Your Victoria Times Colonist

Secret code used to hide sale of eagles, court told
Richard Watts, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Dead eagles became "smoked salmon" in a code used during an undercover operation into the sale of wildlife parts, court heard yesterday.

Testifying before a provincial court judge in Victoria, an undercover wildlife officer said he and Murray Sampson, who has been charged with unlawful possession of wildlife and trafficking in dead wildlife, developed code words to foil any enforcement officials listening in on tapped telephone lines.

The undercover officer, whose identity is protected by court order, said dead bald eagles were called "smoked salmon" and dead golden eagles were to be called "smoked coho salmon."

The undercover officer, testifying at Sampson's trial, testified he first met with Sampson in June 2005 at his home near Brentwood Bay, where the officer paid $200 for a pair of eagle wings.

The wildlife officer, who later testified he was part native himself, said he posed as someone interested in connecting with his heritage and becoming a pow-wow dancer, saying he needed help with the regalia. The regalia consists, in part, of hand-held fans and bustle, worn around the waist, both constructed of eagle feathers.

The officer testified he met Sampson several more times, buying three dead eagles for $140, $160 and $150. Sampson kept the birds in garbage bags in an outdoor freezer, tucked underneath salmon.

The officer even proposed a business arrangement to Sampson, involving trading bald eagles for golden eagles, using a contact in Saskatchewan.

But in testimony reinforced during cross examination by defence counsel Rory Morahan, the conservation officer agreed Sampson repeatedly said he didn't normally sell eagles, mostly trading them instead. For example, the eagle wings might fetch 300 small, carved paddles, to be sewn on traditional native dress.

Also, the conservation officer agreed with Morahan there was no obvious signs of wealth in Sampson's home. "So here you were, in a home that obviously didn't have a lot of money or wealth, offering a guy who says, 'I don't sell eagle parts' the chance to make 'good money,' " said Morahan, and the conservation officer agreed.

Outside the courtroom, Morahan said Sampson, 50, is a member of the Tsartlip band, where he is considered a tribal elder.

The Crown's evidence is complete. But the trial has now been put over for several months while the defence prepares a constitutional challenge to the charges, arguing Sampson has a treaty right to possess eagle parts.

Neither of the charges he faces is a criminal offence. Both are provincial regulatory offences under the Wildlife Act.