Hearing moment by moment details of how their sons were murdered nearly five years ago has been extremely difficult for the parents of two slain Red Deer RCMP officers.
But the families of constables Brock Myrol and Anthony Gordon believe the fatality inquiry in Stony Plain will be worthwhile if changes can be made to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in future.
“It’s a heartache, like going through it all over again,” said Colleen Myrol, who hates seeing pictures of the Quonset hut in which her son was killed, along with Gordon, and constables Leo Johnston and Peter Schiemann.
The four RCMP members were gunned down on March 3, 2005 by Mayerthorpe-area resident James Roszko, while investigating a marijuana operation and stolen auto parts on his property north of Edmonton.
Roszko, a police hater with a lengthy criminal history, who came under fire from another RCMP officer, later killed himself.
While listening to the testimony has not been easy, Myrol said, “basically I’m hoping everything will finally be put to rest . . . I hope if there’s any lessons learned they can come out with changes in policy and procedure.”
“I just hope this all never happens again,” said Gordon’s mother, Doreen Jewell-Duffy, who describes feeling “not very good” at the inquiry. “It’s very hard, like it’s all happening again.” But she said she needed to attend to hear more information.
The fatality inquiry was delayed for years by the police investigation and later court conviction of Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman, who assisted Roszko by driving him back to his farm after he had fled the property, and giving him a rifle.
Some have suggested the Hennessey and Cheeseman should have been allowed to testify at the inquiry, but Myrol and Jewell-Duffy disagree.
“They had the chance to speak,” said Myrol, who added that Cheeseman and Hennessey prolonged the police investigation and delayed the fatality inquiry by lying about their role in the murders. “This all would have been over earlier had they told the truth,” she added.
“I’ve had enough of Hennessey and Cheeseman,” said Jewell-Duffy, “They lied all the way through.”
Both women point out that the inquiry concerns what happened once Roszko returned to the farm, not how he got back, so their testimony would be irrelevant.
Myrol was glad to hear that her son and Gordon had access to firearms while in the Quonset. RCMP constables Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston had access to a rife and shotgun. Const. Brock Myrol had a sidearm. She had worried that they were left as unarmed targets when Roszko struck.
She was also pleased the area had been lit up by halogen lights.
But Jewell-Duffy questioned whether lighting was adequate after hearing that the Quonset’s interior just had heat lamps for the marijuana grow operation. “There was one (halogen) light outside, that was it.”
While police bosses have testified that they wouldn’t have done anything differently, Jewell-Duffy said it’s ultimately up to the inquiry to determine if something different should have been done.
She’s looking forward to hearing the Feb. 1 testimony of Senior Deputy Commissioner Rod Knecht, who was the Criminal Operations Officer of “K” Division RCMP at the time of the shootings.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com