Canadian True Crime - The Mayerthorpe Tragedy [3]

Episode Date: May 15, 2021

[Part 3 of 3] The conclusion.Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast. Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part three of a three-part series. If you haven't listened to Part 2 yet, make sure you do before you listen to this episode. The final part of the Mr Big Sting involving Dennis Cheeseman started off like this. Nick told Dennis that their big crime boss had noticed his work and had requested his attendance in Edmonton. This was apparently a big deal. Dennis was to buy a whole new outfit to look the part. paid for by the RCMP. He was chuffed with his new look and commented that he'd like to dress like that more often. Before going in to see Mr Big, Dennis was advised that the way to win his favour

was to be upfront and honest. After some icebreakers, Mr Big asked Dennis for the real story of what had happened at Marathorpe, promising him that they would take care of it. But Dennis gave them yet another version. When Mr. Bigg called him on it, Dennis admitted that it was hard to tell the truth, but he trusted them so he would. But he just gave them another version of the story, one that had been scrubbed of any mention of Sean Hennesse's involvement. Dennis said that he drove the truck and Roscoe asked him what he thought he was going to do with the rifle. Dennis replied, You're going to take care of business. As they arrived at the spot nearby Roscoe, Roscoe's farm where he said they wanted to be dropped off.

Dennis said they could hardly see the cop car lights on the property. Then Roscoe got out, Dennis drove home, and that was it. Dennis told Mr. Big that that was all he knew. Mr. Big thanked him for being honest, and Dennis said he was sorry for lying. Quote, I'm not a saint, but I didn't want that to happen. But the RCMP now had much to think about. there were questions about Dennis's culpability. David Staples from the Edmonton Journal

analyzed the situation as part of his long-form series on the case. Quote, If Dennis Cheeseman knew before the mass murder about Roscoe's intent to kill, especially if Roscoe had clearly spelt it out in his own words, then Cheeseman was surely guilty of first-degree murder for helping Roscoe and failing to warn the police of his presence. But if Cheeseman didn't know, if he had only figured things out the next day, as he was here suggesting, the verdict might well be different in any future trial. The piece in the Edmonton Journal went on to say that in all of Dennis's previous statements to RCMP investigators and undercover agents,

his confessions regarding Roscoe's intent had, quote, the flavour of a man who realised only after the mass murder had happened that homicide, was definitely Roscoe's plan all along. The other issue for the RCMP was that Dennis's confession hadn't mentioned Sean Hennessy. And even if it did, it couldn't be used as evidence against Sean because that would be hearsay. A plan was starting to form where Sean would need to be looped into the crime gang in a different way. The gang managed to convince Dennis that satellite footage existed of him driving Roscoe that night, but they had contacts that could erase the footage if he needed it.

All he needed to do was tell them the truth of what happened that night and they could take care of it. Obviously, this was fake, there was no satellite footage. And it was so easy. Dennis immediately realized that Sean would be captured on the footage too and admitted the truth about the fact that they were both in Sean's car and Sean was the one driving. He told them that Roscoe had gone to Sean

first to demand help, and it was Sean that had looped him in. Dennis said he was so scared that he did whatever he had to. But this time, the language was softened on whether Dennis knew that Roscoe intended to kill police. He said that the only thing they knew was that Roscoe was set on returning to the property. The RCMP still had no idea whether Dennis actually knew that Roscoe had intended on killing the Mounties, and that intent was everything. At the end of the conversation, Mr Big assured Dennis that all was well and thanked him for coming clean. Dennis then asked if he could ask a question. He'd been thinking about it, and if there was a satellite image out there that showed him and Sean in the car with Roscoe, then wouldn't the cops already have it? Mr. Big replied,

I don't know, maybe they already do. It seemed Dennis Cheeseman was frequently underestimated. It was time for the RCMP to loop Sean Hennessy in. The other sting operation with the welder was still lying dormant and it was time to resurrect it with a new plot point. The welder called Sean out of the blue and told him that he'd been ambushed by the RCMP on the highway and interrogated over their friendship

and Sean's possible involvement with the Mayerthorpe tragedy. And what do you know? He'd recorded the conversation and had it right there for Sean to listen to. According to the Edmonton Journal, Sean still suspected that the welder might be an agent of the RCMP. Skeptical, he asked him why he recorded the conversation and the welder said he always tapes conversations with the cops. Sean apologised for causing the RCMP's intrusion in the welder's life,

anyway, and then they listened to the tape. Sean had been cool, calm and collected whenever he'd spoken about Marathop, but all this changed when he listened to the secret recorded tape of the welder's conversation with the RCMP. Of course, it was obviously a staged performance, but it sounded real enough. At the end, Sean suggested that the welder take the tape to his own lawyer. But then he could not contain his anger.

