University Town of Halifax linked to supposed Chemical Weapons Plot in Ottawa

Ottawa Police sets up a parameter around Chimo hotel on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. Hotel was evacuated after RCMP chemical alert suspect was located inside. (© James Park / Ottawa Citizen) Reproduced under the Fair Dealing Provision.

Ex-Military Expert on Chemical Weapons?

One of the first pieces of information to emerge was that Chris Phillips was an American ex-military expert on biological/chemical weapons.

The marriage to the Olympic Gold-Medalist gymnast though, ended in an acrimonious divorce in 2004.

His LinkedIn Profile obviously does not state his military background. The US DoD has “no comment.” To quote,

The US Department of Defence can’t yet confirm anything about Phillips’ weapons background, though they told the Ottawa Sun they are investigating. Toronto Star reporter Joanna Smith reported that the Ottawa office of the US Department of Homeland Security was aiding in the investigation.

Chris Phillips © Facebook. Reproduced under the Fair Dealing Provision.

The RCMP anti-terror unit INSET was also involved in the investigation.

To quote another source:

It has been reported that Phillips was a former biomedical weapons expert for the U.S. Army. However, the U.S. military says they have no record of Phillips, though the records only date back to 1999.

He does recieve disability payments from the US Navy. To quote,

Phillips suffered an undisclosed “traumatic injury” to his feet while serving in the U.S. navy, which granted him a medical discharge, say court documents he filed in Washington state in 2011 as part of a lawsuit against a former colleague. “Phillips is rated as 100 per cent disabled by the military due to a feet condition associated with significant pain,” says the document, which Phillips himself wrote. “Phillips also receives additional disability for loss of use of both feet due to pain.” Separate documents filed as part of his bankruptcy case show he received a monthly military disability payment of $3,145 — which amounted to $87,244 between 2006 and the first four months of 2008.

Or Never Mind?

The part about him being an Ex-Military Expert on Chemical Weapons slowly started disappearing in media coverage. In its place, we see terms like “U.S. military weapons specialist.” As coverage unfolded, we also see more and more references to the rather tame-sounding “mental health issues.” Terrorism was also quickly ruled out.

Conspiracy Theorists may recall the Anthrax attacks that followed 9/11. But unlike the Anthrax attacks, here we have suspects, materials and the fuzzy outlines of a supposed plot. But thankfully, no execution. In the case of the Anthrax conspiracy, Lt. Colonel Philip Zack was caught on camera entering the Ft. Detrick lab in 1992 on an unauthorized basis. He had worked closely with US government bioengineer, Egyptian-born Dr. Ayaad Assaad, and was accused of forming a clique to harass and provoke Assaad. He left working at Fort Detrick in December 1991. Just before the Anthrax attacks that followed 9/11, an anonymous letter was sent to the military police at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, accusing Assaad of being a bioterrorist. The letter revealed intimate knowledge of Assaad’s background, presumably to frame Assaad. The Anthrax used in the bioterror attacks came from Fort Detrick. To date the terrorist(s) behind the attacks have not been arrested.

Connection to Dalhousie University?

Early on, we were told that Chris Phillips was a Professor at Dalhousie University?

Never Mind

Then there was a redaction.

Clearly, Philips was highly qualified to hold a teaching position at Dalhousie University. From his LinkedIn Profile (not to be confused with the LinkedIn Profile of another Halifax-based Chris Phillips), we know that he

• Holds a bachelor of science in chemistry and biology degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
• Studied medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
• Did his ophthalmology residency at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
• Received a cornea and refractive surgical fellowship from the Boston University School of Medicine.
• Studied medical and business law at Suffolk University Law School.

His current wife, Dr. Gosia Phillips legally changed her name in February 2010 from Malgorzata Ewa Klonowska. She is an assistant professor of medicine at Dalhousie University. To quote the Ottawa Citizen

His [Chris Phillips] LinkedIn profile also lists Phillips as the manager of Neurology and Sleep Medicine Associates, Inc., a business registered in Nova Scotia since 2009.

