Accused Winnipeg letter bomber fights DNA warrant ahead of trial start

A Winnipeg man accused of sending deadly letter bombs in the mail, including one that seriously injured his ex-wife's lawyer, returns to court Monday to challenge a DNA warrant that helped secure his arrest.

Guido Amsel, 51, is charged with five counts of attempted murder and several explosives offences.

Amsel was arrested in July2015 after letter bombs were delivered to his ex-wife and two law firms. Two of the letter bombs were safely detonated, but lawyer Maria Mitousis lost her right hand and suffered multiple other injuries when a package she was holding exploded.

Two weeks have been set aside for the DNA motion in advance of a trial set to begin Oct. 25.

"The first two weeks are for a pre-trial motion to possibly exclude the blood sample taken from our client for purposes of DNA comparison," said defence lawyer Saheel Zaman. "It's essentially challenging the legality of the warrant that was issued."

Zaman said the trial will likely proceed "irrespective of what happens with the motion."

Amsel, who remains in custody, is also facing charges in connection with a 2013 explosion at his ex-wife's home. No one was injured in that incident.

On Dec. 13, 2013, there was anexplosion at the Rural Municipality of St. Clementsproperty ofAmsel'sex-wife, Iris, neighbour David Kane previously told CBC.

The Amsels built the home together in the '90sand Iris, who owned the property, continued to live there following their divorce.

Kane said the force of theblast knocked him to the floor of his home.

"I was reading a good novel, and something rocked my worldand literally threw me onto the floor," he said.

"There was a blackening around the window of the garage, and the window of the garage was blown out."

RCMP said there was no physical evidence or information at the time linking any suspect, including Amsel, to the explosion.

Following his arrest, Amsel had trouble securing a local lawyer to defend him. Later, he unsuccessfully arguedthat an out-of-province judge should be brought in to hear his bail review.

Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal ruled there must be "serious and compelling grounds" to assign a judge from outside Manitoba, and the accused must prove "institutional bias" to disqualify an entire court.