He added, That's all they do. They lie and lie and lie and lie. You're supposed to be the RCMP. You're supposed to be the law. You're supposed to be the truth. But instead, they're acting like a bunch of criminals themselves coming in and ruining lives.

The welder saw an opportunity to get Sean to open up to him about Mayerthorpe and said he could totally understand why people might want to keep things from the RCMP. Sean spoke of his anguish about how his family had. had been affected, how the RCMP had spread rumors about him at his mother's workplace and to his friends. He said a Mountie had told him that the only reason they were convinced he was involved in the grow-op was because Roscoe's mother, Stephanie, had told them that he was a partner. Sean said that the Mountie also told him that they believed he stole vehicles for the chop shop, which he personally was shocked to hear. He said he works 11 hours a day and they think

after work he's stealing vehicles to take to a chop shop? Quote, get real. He said he refused to let Roscoe park his truck on the property, but he didn't know anything about his criminal past, the sexual assaults, suspected murders, violent behaviour and grooming, stalking and threatening of young men. Roscoe had a reputation in Mayerthorpe, but not in Barhead. Sean told the welder that in another conversation with the RCMP investigators, they told him that they had found explicit photos of him at Roscoe's house, as though Sean was one of his victims. Sean protested loudly, quote, Don't give me that bullshit, I know you're lying. He told the welder about how many of his friends and other people in and around barhead had turned against him and how difficult life had become.

The welder pointed out that there must be some connection there for the archery. CMP to focus on him so much. Maybe it was the rifle. How did Roscoe get the rifle from Sean's grandfather? Sean said, how stupid do you think I am to give him the gun? Sean then told the welder another cover story, which was that he thought Roscoe had a third party steal the gun for him. Quote, because there's a gun at his place registered to my grandfather, I'm guilty? Guilty until proven innocent. He said it was bullshit and not justice at all. Quote, they can dig and dig and dig and dig and dig some more. Obviously, Sean did not have good words to say about Roscoe either. He referred to him as a criminal mastermind who screwed him and ruined his family's life by pulling him into his situation that night.

Sean told the welder that was all that happened. He didn't do anything wrong and it was the welder's choice whether to believe him or bail on him like everyone else. The welder reassured him that everything was fine and then after Sean left, he stashed away the glass that he'd been drinking from. The RCMP would get their DNA sample. Back with Dennis Cheeseman, the gang of undercover RCMP agents were hoping that he would somehow be able to rope Sean Hennessy in and they would try to get the truth directly from the horse's mouth. But Dennis was starting to grow wary of the gang. He liked the money and the camaraderie, but he did not enjoy the high pressure of the lifestyle. For example, he'd recently been asked

to hunt down a sex worker and her client and take photos of them together to be used as blackmail. They were, of course, all undercover RCMP agents and Dennis performed the task. While he seemed upbeat and proud afterwards, his family was starting to notice a change in him. He seemed tense and worried. His mind always seemed to be somewhere else, and he was doing things he'd never done before. He was close with Sean's sister Alicia, and one day when they were talking, she asked him if he was running drugs for the gang. Dennis scoffed at that. But in another conversation, his sister Christine asked him if he really knew who his business associates were. and he said he thought they might be Hell's Angels.