According to the province’s business registry, it operates out of a home at 43 Parkedge Crescent in Dartmouth. That’s one of the locations RCMP were investigating Tuesday. Nothing of note was found at that building.

However, RCMP were also at 54 Lakeridge Crescent, the first location in their investigation.

Police descending on that property found a package in the garage containing hazardous chemicals, authorities said.

Police also located hazardous and volatile chemicals inside a cottage on Dyke Road in Nova Scotia.

Property records accessed by the Halifax Chronicle-Herald show Gosia Eve Phillips owns the Lakeridge home. She is also listed as the president of their business. She is a Harvard University graduate and neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine and is an assistant professor of medicine at Dalhousie University, according to the university’s website.

To quote,

In a statement, the company said it is “aware that a very public matter has arisen that involves her husband and we are providing support to her while she deals with this unfortunate situation.” MedSleep Atlantic said Christopher Phillips is not and has never been an employee of the company.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she is also a Physician/Consultant for Capital District Health Authority’s Sleep Clinic. She studied Medicine at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Why Halifax?

And why did Chris Phillips choose to move to Halifax, which is a small town with not much to it except three Universities, the largest of them being Dalhousie University?

According to the Ottawa Citizen,

In the lab, where it is used to stain small samples to show up under certain types of microscopes, workers use fume hoods like the ventilation hood over a kitchen stove.

[………]

Osmium tetroxide is the oxidized form of osmium, a very rare metal. Carleton University says the current price is about $700 per gram.

It is available only in small quantities, and it is possible to order it online. But given the huge quantities of chemicals discovered at properties associated with Chris Phillips, it is unlikely that such massive quantities were ordered online (If they are all related to Osmium Tetroxide). Also note that postal workers routinely snitch for the government. They would have been easily perturbed by the warning labels on the packages.

Such large quantities of the rare element Osmium, and Osmium Tetroxide, could have come from an advanced Chemistry/Biology/Medical Laboratory, which orders stuff like this by the kilogram without arousing the slightest suspicion.

An advanced Chemistry Laboratory/Biology/Medical with access to Government Funds.

An advanced Chemistry/Biology/Medical Laboratory with access to Government Funds. Part of an Institute/University with ethically challenged staff.

An advanced Chemistry/Biology/Medical Laboratory with access to Government Funds. Part of an Institute/University with ethically challenged staff, and infamous for the presence of Criminal Cabals.

An advanced Chemistry/Biology/Medical Laboratory with access to Government Funds. Part of an Institute/University with ethically challenged staff, and infamous for the presence of Criminal Cabals. In a city whose citizenry are flakier than snowflakes.

Does that sound like Dalhousie University?

My Personal Experiences as a student at Dalhousie

During my time at Dalhousie, I cam across an evil looking “Professor Emeritus” who was born in a Communist country, groomed in Soviet State Institutions and maybe even supervised the genocides that took place in the Soviet Union. In Dalhousie University, he was running “student exchange” programs in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Such programs were usually conduits to bring Soviet spies into North America. Prior to that he, operated in the vicinity of a major NATO installation in Canada. This evil man seemed to have the complete backing of Dalhousie University when he called the Prophet of Islam a pedophile in class (to provoke me). He would later openly threaten me, informing me that my days in Canada as a free person were over. After that, I started being persecuted by Criminal Cabals among Dalhousie Faculty. They seemed to have complete access to my private Dalhousie email account, as well as my Internet activity. Later, they supposedly passed on my identity to a Canadian terrorist whom I had exposed online. This terrorist cum Canadian Intelligence operative, Beverly Giesbrecht, tried to bomb a passenger plane in 2010.

In other words, this is not a normal University. Stuff like this is quietly brushed aside as Business as Usual. The citizenry of Halifax are also just as apathetic. In 1999, a plane full of people disappeared off the coast of Halifax, supposedly diverted to a military base. Some of the purported witnesses were clearly lying as part of the coverup.

Having ex-spooks moonlight as teachers creates serious security issues for independent minded students. If you consider yourself an independent minded student, please avoid Dalhousie University and the city of Halifax for your own personal safety.

