected and subjected to forensic analysis.
After they were done, the undercover operatives put Regis up in a hotel.
On Dec. 17, he was arrested by the RCMP.
The confession was one of the key pieces of evidence, and Devlin had to make a ruling on whether or not it was admissible. In Canada confessions during a Mr. Big sting are subject to strict legal rules.
In this case, Devlin found that the operation met guidelines established by previous court rulings – Regis was not threatened or exposed to the idea that his life might be in danger, nor was he dependent on the officers for social contact. He was also not being pressured to prove he was tough enough to work with the gang.
"The undercover officers repeatedly conveyed to Mr. Regis that no harm would come to him if he decided to stop associating with them," Devlin noted. They even "fired" a criminal associate in front of him so he could see that they simply cut loose people who were unreliable or lied to the boss.
Devlin also found that the confession was highly reliable – Regis's explanation of what had happened was thorough and specific, and was backed up by other evidence, including video camera footage of his movements and forensic evidence gathered from saws and knives seized from the home he shared with Onotera.
The confession, physical evidence, and a subsequent confession during an interview with a detective after his arrest were among the evidence that eventually led Regis to plead guilty halfway through his trial in June.
IHIT issued a statement after the verdict Tuesday.
“This was a difficult investigation and it impacted investigators and the community,” said Staff Sgt. David Lee, “We hope that this outcome brings closure to the friends, family of Naomi Onotera and the community who supported her.”
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