According to a close friend of Dennis's called Rob, his new friends had made him nervous and he wanted to get out of the gang, but they kept persuading him to do one more job. The gang continued with their plan to concoct a story whereby Nick, Mary's high school friend, the one who brought Dennis into the gang, claimed he too had been interrogated by the RCMP about the mayor thought,

tragedy. And then the crime gang complained that all of this entanglement put their crime organisation under a microscope and was now affecting their ability to get their jobs done and earn bank. The RCMP's new scheme was that Mr Big would fly in to Barhead and Dennis would bring Sean to meet him. Then they would talk about the predicament they were in and see how Mr Big could make it all go away with his immense power and influence. And hopefully, Sean would confess. Dennis managed to convince Sean to meet with the Mr Big character at the airport. He was given a specific car to drive by the gang, a car that neither of them knew had been bugged. As soon as Dennis and Sean got in the car, Sean declared,

This is fucked, and said he suspected they were all cops. But Dennis assured him that the gang would help them get out of their predicament. The plane arrived and Sean and Mr Big had a chat, just the two of them. The undercover agent playing Mr Big was a man who carried himself with authority and who the rest of the gang had already demonstrated that they revered. He told Sean that he had a big problem but there was a way to work through it. He added that Dennis had already told him exactly what happened in Mayerthorpe. Sean was surprised. He did?

Mr Big mentioned the satellite footage that would show who was driving the car. This time he added that he had it on good authority that the RCMP did not have the footage yet, and while he hadn't seen it himself, he knew that people could be seen getting out of the car, and he had a license plate, which of course matched to Sean's car. Sean was shocked. Mr Big then told Sean just to tell him the truth. He'd known men who had probably done much worse than whatever it was that Sean had done, but he couldn't help him unless he knew the full story.

Sean replied that he was hesitant. After all, this was just a guy that had shown up in an airplane. Mr Big then said he wasn't asking for a confession. He just wanted to know if what Dennis told him was true. Sean was still hesitant to answer, but after more prodding, he opened up about Roscoe. Quote, the guy came into my house, man. He said that Roscoe threatened him, saying that because he had helped with odd jobs on the property and had sold some cannabis to friends and family, that he would be implicated and had to help.

He said that he felt he had no option but to help him do whatever he was going to do. Mr Bigg asked Sean about the rifle. Sean said that Roscoe demanded it, and again he didn't feel he had an option. and he said he didn't know about any plans Roscoe had other than the fact that he wanted to burn down the Quonset hut. Quote, that's all he told me he was going to do. He told Mr. Big that he wiped the rifle down before giving it to Roscoe just in case. Quote, he told me he had no intentions of using it, none.

Sean said the only reason he did what he did was to get Roscoe out of their family's home as fast as he could. At the end, Sean said, You just got a full confession, dude. And with that, Mr Big waved all that fake satellite footage away. In the meantime, the forensic results had come back from the glass that Sean had been sipping from. As you remember, after the Mayerthorpe tragedy, they found what they believed to be Roscoe's hiding spot in the Quonset hut.

There was a sheet there, a pillowcase, a pair of work gloves, a small bottle of water and a tin of bear spray. Sean's DNA was matched to the DNA on the work gloves. The RCMP had what they needed to press charges and within two days, two arrests were made, nearly two and a half years after the Mayerthorpe tragedy. Dennis Cheeseman was arrested first, reportedly by the same undercover officers he'd grown to regard

as his crime gang friends. Next, it was Sean Higgins. Hennessy's turn. Friends of Sean and Christine would tell CBC's the Fifth the State all about Sean's arrest because they ended up being dragged into what would become an unnecessary spectacle. The night before Sean was arrested, he and Christine had enjoyed a social Saturday night at the rural home of their friends, Kathy and Grant. They had a great night and then the Hennessy family returned home. But the next morning, Kathy and Grant were a awoken by helicopters overhead and an armed RCMP squad in camouflage riot gear in their front

yard, pointing their rifles and telling the couple to stop and tell them where Sean Hennessy was. Grant and Kathy told them repeatedly that this was not where Sean lived and he was not there, but the squad didn't want to hear what they had to say. The couple were detained on their driveway, terrified, knowing that their two young children were still in the house. They could do nothing but watch helplessly as the RCMP squad marched into their home, pointing their rifles around as they searched each room,

including at the children. Kathy would tell the fifth estate that leaving the little ones in the house was the worst mistake they ever made. Obviously, she couldn't have known that their safe haven would be invaded by the RCMP. Before long, the Mounties realized that they had swarmed,

the wrong house. Before they left, they warned the traumatised family not to contact Sean. The squad team then located Sean at a family gathering and moved in, making a big show of pinning both him and Christine to the ground. Neither of them resisted or fought back. Sean Hennessy and Dennis Cheeseman were charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of constables Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, Brock Myroll and and Peter Sheiman. The arrests were described as a very significant breakthrough for the force. The media reported that the RCMP had spent more than $2 million investigating the Mayer Thorpe tragedy, deploying between 40 and 200 officers. But people still had no idea what had happened. It was reported