Chemical Highly Hazardous?

There is indication that the Chemical in question, Osmium Tetroxide, is highly hazardous, and has been used in a 2004 terrorist plot. To quote,

British authorities believe terror suspects arrested last week were planning to make a bomb that would include a highly toxic, easily obtained chemical called osmium tetroxide, ABCNEWS has learned.

Used primarily in laboratories for research, osmium tetroxide is known to attack soft human tissue and could blind or kill anyone who breathed its fumes. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, it is a colorless to pale yellow solid with a strong, unpleasant odor.

“It’s a nasty piece of work,” said Dave Siegrist, a bioterrorism expert at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va. “It irritates the eyes, lungs, nose and throat. It leads to an asthma-like death, what we call a ‘dry-land drowning.’ “

Scientists say if, for example, the bomb used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack had produced such fumes, they would have wiped out the first police and rescue workers on the scene.

“They become overwhelmed by fumes,” said Jerry Hauer, an expert on biological and chemical terrorism and the former director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, describing what could have happened. “They can go blind. This is not a benign chemical. It is very nasty.”

Eight British citizens of Pakistani descent were arrested and taken into custody when 700 police raided 24 locations in and around London on March 30. Investigators say British authorities moved in when they learned from electronic intercepts the dangerous chemical was involved in the plot. They had been the tracking group’s activities for several months.

According to sources, there was some indication the group in custody was targeting Gatwick airport, the British public transportation system and enclosed shopping areas. British authorities feared it had the potential to be one of the worst attacks ever against the United Kingdom

Also consider this tweet with respect to the chemicals found at Grand Desert

Or Not so Hazardous?

The Ottawa Citizen published a piece claiming that while the chemical was hazardous, it was still not bad enough to be a terrorist weapon of choice. They also dragged in some experts to support their claim. To quote,

The danger is that the gas reacts with many things, including “almost anything in the body,” said chemistry professor Richard Puddephatt at Western University in London.

“The immediate effects are to the eyes, from the warning labels that I’ve seen,” he said. “It will attack the cornea, and if it’s bad it will cause blindness. It can also cause internal damage if you breathe it in.”

“I don’t think it would be super-bad in the sense that it’s not a gas and so it acts relatively slowly,” he said. He was stumped as to how someone would use it as an effective weapon.

“Usually it’s available in only very small quantities and so it probably isn’t something that is going to cause mass damage,” he said. “I suppose if it was thrown at you and some of it stuck on your face, the fumes would get into your eyes very quickly and so it could cause damage to individuals. But I don’t think it would cause mass casualties.”

Most media coverage avoids any reference to the 2004 terrorist plot.

Bad Neighbour?

The above cottage in Grand Desert is one of two homes where authorities found hazardous chemicals. Firefighters and other emergency personnel seen gathered around the building on Wednesday.

Dave Croft, a resident of Grand Desert, the area where Chris Phillips had a cottage (where chemicals were found), told CBC News he saw Phillips at the property and introduced himself to him when he moved in. To quote,

I just went down there when he moved in….I would say about two years ago, and introduced myself, and offered to give him a hand with his renovations that he was doing, and he wasn’t very friendly or neighbourly, I pretty much exited the premises. It kind of seemed suspicious to me…and he was a bit of an oddball right. [……..] He mentioned being from the States and that he bought the place, got the place for storage, and uh, he found storage is really expensive, and I thought that was a bit suspicious, why would anybody spend $50,000 to store stuff, and uh, I didn’t really, I kind of left it at that. I thought maybe he was an undercover cop or something at that time. [……..] He didn’t want me there […..] He was hiding something. I could tell he was hiding something. He didn’t want…, he just didn’t want anybody around.

Or Good Neighbour?

Contrary testimonies soon began popping up on other news websites. To quote,

“(I’m) quite surprised,” said a Lakeridge neighbour who preferred not to give his name, but added Phillips had bought the house in April and been working on it since last June.

“He’s a normal guy, or seemed like a normal guy,” he said.

