WPS officer pleads guilty to raft of corruption crimes committed over more than eight years

Stripped of the uniform he wore for more than 22 years, disgraced police officer Elston Bostock stood before a judge Friday in jail-issue sweats and pleaded guilty to a raft of corruption offences spanning nearly a decade.

Bostock, a 48-year-old Winnipeg Police Service constable, pleaded guilty to five counts of breach of trust and one count each of attempting to obstruct justice, obstructing a police officer, theft under $5,000 and disseminating confidential information. He also pleaded guilty to offering an indignity to human remains for an incident when he shared a photo he took of a naked drug-overdose victim.

Court heard Friday that Bostock repeatedly attempted, sometimes successfully, to get traffic tickets for friends and associates voided, usually in exchange for liquor or gift cards. He also repeatedly looked up licence plate numbers in internal police databases, passing on personal confidential information to drug dealers and other named “associates,” court heard.

Bostock was first arrested in November 2024, along with two other officers. He was arrested on more charges in August, along with a newly charged fourth officer. The arrests were the culmination of a lengthy internal probe by WPS professional standards investigators, with help from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

Bostock’s long list of crimes, starting in February 2016 and ending in October 2024, were detailed in a 20-page agreed statement of facts read aloud in court.

Bostock became the subject of an extensive investigation dubbed Project Fibre after multiple reports from confidential sources that he had been “associating with and providing police information to non-police actors involved in illicit activity,” Crown attorney Ari Millo told King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

Bostock twisted his face into a painful grimace as court heard that he took a cellphone photo of a partially nude drug overdose victim found at an Osborne Street home on May 21, 2021.

That same day, Bostock sent the picture to another officer, saying she had died from a fentanyl overdose and had “the best body on a dead body I ever saw.”

The next day, Bostock sent the picture to another officer, with whom he had been discussing their attraction to a fellow female officer.

“But howabout the bod on dead fentanyl whore,” Bostock wrote. “First time I was horny over a dead body.”

Several of the woman’s family members sat in the front row of the court gallery. One wiped away tears as details of Bostock’s actions were disclosed.

Court heard between February 2016 and September 2024, Bostock attempted 22 times — 12 times successfully — to void traffic tickets issued to “associates and their acquaintances” in return for “consideration” such as liquor, cigars and gift certificates, which were often shared with the officers he asked to cancel the tickets.

One named “associate” had Bostock void tickets for himself or someone in his circle three times in the span of 3 1/2 years. In one September 2019 instance, the man messaged Bostock to say he had been pulled over for using his cellphone while driving, an offence that would result in an automatic three-day driving suspension. The man sent a photo of his ticket to Bostock who then contacted the constable who issued the ticket.

Bostock messaged the man back a short time later “saying that he had spoken to (the constable) and that the (man) would no longer be charged with an offence that would carry the automatic suspension.” In return, the man gave Bostock a $20 Tim Hortons gift card to give to the constable.

In one unsuccessful effort uncovered after investigators tapped Bostock’s cellphone, he contacted another constable and tried to persuade him to provide false information to a Crown attorney handling an acquaintance’s traffic matter.

Bostock “suggested that the Crown would not object, because prosecutors were overburdened and unlikely to pursue the charge.”

In October 2022, Bostock and another officer stole marijuana from a bag found inside a Stradbrook Avenue apartment suite they were guarding until investigators could secure a search warrant. Court heard Bostock and the other officer took a photo of a cache of drugs found in the suite, including a large bag of marijuana, shortly after their arrival. Investigators later took more photos and noticed after comparing the photos that the bag of marijuana appeared to have been moved.

When later questioned about the discrepancy by a senior officer, Bostock and the other constable — who were supposed to wait outside the suite until investigators arrived — said they had gone inside the suite to use the washroom and admitted to picking up the bag of marijuana.

In the months that followed, Bostock and the other constable were separately partnered with a junior constable for a short period of time, during which both admitted to stealing marijuana from the suite.

Court was provided details of a half-dozen occasions when Bostock disclosed confidential information to “associates.”

On Oct. 26, 2022, one of those associates sent Bostock a photo of an automobile licence plate, alleging the vehicle belonged to a suspected heroin dealer who shoved the man when he tried pulling a woman from his car. Bostock provided the man registration information linked to the vehicle, which turned out to be a rental. Bostock told the man if he could provide him the date and time of the incident he could identify who rented the vehicle.