that neither Sean nor Dennis were actually on the Roscoe farm the day of the tragedy. Everyone was puzzled. It was announced that the Alberta government had called a fatality inquiry to look into the tragedy, but that wasn't able to get started until the case against Sean and Dennis had gone through the court system. In the meantime, the RCMP had conducted their own internal review into their actions that day. The force was on the end of some damning criticism that was growing louder. Retired RCMP Superintendent Clyde Kittringham had described the RCMP's handling of the tragedy as a failure, the result of negligent supervision. He stressed to the CBC that the four Mounties who lost their lives were junior constables

just following instructions. But given Roscoe's reputation, those in charge of issuing those instructions should have made more of an effort to find out where Roscoe was before sending junior officers to the scene. And if that wasn't possible, they should have brought in a tactic team to secure the perimeter before the search. Kittringham told CBC that he wasn't alone with this thinking, but people inside the RCMP were being told to keep quiet or risk losing their jobs. In response to these comments, an RCMP spokesperson said the former superintendent did not have all the facts of the situation. But when the findings of the internal review were eventually leaked, it disappointed even more people.

It concluded, quote, Roscoe was not identified as posing a deadly threat to police prior to the shooting. While he was well known to police, his behaviour was not consistent with someone who would be considered a deadly threat to officers. There was nothing available to the police at the time, which would have suggested that Roscoe had intent to plan and execute a deadly assault on officers. Many pointed out that elsewhere, the report states that the tragedy was a premeditated act of murder, but also that Roscoe's behaviour was unprecedented and unanticipated.

The report suggested that under-staffing at the Mayerthorpe Detachment may have played a part in the tragedy. The detachment only had 12 members and experienced frequent staff shortages. And that's why junior officers with less than five years'estown. experience were sent over, including Constable Anthony Gordon, who was borrowed from the White Court detachment because Mayerthorpe simply had no one else. And during that night, several of them worked longer shifts than they should have. The next morning, when no one was available to drive Constable Brock Myroll to the Roscoe property, Constable Peter Sheeman volunteered to do it, and he received approval from his supervisor even though he was unarmed and without armed.

Many RCMP officers were not happy with the outcome of the internal review and the lack of transparency on what really happened that day. Then Constable Rob Krezer bravely spoke out to the media about his disenchantment with the RCMP, saying that he learned more about what had happened at Marathorpe from the Fifth Estate's investigative documentary than from his own organisation. And he felt that was a tragedy too. He said that when he first spoke out to local radio about the issue, he had his knuckles wrapped by the RCMP and was ordered not to do it again. But he did. And today he is no longer a member.

Retired RCMP officer Mike Stattnick, the one who had told his nine-year-old daughter to shoot Roscoe if she saw him, spoke out again. He said that the four Mounties who had died that day were only doing what they were told, and the RCMP's internal investigation was inadequate. This was a potential learning experience, he said, where RCMP members could learn what had happened and make sure it didn't happen again.

Quote, but instead, they haven't learned a thing. It was also pointed out that the Federal Human Resources Report, which is mandatory every time someone dies on the job, was just a verbatim regurgitation of the RCMP's report. They hadn't even interviewed the two constables from the auto theft unit, the only living witnesses to what happened. Former RCMP officer Rob Krezer told CBC that he was concerned that RCMP leadership had avoided saying anything because that might open them up to criticism

and they might get sued. It seemed that all the RCMP was trying to do was protect itself. As Dennis Cheesman, and Sean Hennessy waited in jail for court proceedings to start, the community was divided. On one side, the families of the fallen four officers communicated that they were happy to see the arrests. But on the other side, there was a good deal of community support for the two men too. After eight months, Sean applied for bail and over a hundred letters were presented to the court in support of his character. He was described as generous, helpful, a loving husband. He was described as