George Munroe said his wife is friendly with Gosia Phillips, and their children go over for play dates with the Phillips’ kids.

Phillips had mentioned he was a doctor with a background in the military, Munroe said.

“Just a normal family,” Munroe said. “Barbecues and that kind of stuff.”

More Wierdness in the Timeline?

The following is a tentative timeline of how events unfolded. All of these statements are taken from this Daily Mail article.

1. “Nova Scotia court records also show that Phillips was charged for uttering threats and possession of a weapon between December 26 [2014] and Wednesday [21st January 2015].” Maybe Phillips was having issues with nosey neighbours. He was very keen on maintaining privacy. Note that it is still unclear what this episode was all about.  To quote another version, “RCMP in Nova Scotia have charged Christopher Phillips, 42, with one count of threatening police with bodily harm or death and one of possessing a weapon (osmium tetroxide).”
2. “Police in Nova Scotia were first alerted to a possible threat Monday night [19th January 2015] around 9:20pm when they received a call about a suspicious package at a local home.” Note that it is unclear who made this call. and what exactly this suspicious package was. It could be a curious neighbour. The home was in Lakeridge Crescent, Cole Harbour, which was being renovated by Philips. The package was supposedly in the garage. It is unclear whether or not the “suspicious package” was related to Phillip’s departure to Ottawa. Or did he flee/depart (with chemicals?) after he was alerted to police involvement? Phillips lived in an nearby home at Parkedge Crescent. The Parkedge Crescent Home is the address for Neurology And Sleep Medicine Associates Inc.
3. “They went on to investigate three homes connected to Phillips in two neighborhoods.”
4. “Of the three buildings searched Tuesday, ‘hazardous and volatile’ materials were found in two – one home on Lakeridge Crescent [Cole Harbour] owned by Phillips’ current wife Gosia Phillips and a cottage on Old Dyke Road (Grand Desert) registered to a Marian Sue Phillips of El Reno, Oklahoma. It’s unclear the relationship between Marian and the suspect.”
5. “Gosia Phillips allegedly told police that her husband was en route to Ottawa in a Chevy cube van, that was feared to be packed with even more dangerous chemicals.” Note that some news outlets are portraying his wife as the first one who contacted police, although this is still unclear.
6. “Police issued a Canada-wide alert for the van Tuesday night, saying the suspect driver was an ex-military weapons specialist with possible mental health issues and an ‘anti-police’ attitude. ‘Person reported to have mental health issues/PTSD and has issues with law enforcement personnel. Person may have chemicals or hazardous materials in the vehicle,’ the report read.
7. “Around 10pm [20th January 2015], an Ottawa police officer spotted a van matching the description in the parking lot of the Chimo Hotel. All of the guests were called and told to quietly evacuate so police could search the building for chemicals and the suspect.”
8. “Phillips was apprehended the following morning [21st January 2015]- his 42nd birthday – without incident from a room on the sixth floor of the hotel.” Is the fact that it was his birthday a coincidence? Was he planning a little private surprise?
9. “Police finished searching the building and Phillips’ van later that afternoon without finding any chemicals.” This can be disputed. Remember that this is the Ottawa Police, which specializes in coverups and misdirection. See the early tweets below which says he possessed two dangerous chemicals, one of them highly poisonous and volatile.

Monday's #RCMP memo on #Ottawa hotel suspect says Christopher Philips possessed 2 dangerous chemicals, 1 of them highly poisonous, volatile.

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) January 21, 2015

Christopher Phillips, Chimo hotel suspect, may be in possession of 2 dangerous, volatile chemicals #ottnews #CBCOtt http://t.co/KQ8e4Wyrwd

— Judy Trinh (@JudyTrinhCBC) January 21, 2015

Later, we are told that no hazardous chemicals were found with Phillips in Ottawa.

