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A Manitoba judge has granted bail to a man who runs a Winnipeg bathhouse with his husband and is accused of placing a “homemade pipe bomb” outside a competing local sex club earlier this month.
Erik Lymen Olson, 59, is alleged to have set an incendiary device against the back wall of AQ Sauna at 457 Notre Dame Ave. in the early morning hours on Sept. 11 before fleeing to a nearby vehicle, according to Winnipeg police.
There were 17 people inside AQ Sauna — a 24-hour bathhouse that was formerly called Aquarius and was the site of a fatal fire in 2009 — at the time of the incident around 2:30 a.m., according to the Crown.
Crown attorney Scott Cooper said the device appeared to be a “homemade pipe bomb” during a bail hearing on Monday.
A bystander found the bomb and extinguished it before it caused more damage, police said. The tactical and bomb units responded and the device was disposed of at another location.
Olson, who has no prior criminal history, was arrested on Sept. 12 and detained in custody, police said.
Olson has been charged with placing or throwing an incendiary device, making or possessing an explosive substance to endanger life or cause serious damage to property, and possession of incendiary material.
None of these charges have been tested in court.
Olson runs the Adonis Men’s Spa at 1060 Main St. alongside his husband Douglas Pomanski, Cooper said. Pomakski is registered as the club’s owner according to land title documents accessed by CBC News.
Both AQ Sauna and Adonis serve similar clientele, offering an all-hours social club space where adults can have sex with each other, the Crown said.
Cooper characterized the incident as a “potentially deadly” attack on a rival business and argued that Olson should not be granted bail.
“Had this exploded, this would have been a devastating event. Mercifully, it did not,” Cooper said.
The Crown attorney said Olson “admitted to obtaining an incendiary device and placing it behind the AQ Sauna” during an interview with police and “explained it was due to a disagreement with the previous owner’s business practices.”
Olson is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. His defence attorney Ethan Pollock said that while the Crown says there was a confession, it will have to be proven if that confession was made voluntarily.
Monday’s bail hearing was held to assess risk upon release, not to determine guilt, which would happen during trial proceedings.
Olson runs the Adonis Men’s Spa alongside his husband Douglas Pomanski, who owns the bathhouse business. (Google Street View)
Pollock said Olson, an Indigenous man with connections to Lake Manitoba First Nation, is an active member of Winnipeg’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.
His lawyer argued Olson should be released on bail to live with his husband Pomanski and their two cats.
Pollock said both Pomanski and a longtime neighbour would act as Olson’s sureties — people who promise to supervise an accused person while they’re out on bail and pay money to the court if conditions aren’t followed.
During a bail hearing last week, the Crown raised concerns about Pomanski acting as his husband’s surety, given that Pomanski had been questioned by police and had his phone seized. Pomanski has not been charged in connection with the incident.
A neighbour later vowed to act as an additional surety.
Olson’s bail plan includes a $30,000 or more cash deposit and two sureties who promise to pay $25,000 each, Pollock said, suggesting the proposal creates minimal risk to the public.
Provincial Court Judge Malcolm W. McDonald said that while Olson is accused of a very serious crime, the bail proposal is “amongst one of the strongest plans for release that I have seen come before this court in quite some time.”
McDonald decided to grant Olson’s release during Monday’s hearing.
Under his bail conditions, Olson is required to wear an ankle monitor at all times and live at his Winnipeg home. He has to stay at home 24 hours a day, except for during curfew hours when he’s working at Adonis Men’s Spa or in an emergency.
He can’t go within 300 metres of the AQ Sauna and isn’t allowed to go to the home, workplace, school or place of worship of any AQ Sauna principal — including owner Christopher Gregoire.
The judge said Olson isn’t allowed to possess or carry firearms, incendiary devices, explosive substances, accelerants and other weapons, among other bail conditions.
Despite Olson’s bail being granted on Monday, Pollock told CBC News that his client was still in custody as of Friday, because he is still waiting to receive an ankle monitor.
Olson’s next court date is set for late October.