Dillon Whitehawk, crime scene linked to Indian Mafia street gang: expert testimony

A Regina police officer has linked Dillon Whitehawk to a known street gang during testimony on day three of the murder trial.

Whitehawk, 28, is on trial for first-degree murder in the death of Keesha Bitternose.

Police found Bitternose, 29, dead inside a home in the 1500 block of Cameron Street on Jan. 5, 2020. Previous testimony linked the house to known street gang activity by Regina police.

Regina Police Service (RPS) Cst. Trevor Weir testified as an expert witness for the crown on Wednesday. Weir worked in the RPS street gang unit from 2012 to 2018.

At the time of Bitternose’s death, Weir said the Indian Mafia (IM) was the most prominent street gang in Regina.

Weir outlined different markers associated with the IM in court, including hand signs, lingo, colours, graffiti and tattoos. IM members often wear black clothing and black bandanas with a white paisley pattern, he said.

Weir linked Whitehawk to the IM through Facebook photos acting as Crown evidence that show the accused flashing IM hand signs and wearing black.

Additional pictures taken by police of Whitehawk’s right hand show two gang tattoos that match a typical IM “entry-level finger tattoo” and a “full patch tattoo,” Weir testified.

Street gangs operate based on a pyramid hierarchy with entry-level members, or soldiers, at the bottom. Above them are crew bosses or captains, followed by generals, the vice-president and president. Weird said full patch tattoos are usually indicative of a crew boss or general.

Photos taken at the crime scene show IM graffiti written on the walls of the home and black bandanas in the room.

Weir told court that street gangs are seeing a “significant amount of females” involved in criminal activity compared to earlier years.

He said gangs are typically “commodity-driven” and sell drugs or rob houses to turn a profit.

“It’s such a hostile culture,” Weir said, adding that greed often drives members to try and rise in the ranks by committing violent acts to gain power.

“It is very aggressive even within the same group.”

If a member loses the gang money, betrays a higher-rank person or cooperates with police, Weir said that member could become “green-lit,” meaning other gang members would be ordered to assault them as punishment. In some cases, the punishment could also be death. He added that the order would come from the president, vice-president or a general.

Bitternose was found with more than 100 injuries on her body, according to the autopsy report. Her wounds ranged from cuts and stab marks to bruises and punctures.

Her family believes she was tortured.

Earlier this week, Bitternose’s kokum Jeannette Anderson, told reporters that she knew her granddaughter was involved in gang activity based on her social media posts, and was trying to get out of the gang to become a social worker.

Crown prosecutors have presented a three-point theory to the court. They argue Bitternose’s death was gang related, planned and deliberate, and she was unlawfully confined when she died.

CROSS EXAMINATION

During cross-examination, defense lawyer Thomas Hynes questioned Weir on the “chain of command” within a street gang.

Weir told court that directions come from the top down in the pyramid structure, while money and power move up.

Hynes asked if members could “jump the chain of command.” Weir agreed, but said it is frowned upon for soldiers to go behind the backs of their higher-ups.

Hynes focused on the roles women play in the gang structure, during his line of questioning.

Weir agreed that women largely operate as a separate system. Typically, female members follow the same president and vice-president as the men, he said, but there is a “leading woman,” either at the general or crew boss level who takes care of the other female members.

Weir told court that there is not always a female general, and said there is no distinction between male and female crew bosses, adding they are viewed as equals in the ranks.

Kurtis Thomas and Kelly Stonechild have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Bitternose. Both are currently serving their sentences.

In December 2021, Weir was asked to file an opinion report on Stonechild’s gang involvement.

Weir told court that Stonechild, also known as Ktwoo, has ties to the IM based on police photos that show a full patch IM tattoo on her right forearm.

WITNESS POINTS FINGER AT STONECHILD AND THOMAS

A Crown witness, who cannot be named under a publication ban, claimed to have had ties to the IM at the time of Bitternose’s death, although he was not an initiated member.

The witness told court that Whitehawk, Bitternose, Stonechild and Thomas were all members of the IM.

He testified to being with the four of them, along with other IM members, on Jan. 1, 2020 at the house on Cameron Street.

At the time, he said, Bitternose and Stonechild were “bumpin’ heads about higher ranks.”

The night of Jan. 1, the witness explained he went to pick up alcohol for the group. He testified Stonechild told him not to return.

Hynes argued that Stonechild was trying to clear the house to fight Bitternose. The witness agreed that was a possibility.

When the witness returned he found a person hiding near the back door, he said, which was the same location police found Bitternose’s body days later.

He testified that the person was alive, but he did not know who it was. He said the rest of the house was empty, and he left.

Throughout his testimony, the witness said he could not remember details of the night or events following Bitternose’s death due to being high and drunk at the time.

“I’m not coming here to lie about anything. What I’m telling you is the truth. I can’t remember,” he said.

The witness told court that both Thomas and Stonechild admitted to him on separate occasions that they stabbed Bitternose that night. However, he could not confirm if Stonechild also admitted to stabbing and killing the victim.

The Crown called RPS Cst. Jeremy Kerth as its final witness on Wednesday.

Kerth responded to a call in the early hours of Jan. 3, 2020, the day after Bitternose died.

He said a woman found an SKS rifle in the backyard of her house in the 1900 block of Montreal Street. Officers also located a black ski mask, two black gloves and a cell phone in the area.

One glove was a Nike brand and the other was Under Armour. The Under Armour glove appears to match a glove Whitehawk was wearing in a Facebook video shown in court earlier in the week.

It also appears to match the glove that police found balled up on Bitternose’s face when her body was located.

Surveillance video shows a man in a white t-shirt and black ski mask running on Montreal Street carrying the SKS rifle.

The previous witness identified that rifle as the same gun that was in the Cameron Street gang house.

Crown prosecutors are expected to call more witnesses to clarify Whitehawk’s involvement in Bitternose’s death when court resumes Thursday at 10 a.m.