generous, helpful, a loving husband, father, brother, son and friend, and a respected employee. Two of the character statements were from two former RCMP officers, who said they enjoyed a good relationship with Sean, he never caused them any problems, and neither he nor Dennis fit the role of murderer. Sean was released on bail after eight months, and Dennis the month after that. Both had to abide by strict conditions, including that they go to work every day, observe a curfew and not talk to each other. As you'll remember, Roscoe's mother, Stephanie Fiffield, originally identified Sean Hennessy as being a partner in the cannabis grow-op, and told the RCMP that Roscoe grew the weed and Sean sold it. It was this statement that convinced the Mounties that Sean had the motive

to help Roscoe burn down the Quonset hut that night. But in May of 2008, Stephanie contradicted this statement at the preliminary hearing, where she testified about her knowledge of what was going on at her son's property. When asked on the witness stand if she knew Sean Hennessy, she replied, No, I don't. I've never met the man and I've never seen him before, and I've never heard his name before. This statement was consistent with what Sean had always said. He'd never seen Roscoe's mother and he'd never even been inside the Concent Hut.

On the stand, Stephanie testified she knew nothing about any cannabis, grow-op or chop shop on her son's property and insisted it was the RCMP who had thrown the Hennessy name to her. And the prosecution never produced any evidence that Sean Hennessy was even a minor partner in the operation. and there was speculation that perhaps Stephanie had made throwaway comments early on to divert the attention away from her son and her family, so when the RCMP mentioned the Hennessy name, she jumped on it. But later, when she realized the impact of her statement, she tried to take it back. Regardless, the case was cleared to go to trial.

James Roscoe's mother, Stephanie and her last husband, Warren Fiffield, would both die in a car accident about four. five years later. The CBC's The Fifth The State documentary reported that in the lead-up to the trial, the RCMP applied increasing pressure on Sean Hennessy and Dennis Cheeseman to plead guilty. That is, after all, the goal of the Mr Big Sting. They'd spent up big on the investigation, and the best possible scenario was to tie it all up in a guilty plea and save the further expense of a trial. According to Sean, Mounties asked him to watch videos of the four fallen families, as they each described the loss of their loved one.

If a tug on the heartstrings wasn't enough to inspire them to plead guilty, the RCMP knew they were completely broke from all their legal bills and couldn't afford a trial defence. And even though neither Sean nor Dennis had any prior criminal record, the RCMP told them that the severity of the crimes they'd been charged, with, coupled with the public interest in the case, meant they could be facing serious jail time if they were found guilty at trial, likely consecutive life sentences.

It worked. In January of 2009, 29-year-old Sean Hennessy and 25-year-old Dennis Cheeseman decided to plead guilty to four charges of manslaughter. The night beforehand, Sean sat down for an interview with CBC's The Fifth Estate, along with his wife Christine. He said he was going to plead guilty because he wanted to move on with his life in a way that would have him back with his family the soonest.

He couldn't risk a life sentence and he had no faith in the justice system and also he did feel partially guilty for what happened. In the agreed statement of facts presented to the packed courtroom, Sean Hennessy and Dennis Cheeseman admitted their roles in driving Roscoe back to his compound. in giving him a rifle and ammunition, although it had been determined that the Hennessy rifle was not used to kill any of the four officers.

Because Dennis and Sean were forbidden from talking to each other, the agreed statement of facts appeared to have been a merged document, consisting of an amalgamation of Dennis's various confessions and both of their stories as told individually to their lawyers. The statement was described as vague when it got to the past, about intent, about whether they knew what Roscoe was going to do that night. It seemed to boil down to this. Quote, Sean and Dennis knew that armed confrontation with the police was a real possibility

and that the situation was clearly trouble. There would be some dispute of this later. As the statement of facts was read out, the families of the fallen four officers wiped away tears. The two men were given the opportunity to address. the court. Sean apologised for his involvement. Quote, I am truly sorry for the loss these families have suffered. In no way did I mean for any harm to come to anyone. Dennis, the man who so desperately wanted to save his brother-in-law that he talked himself into a hole, had obviously learned a lesson. When asked if he had

anything to say, he stated that his lawyer had already said everything for him in court. The families of the fallen four officers submitted victim impact statements, where they described the immense mental and physical impact of their loss. Constable Brock Myroll's father, Keith, described his never-ending, overwhelming grief. He looked at Sean and Dennis as he said, quote, I don't know how else to tell you, your actions ruined my life. I'm suffering and I don't see an end in sight. Brock's fiancé, Angela, told court that she'd lost her son.

soulmate and had contemplated suicide. Constable Peter Sheiman's father, Reverend Don Sheiman, said words cannot begin to describe the devastation the family felt that day. Peter's younger sister, Julia, said that it breaks her heart to know that her child will only get to know Uncle Peter through stories and pictures. Constable Leo Johnston's mother, Grace, spoke directly to Sean and Dennis, quote, How could you? What were you thinking or not thinking to be associated with someone like Roscoe? And Constable Anthony Gordon's wife, Kim, said, Anthony was robbed of seeing the birth of his second son.

And because of the events of March 2nd and 3rd, Spencer, AJ and I will miss our lives with Anthony forever. As these statements were read, Dennis was observed to be crying. Sean was described as emotionless, solemn. At the sentencing hearing, Justice Eric Macklin read out his decision. He told the court that Sean was the guilty of the two, with moral culpability that was, quote, as high as it can be for an individual who did not premeditate a murder, was not at the scene of the murders and did not fire a gun. Although Sean was under duress, the judge determined that his principal motivation was to destroy evidence of his involvement with Roscoe's cannabis grow-op.

Dennis was described as little more than a bystander, and even though his involvement came from a fear of Roscoe combined with his desire to support his brother-in-law, Dennis still agreed to assist Sean, knowing that Roscoe planned to at least commit the unlawful act of burning down the Quonset hut. The judge said that regardless of whether they were afraid Roscoe would seek revenge, quote, a phone call warning police that he was on the property and armed

would simply have allowed them to properly meet the situation. When it came to sentencing, for four counts of manslaughter, the defence lawyers asked for less than five years, saying neither of the two men wanted the event to happen and neither of them shot the officers. The prosecution wanted a sentence of between 10 and 15 years, and that's pretty much what they got. Justice Maclin sentenced Sean Hennessy to 15 years and Dennis Cheeseman to 12.

With credit given for pleading guilty and time already spent in custody, Sean's sentence was reduced to nearly 10 and a half years and Dennises to just over seven. Justice Macklin then spoke about the severity of the crime, calling an attack on a police officer and attack on society itself, and the sentence appropriately reflects that. He then referred to the fallen four officers. Quote, these four men were Canadian heroes and will be forever remembered as such. Outside court, their family said they were satisfied with the sentences.

But the families of Dennis Cheeseman and Sean Hennessy were not. They spoke out to the media saying they thought the sentences were far too long for the crime and it didn't represent justice as far as they were concerned. They alleged that Sean's lawyer failed to investigate a key witness, although no further details were reported on this, and also that he pressured Sean to plead guilty by suggesting there would be dire consequences otherwise. In response to this public criticism,

Sean's lawyer said that he was satisfied that he had discharged his professional obligations in the case. A week after the sentencing hearing, CBC aired the Fifth Estate documentary that was filmed the night before Sean and Dennis pleaded guilty. This was the first interview that Sean had ever given, and his wife Christine was by his side. Both of them choked back tears as they spoke,

knowing that by the time the documentary aired, Sean would be back in prison. He was asked if he knew what was going on in the Quonset hut, and he said yes. Quote, I knew he was growing marijuana, and on numerous occasions, I had acquired marijuana from James Roscoe and sold it for him.

When the reporter Lyndon McIntyre expressed surprise at this, Sean said he knew it was an illegal act and something that the public wasn't going to look too kindly at. It should be noted that Sean never admitted to being a partner in the operation, though, and there was never any evidence that he was, but the Fifth Estate pointed out that whatever his involvement, it clearly gave Roscoe leverage which he used, when making his demands.

Sean said that all Roscoe had told them was that there were bailiffs on the property earlier, and he wanted to use the Hennessy rifle to shoot gas tanks and burn down the evidence of the marijuana grow-op in the Quonset. He said he had no idea that Mounties were there. At this, CBC journalist Lyndon McIntyre furrowed his brow and brought up the fact that in the agreed statement of facts, Dennis said Roscoe was ranting. and raving about the RCMP on the ride home, referring to it as devil talk. In response,

Sean said that he was shocked to hear the versions of Dennis's story where he said Roscoe told him he'd planned to kill Mounties. Sean said he was there too and there was no talk of Mounties ever from Roscoe. Sean added that he didn't even think Roscoe himself knew what he was about to do other than going home and burning his dope. Christine said she'd asked her brother why he said those things, and his only explanation was that he thought his new crime gang was the mob, and he told them what they wanted to hear. She added,

They didn't realize he said it out of fear. It was also pointed out that, according to the agreed statement of facts, Sean and Dennis saw the police car lights on the property from the spot where they dropped Roscoe off. But in this Fifth Estate interview, Sean said that wasn't true. The only lights he could see were one set of headlights and the lights inside Roscoe's mobile home. He didn't see any flashing red and blue lights. The documentary did not show any follow-up on why some of his comments to the Fifth Estate contradicted the agreed statement of facts he'd signed.

Although, as he'd stated earlier in the interview, he felt pressured to plead guilty from multiple directions and just wanted to move on with his life, so perhaps the answer is as simple as that. Sean was asked why he didn't go forward to the RCMP the next day after he'd learned everything that had taken place. He said that he was in a totally different state of mind and thought it would blow over if he just laid low for a while, but he still felt some level of responsibility for driving Roscoe home. Sean paused as he composed himself. before adding, but at the same time, I only did it in fear of my family. Sean and Dennis's bail conditions forbade them from speaking to each other,

and it was clear that there was now painful distance between what was once a happy, blended family. Sean and Christine told the Fifth Estate that they were not angry about what Dennis had said. Christine said if she put herself in her brother's shoes, she may have made a different choice, but she could see why he said what he said. After the contradictions between the agreed statement of facts and the CBC Fifth the State interview were reported on by CBC News, a leading expert in Mr Big Stings criticized the confessions Sean and Dennis gave to Mr Big. Forensic psychologist Tim Moore told the Edmonton

Journal that the Mr Big technique is unprecedented in terms of the degree of manipulation and invasion of privacy. And the result in this case was that both men said different things on different occasions to different people for different reasons over a two-year period, not exactly high on the reliability meter. The month after the guilty plea, it was revealed that Dennis and Sean had been sent out of the province of Alberta and were each serving their sentences in separate high security prisons. A parole officer named Jay West had been appointed to spend dozens of hours interviewing and assessing them after their guilty pleas, and he spoke out about his grave concerns.

He didn't see how the decision to separate them both and place them so far away from their families was founded on sound policy or what it was expected to achieve. The authorities responded by saying that the decision to separate them and send them out of province was necessitated by the high-profile nature of their case and was designed to make everything less stressful. Parole officer Jay West described them as victims of both James Roscoe and of a misguided witch hunt by the RCMP, who had been deprived of their pound of flesh when Roscoe killed himself. As you'll remember, in the months before the Marathorpe tragedy, Christine had noticed that something was off with her brother Dennis,

and he was even more closed off than he usually was. After the guilty pleas, the Edmonton Journal's long-form series on the case reported on Dennis's conversations with his boss Brad, where he confided that he'd been sexually assaulted at gunpoint. Barry Hennessy spoke out on Dennis's behalf, since the siblings had essentially been orphaned as teenagers. He wrote to then Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking for help and blasting the RCMP for failing to treat Dennis like a victim of sexual assault.

He said even though the force knew what Dennis had alleged about Roscoe, they launched the expensive sting operation on him anyway. Barry pointed out that he was suicidal at the time and very depressed, and if Dennis were a woman, the undercover operation would have ended very quickly after he confided in his boss. In this letter, Barry, revealed that Dennis had since confided in his daughter Alicia about the incident too. The Edmonton Journal would later report that Alicia had seen some of the Crown's evidence,

which included a booklet of photos that Roscoe had taken of some of his sex assault victims, all young males. It was a trophy of sorts. When Alicia visited Dennis in jail and mentioned her shock when she saw the photos, she was surprised when he grew quiet and choked up. When she asked him to explain, all he would say was, quote, He did bad things to me that no one ever knew about. Dennis still wasn't ready to talk about it, but over the next few meetings he confided in Alicia

that Roscoe had a gun and held it to his head, forcing him to submit to the sexual assault. The same story he'd told his boss. This news devastated the family. According to the Edmonton Journal, Dennis refused to speak publicly about the assault, perhaps even refused to testify to it, which may have been the reason it didn't come out in court. But his family reported that while he didn't want to talk about it, he was now okay with the public knowing the details. Sean Hennessy got a new lawyer, Hirsch Walsh, known for helping free David Milgard from prison,

after he'd been wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering nurse Gail Miller in 1969, a very famous case. About Mayor Thorpe, Walsh told the media that he sees people who commit serious crimes not getting the kind of sentence that Sean Hennessy got. He added, A reasonable person cannot be expected to predict the actions of a madman. The prosecution's case had always been that because Sean and Dennis knew Roscoe, They should have known what he was capable of doing and should have stopped it.

