An expert witness with knowledge about Regina's street gangs took the stand on Friday during the fourth day of testimony in Dillon Whitehawk's first-degree murder trial.
Whitehawk, 27, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Jordan Denton and Keenan Toto in late 2019.
Whitehawk has pleaded not guilty.
Regina Police Cst. Trevor Weir testified as one of the crown’s expert witnesses on Friday.
Weir is a 15-year member of the force and served in the street gang unit for almost seven years from 2012 to 2019.
He left the unit shortly before the deaths and was not involved in the investigations.
His testimony described the structure, hierarchy, operations and identifying markers of Regina’s street gangs.
In opening remarks, the crown alleged Whitehawk killed Denton and Toto to boost his ranking in the Indian Mafia (IM) gang. The crown argued Whitehawk “loosely suspected” that Denton and Toto were members of the Native Syndicate Killers (NSK)—the IM’s rivals at the time.
Weir told court that gang members can “rise in status” by proving they are an “asset” to the group, often times through drug trafficking or violence such as shootings, robberies or home invasions.
“They really bolster their presence and control of the community by committing these violent acts,” he said.
“People are afraid so they are not going to challenge them moving forward.”
Both Denton and Toto died in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood.
During his time on the gang unit, Weir said street gang activity covered the entire city, but was particularly concentrated in North Central and south central Regina.
Denton, 27, was shot and killed on the 800 block of Robinson Street on Nov. 9, 2019.
Toto, 23, died from a gunshot through the heart, according to autopsy results on Dec. 1, 2019. The alleged shooting happened on the 1200 block of Queen Street.
The trial is expected to last for three weeks. Fourteen jury members were selected to account for the length of the trial and possible illness-related absences.
GANG MARKINGS AND IDENTIFIERS
During Weir’s testimony, court saw a number of pictures taken from social media.
The photographs showed groups of people dressed in black clothing with a paisley white pattern—the colours affiliated with IM, according to Weir.
He pointed out Whitehawk as well as other known IM gang members in these photos.
Weir said he did not know of Whitehawk prior to the investigation during his time on the gang unit.
Court saw several photos of Whitehawk’s hands. Pictures showed he has an “intertwined IM” tattooed on his middle finger between his lower knuckles, which is typically an “entry level tattoo” for IM members, Weir said.
Another photo showed a bigger tattoo on the back of Whitehawk’s hand. Weir described it as a “stylized IM tattoo” with the numbers 913 going through it.
The numbers nine and 13 numerically represent the letters I and M in the alphabet, he said.
According to Weir, members will get entry-level tattoos to show their status with the group. They will then get a “full patch” or some variation of their first tattoo with roman numerals to signify the length of their membership and rise in status.
“As you progress through the ranks you would earn a secondary, larger tattoo,” he said.
However, Weir said it is hard to determine the official rank of a member solely based on their full patch tattoo.
Weir said organized gangs tend to have a pyramid structure.
The entry-level members are known as strikers or soldiers depending on what gang they are in. They are typically 13 to 17 years old and perform minor tasks for the gang. This level has the largest membership of a gang, Weir said.
The second lowest level is referred to as full patch members, captains or crew bosses.
Leadership levels follow. Typically there are four to six members with this rank. These members are referred to as generals in the Indian Mafia and council members in the Native Syndicate.
The president and vice-president sit at the top. He said they are typically aged 30 to 40.
“It is an established level of hierarchy,” Weir said.
The members on the bottom do the “grunt work” such as drug trafficking and street level assaults, according to Weir.
Recruitment happens on the streets, in schools, at correctional facilities and within families, he said.
“We’re seeing third generation gang members on the streets of Regina,” Weir said.
“That’s a huge recruiting piece for these groups. It’s familial.”
Certain slang can also be tied to specific gangs, he said.
Indian Mafia is commonly referred to as “NDN MOB” in social media posts, tattoos and graffiti.
“You’ll often see members of IM refer to themselves as mobsters or mob,” he said, explaining mob is a slang term for mafia.
During the crown’s opening statement, court heard that Whitehawk often went by the nickname Ricky Bin Mobbin or simply Bin Mobbin.
CROSS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS EXPERT’S CV
The defence questioned Weir’s resume during the cross-examination.
Court heard Weir had attended numerous conferences and seminars between 2010 and 2018 related to gang activity in Canada.
However, the constable said most of his experience and expertise came from day-to-day operations of the job.
The defence argued Weir’s testimony was based on “oral history of street gangs in Regina,” not written facts.
Weir does not have a university degree and did not take classes on statistics, the defence highlighted.
The defence noted gangs do not have a written rulebook for how they operate. When questioned, Weir said gang membership, rules and tactics are “dynamic” and constantly changing.
During opening remarks, the crown argued there was a “war of sorts” between the IM and NSK at the time of Denton and Toto’s deaths.
The defence asked Weir how he would describe the gangs’ relationship in late 2019.
Weir did not call it a war, but instead said “it was hostile between the two groups.”
“There were several violent incidents where there were members of the groups no longer getting along, no longer worker together,” he said.
REGINA’S STREET GANG CULTURE ‘VERY DIFFERENT’
Regina is ”very different in the sense of street gang activity and presence” compare to other major cities in the country, according to Weir.
In cities like Saskatoon, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto, there are often four or five similar sized gangs with equal power. However, Regina typically has one larger gang with significantly more power that “essentially controls the city,” Weir said.
For nearly 20 years, Weir said the Native Syndicate (NS) gang was the largest, most prominent gang in the city.
NS members primarily wear white clothes with black paisley patterns.
In 2016, NS membership and presence diminished following a police operation that resulted in several high-ranking NS leaders going to jail, Weir said.
That gave the IM an opportunity to grow, “not just by membership, but by criminal activity as well,” he said, after the group first came to Regina in 2014. Prior to that, IM was a “rural group” based of the Balcarres area and surround reserve communities.
During his time in the gang unit, Weir said there were about 300 IM members in their database, but not all of them were “active” in the gang.
Around 2018, both IM and NSK membership began to rise and developed a “truce,” according to Weir.
“They seemed to have an established working relationship,” he said.
“They were working together to become more powerful in the city.”
That relationship ended in June 2019 when an IM member shot and killed an NSK member, Weir said.
The relationship was “very, very hostile” and “tumultuous” after that.