Several weeks later, Bostock messaged the man and asked him “not to kill the party in question,” before providing him the name of the driver and his criminal record, and confirming the driver and woman shared the same address.

In another incident on June 25, 2023, a man messaged Bostock and provided him a partial licence plate number and description of a vehicle belonging to a woman who had approached him. Bostock provided the man with the woman’s name, date of birth and phone number and confirmed that she worked with Justice Canada.

“Notwithstanding this knowledge, (Bostock) proposed contacting her under the pretext of investigating a suspicious call to inquire why she had approached (the man),” says the agreed statement of facts. “Despite (the man’s) clear concern that such action would escalate the situation, (Bostock) proceeded to leave multiple voicemail messages for the (woman).”

As Project Fibre neared its end, investigators authorized an “integrity test” — a staged vehicle break-in outside a Super 8 Motel on Niakwa Road, with an undercover RCMP officer acting as the victim.

Bostock and his partner arrived at the scene shortly before 8 a.m., in a cruiser that, unbeknownst to them, had been wired to record their movements and conversations. The undercover “victim” told the officers he had confronted a suspect and ripped a backpack from him before he ran away. Contents of the backpack included a large black knife, a can of bear spray, a package of black-market cigarettes, a sealed package of marijuana, placebo drugs resembling methamphetamine and antidepressants and $75 in covertly marked bills.

After a short interview, Bostock’s partner put the backpack in the trunk of the cruiser and the officers drove a short distance before pulling over and inspecting its contents. Bostock removed the cash and his partner took the cigarettes.

The officers drove to the Bull and Filly restaurant on Henderson Highway, where Bostock used $20 of the stolen cash to pay for breakfast.

After returning to their cruiser, Bostock thanked “Bear Spray Guy” for “a delicious breakfast.” Fifteen minutes later, they stopped at Bostock’s partner’s house, where he dropped off the bear spray and knife.

Over the course of the morning, the two men grew suspicious that the break-in call had been an integrity test. They returned the cigarettes, knife and bear spray to the backpack, which was then placed in Bostock’s locker at East District Station, where it was later seized by investigators.

Police arrested Bostock at his Rothesay Street home on Nov. 6, 2024, and executed a search warrant that resulted in the seizure of four pairs of brass knuckles and nunchaku martial-arts weapons, Ozempic weight-loss medication taken from a sudden-death call, the marijuana package used in the integrity test, two packages of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and substances believed to be cocaine and a cutting substance used in trafficking.

Bostock is expected to plead guilty to additional drug-trafficking offences later this month and will return to court for sentencing on all charges Jan. 13, after the completion of a psychological report requested by defence lawyer Richard Wolson.

Prosecutors will be recommending he receive a total sentence of seven years in prison.

Bostock was removed from his duties as a police officer after he was first arrested last fall. He remains suspended without pay.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers called Bostock’s actions “deeply concerning.”

“Our members are aware that we have to earn the public’s trust and confidence,” Bowers said in a written statement. “The majority of our members work hard to keep our community safe with integrity, respect and dignity.”

Const. Vernon Strutinsky, 44, Const. Jonathan Kiazyk, 46, and Const. Matthew Kadyniuk, 32, are also facing charges stemming from the WPS probe. Strutinsky was first charged in the summer, while the other two officers were charged in 2024. All three have been placed on leave.

Investigators believe the officers committed offences while partnered with Bostock.

Last month, Manitoba Prosecution Services sent letters to every defence lawyer who has represented a client whose conviction involved Bostock, Strutinsky, Kiazyk or Kadyniuk. The letter asked lawyers to wade through old case files looking for possible miscarriages of justice involving the officers.

The intent of the letter was made clear in a subsequent notice distributed by Legal Aid Manitoba.

“If you have received one of these letters, your duty as counsel requires that you do a summary review to determine whether the conduct of the officer named in the letter may have committed misconduct and whether that misconduct would have reasonably resulted in a miscarriage of justice,” the notice stated, adding Legal Aid has not been given funding to pay defence counsel for the work.

“If counsel concludes that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred based upon the facts of the case, LAM is of the view that this would constitute new evidence and is prepared to fund an appeal.”

After Bostock’s arrest in August, Bowers said he spoke with senior police brass and directed them to meet with officers to discuss accountability and integrity. He also said he is looking at beefing up training for supervisors across the service to be able to better spot potential misconduct. He said the professional standards unit would add additional investigators and supervisors.

— With files from Erik Pindera

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca