ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A woman who was charged last year with stealing cars and selling them for scrap was acquitted Thursday, while her former husband will return to court next month for sentencing.
Melissa Dawe and Sam Caines both pleaded not guilty to charges related to the theft of three vehicles last year and their subsequent sale to a metal recycling facility for just under $200 each. Dawe, 40, was cleared of all charges, while Caines, 43, was acquitted of all but two. His sentencing hearing is scheduled to happen in provincial court in St. John’s Dec. 16.
Neither Dawe nor Caines were in the courtroom Thursday morning to hear Judge Lois Skanes deliver her verdict, though their lawyers were there on their behalf.
The trial saw a dozen witnesses testify for prosecutor Kathleen O’Reilly; defence lawyers Derek Hogan and Tony St. George, representing Dawe and Caines respectively, called no evidence.
The couple was arrested after a Paradise man called police in April 2019 to report three people had secured his neighbour’s Pontiac Torrent onto the back of a tow truck and left with it. The neighbour had been living in Alberta temporarily and had plans to drive the SUV upon her return, the court heard.
The next day, the RNC received two reports of stolen vehicles from a St. John’s woman. She originally called to report one of her two black Honda Civics, which had been parked outside a garage near her Thorburn Road home in different states of disrepair, had been stolen. Later in the day she called back to report the other one had been taken, too, and a set of double-wheeled tire tracks was embedded in the mud in their place.
All three vehicles were later located in the lot of AIM Recycling near the Robin Hood Bay landfill. The two Civics had been partially demolished, while the SUV had been totally crushed. Surveillance video and employees of the facility, who were familiar with Dawe and Caines, confirmed they had been the ones who brought two of the vehicles in for recycling. In the case of the SUV, Caines had signed the name of Brad Squires, who is also accused of the crimes, telling the employee to issue the receipt to Squires’ towing company, since the money was for him and he was waiting in the truck outside.
The couple was arrested after a Paradise man called police in April 2019 to report three people had secured his neighbour’s Pontiac Torrent onto the back of a tow truck and left with it. The neighbour had been living in Alberta temporarily and had plans to drive the SUV upon her return, the court heard.
Upon his arrest, Caines told police he and Dawe owned HANL Towing and had been asked by Squires to help him with a towing job. After visiting the SUV owner’s home three times and getting no answer at the door, Caines said, Squires had told him they could go ahead and take the vehicle. They had towed the SUV in daylight, Caines told police, and they had known the neighbour was watching.
Caines said he had been on another towing job when he had seen two wrecked Civics on the Thorburn Road property. He spoke to a neighbour who told him the owner wanted the vehicles gone — so Caines took one of them, without speaking to the owner. He denied taking the other vehicle and after trial, O’Reilly indicated she was not seeking convictions related to the second Civic.
Skanes found Caines guilty of theft and trafficking in stolen property for the Civic he stole. She found him not guilty related to the stolen SUV, saying while he had no right to take the vehicle, he had been working for Squires, whom he believed had instructed him to do it with permission from the owner. The judge said she was satisfied Squires had been given no such permission.
A manager of the recycling facility told the court that the company’s policy for buying car wrecks had recently changed and had been less stringent at the time Caines had brought in the vehicles.
“At that time, no identification was checked for the seller and no proof of registration or ownership of a vehicle was required,” Skanes noted in her decision.
Skanes also acquitted Caines of the forgery charge, determining his actions didn’t fit the crime, which requires ill intent and the intention for someone else to act on the forged document as if it were genuine. The AIM Recycling employee had been familiar with Caines and knew he wasn’t Squires when he signed the receipt, the judge said.
“Brad Squires and (his company) A+ Towing worked with Caines. I accept Brad Squires was in the (truck),” Skanes said. “He would have known that Caines or Dawe would be receiving money and might have to sign for it. In the circumstances, signing the document would not be considered to have any criminal intent.”
Skanes dismissed the charges against Dawe on the basis that there was no evidence to prove she had been aware the vehicles were stolen and no reason to suspect that was the case.
Tara Bradbury reports on justice and the courts in St. John’s.
