'We need to push her over the edge': Harassment trial ends with guilty verdict for Calgary millionaire

Jurors have found Ken Carter, a Calgary millionaire accused of paying more than $800,000 to discredit and harass his ex-girlfriend in a custody battle, guilty on charges of criminal harassment. 

The jury also found a husband and wife he had hired guilty of bribery and improperly storing firearms. Steve Walton was found guilty of criminal harassment, while no unanimous decision was made about his wife Heather's harassment charge — leading to a mistrial.

The Waltons and Carter have been on trial in Calgary for the past month on corruption-related offences. 

Steve Walton's counsel Alain Hepner described the trial as "gut-wrenching." He said addressing the jurors' questions was like a pendulum swinging.

Hepner said before talking about appeals, they have to concentrate on sentencing. 

Carter was a client of the Waltons, who were former Calgary Police Service employees and ran a risk management and protection company. From 2012 to 2013, Carter — who is said to be worth about $80 million — paid the Waltons $800,000 to conduct surveillance on his ex-girlfriend, Akele Taylor.

Taylor and Carter had a child together. When they broke up in August 2012, they became embroiled in a bitter custody dispute. 

After the jury ruling on Friday, the Waltons left court and weren't keen to speak to media, but Heather did say they aren't happy with the result of the trial. 

"We're not giving up, we did the right thing, it was for a little baby girl," Heather said. "We're happy we did it, but we're not happy with this."

In response, Crown prosecuter Ryan Persad said Walton is entitled to her opinion, but the Crown presented its evidence and doesn't believe the defence's child custody arguments were believed. 

Jurors heard the Waltons and their employees used a GPS unit to follow Taylor. They also offered her friends and family members money for negative information about her. They're accused of trying to intimidate her into giving Carter full custody of their daughter.

Defence lawyers painted Taylor as an unfit mother and a drug addict, arguing the Waltons conducted surveillance on Taylor to monitor her lifestyle and provided security for Carter and his daughter.

Text messages between the three accused and others who worked for them appear to show an effort to wear Taylor down.

"She's getting near the end of her rope," Carter wrote to Steve Walton in one message. "We need to push her over the edge.

"We will follow her around the world."

Taylor disappeared before trial

On top of harassment charges, the Waltons are also accused of bribery for allegedly paying Calgary Police Service members to access police databases to retrieve information they sought about Taylor and her friends.

During the execution of a search warrant on the Waltons' home, police found firearms that investigators said were improperly stored, so the couple also faces charges in connection with those allegations. 

Weeks before the trial, Taylor disappeared and never testified for the prosecution. She told the lead detective she no longer wanted to see Carter convicted. 

But she did testify earlier this year in a different trial. In April, three current and former police officers — Bryan Morton, Brad McNish and Tony Braile — were convicted of corruption-related offences for their participation in the harassment of Taylor. The officers were employees of the Waltons.

Here are the verdicts on each charge faced by the three accused: 

Ken Carter

• Criminal harassment: guilty.

Steve Walton

• Criminal harassment: guilty.
• Bribery of officers: guilty.
• Improper storage of a firearm: guilty.

Heather Walton

• Criminal harassment: judge declared a mistrial.
• Bribery of officers: guilty.
• Improper storage of a firearm: guilty.

A sentencing hearing is expected next week.

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With files from Kate Adach