Hart made barroom confession to murder, officer testifies

An undercover RCMP officer told a Newfoundland Supreme Court jury Tuesday how he offered Nelson Hart a series of jobs that ultimately led to what police call a barroom confession of murder.

The officer, whose identity cannot be reported by court order, toldthe jury that Hart was led to think the two had a chance encounter in a store parking lot.

Hart wasgiven work for what hefirst thought was a moving company, andwhich he was later told wasa powerful criminal gang.

Thework was actually part of an elaborate RCMP undercover operation that was launched in early 2005, when investigators could make no headway in the investigation of the 2002 deaths of Hart's twin three-year-old daughters.

Karen and Krista Hart drowned at Gander Lake in August 2002. Hart told police he had left one twin in the water and the other standing nearby when he drove for help, although he later told police he had had an epileptic seizure at the scene.

Hart's trial on two counts of first-degree murder began two weeks ago.

In testimony on Tuesday, the officer described for the jury how he first offered Hart small delivery jobs. He said Hart wanted increasing amounts of work, even when it became evident the deliveries were for what was described as a violent criminal organization.

None of the activities that Hart was given to do was illegal.

Hart was flown to Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and other cities, where police operatives paid all of his expenses.

'I got rid of them,' Hart said, according toofficer

The officer testified that at one meeting at a Montreal bar, on April 10, 2005, he told Hart a fictional story about terrible things the officer's character had supposedly done in the past.

The officer said Hart then spoke up and said, "I got rid of them my own blood," and that Hart took a photo of his late daughters out of his wallet.

The officer testified that Hart said he planned the girls' deaths, and that the police had tried to get him, but that he had kept his mouth shut and the heat was no longer on him.

Justice Wayne Dymond cautioned the jury that the conversations that the officer described had not been recorded, and were part of the officer's recollection.

The Crown said it will enter into evidence videotapes on which they say Hart confessed to killing his daughters.

The defence maintains that Hart was intimidated into confession to murders he did not commit, and feared for his life while dealing with undercover officers he believed were criminals.

On Monday, another RCMP officer, who set up the undercover operation, acknowledged that some of the comments that had been made to Hart could be seen as intimidating. However, he said, Hart was always free to walk away from the delivery jobs he was being offered.