More Weirdness at the Trial

We are now told that when the wife of Chris Phillips complained to police, Sgt. Lisa Stuart responded. The wife showed her emails that indicated that Chris Phillips was in a diminished mental state. To quote,

An RCMP officer says she issued an international warning about a Nova Scotia man believed to have a large stockpile of chemicals after she reviewed emails Christopher Phillips wrote that described his “illegal thoughts” and plans for a toxic chemical he referred to as a “billionaire’s weapon of terror.”

[…….]

One of the emails described how Phillips wanted to construct a special display box for a vial of osmium tetroxide, which he planned to give to a friend for Christmas. Phillips described how the box could be used as a weapon.

“Throw entire box at any police officer that has decided to take up residence on your property. While still holding your breath, run like hell,” said the email.

[……..]

In other emails, Phillips muses about his plans to build a device to enrich uranium and then seek a patent for the device in Iraq, Pakistan or Syria.

[…….]

In response, Phillips’ wife Gosia wrote in an email to Phillips: “We are very fearful that you are capable of doing something dangerous in your state of mind.” She encourages him to seek help from a mental-health professional.

[…….]

Under cross-examination, Stuart told defence lawyer Mike Taylor that her decision to warn other police officers that Phillips was a “bio-chemical weapons specialist” was based on an assumption she made about his previous work in a U.S. military lab.

Stuart testified that she had written in a report that some of the chemicals Phillips owned were sweating and in a crystallized form, leaving them “unstable.”

However, Stuart also confirmed in court that Phillips had legally obtained the osmium tetroxide and that none of the other chemicals were stored improperly.

In all, Phillips had 230 millilitres of osmium tetroxide in liquid form and another 31 grams in a crystallized form, well under the limit for legal possession.

Was there also a “billionaire client” for the “billionaire’s weapon of terror?”

Note that emails are being used to explain every aspect of what happened. Also interesting is the fact that Phillips himself provided these emails to the CBC. Email evidence needs to be carefully scrutinized because it is possible to alter timestamps and server logs. The emails portray Chris Phillips’s road trip to Ottawa as the fallout of a domestic drama involving his mother-in-law.

There is still a big discrepancy about what was found at the cottage at Grand Desert. To quote,

Earlier this week, an RCMP forensics expert testified officers found 510 different chemicals that could be used to make 11 different homemade explosives when they searched a property in Grand Desert, N.S.

The following are some even more intriguing tweets from the trial.

Fraser says Gosia was deceptive. She Wanted chemical removed while trying to ensure no action against her husband.

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 5, 2015

Boon testifies they secured the scene and waited for experts to arrive and deal with suspected pipe bomb at 54 Lake Ridge in Cole Harbour

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Hfx police Sgt David Boon now on stand. He was person who unzipped a bag with what looked inside like a pipe bomb to him.

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

More evidence seized during Phillips investigation pic.twitter.com/WbWzoADkPZ

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Court has allowed media to take pics/video of exhibits in Phillips trial. This is one of them pic.twitter.com/b3XcWbY3j7

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Burry says Chris Phillips was dressed on coveralls and referred to them as "his terrorist suit" but in a flippant way

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Neighbour of Chris and Goshia Phillips now on the stand. Ron Burry says he contacted police b/c of concern for Chris' safety and others

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

She says he had chemicals for testing breathalyzer to see what might impact readings after he was charged with driving under the influence

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Goshia Phillips went to RCMP Jan 19 to ask them to remove osmium tetroxide fr unlocked shed at the home being renovated.

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 4, 2015

Brochu says MSDS indicates Osmium Tetroxide should be stored at 2-8 degrees C. Says there appeared to be no temp controls in shed

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 2, 2015

In email to wife, Phillips says chemical was in PVC tube as a safety precaution, packed in vermiculite to absorb any possible leakage .

— Yvonne Colbert (@YvonneCBC) June 1, 2015

Resources

Series of Tweets by CBC journalists

A brief bio of the suspect

A 2008 news story about Chris Phillips abruptly closing a flourishing eye care center

His neighbour at Grand Desert who always felt he was hiding something

The Nova Scotia Court Filing Document

Phillips filed for bankruptcy on July 2, 2008, claiming assets of $962,109 and liabilities of nearly $4.7 million.

Another news article