But Sean's new lawyer argued that RCMP officers, who were also familiar with Roscoe, should have been better able to predict his behaviour. So why were Dennis and Sean expected to know and do what senior Mounties could not? It made no difference. Both men appealed their sentences and both appeals were unsuccessful. The decision stated that the sentences were appropriate for the worst such crime in Canadian history and that Roscoe probably would not have succeeded in killing the Mounties without their help. The public fatality inquiry into the Mayerthorpe tragedy was held in 2011,

presided over by Judge Daniel Pahl. The goal was not to assign blame but to figure out what happened and make conclusions on how to prevent it happening again. The key question was whether the RCMP adequately assessed the threat posed by James Roscoe and whether they took the appropriate steps to keep their members safe. A number of people testified and gave statements, including some emotional submissions by the family members of the fallen four officers. It was concluded that Roscoe fired 16 shots during the ambush,

and 11 of them hit the four constables. Death was quick, something that gave their family some comfort, but the medical examiner testified that there was no way to know how much pain the four officers suffered, or who was killed first. It was determined that the two shots fired at Roscoe by Corporal Stephen Vigour of the auto-theft unit were pivotal in the outcome, because even though they weren't fatal, shooting Roscoe in the arm and thigh, capacitated him and forced him to re-evaluate the situation, leading to his suicide.

Corporal Vigar was awarded a 2007 bravery medal for his action. Of particular interest at the inquiry was the testimony of the two Mounties in charge of the Mayerthorpe detachment at the time of the mass murder, Sergeant Brian Pinder and Corporal James Martin, who was specifically in charge of the Roscoe incident when the bailiff. called the RCMP for backup. Martin, who by this time had been promoted to Sergeant, testified that they knew Roscoe was a risk and had a violent past.

And that's why they left two armed RCMP officers there overnight instead of just one, which would have been the norm for that situation. And when asked why the RCMP didn't seem to be as aware of Roscoe's reputation as the locals in Marathorpe were, Martin testified that while Roscoe had a reputation for being a cop-hating sociopath, they hadn't actually had that many dealings with him, hadn't really seen evidence of his cop-hating persona, and it was their experience that when confronted by authority, he would run away. Martin was asked about finding the evidence in Roscoe's trailer that showed he'd been monitoring RCMP officers and had a scanner tuned into the frequency.

If they weren't aware of his cop-hating persona before that, then surely this was clear evidence, and it had been discovered about 12 hours before the massacre, so the RCMP had time to take action. Martin was asked what action he did take, and he said he told the other members on the scene and asked them to be on the lookout for guns, but none were found until after the tragedy.

Sergeant Martin said he'd gone over his decision-making many times, in the six years since the tragedy, but concluded that most of the decisions he made that day were the right ones. He apologised, however, to the family of Constable Peter Sheeeman, who wasn't even on duty that day. Martin said that it was because of his personal oversight that Peter was unarmed and wasn't wearing any protective gear. But despite this, he still maintained that the RCMP made every preparation that they could. Without mentioning, Sean and Dennis specifically, Martin then insisted that everything would have changed if anyone who knew what Roscoe intended that night had simply called the RCMP to warn them.

Quote, I would have pulled all my members out of the area and called in the emergency response team. After the inquiry, Justice Pahl released his final report, stating that he found no failings in the training, experience or abilities of the... officers who lost their lives. He was satisfied that the RCMP acted appropriately in all circumstances as they knew them. He concluded that the incident was a uniquely tragic event, which could not reasonably have been foreseen or prevented. A number of recommendations came out of the inquiry, including the development of a threat assessment coordinator, the establishment of national policy guidelines for securing potential crime scenes and the implementation of an active shooter

response program. It was also recommended that they review equipment, body armor and firearms because the fallen four Mounties were determined to have been heavily outgunned by Roscoe. The media reported the RCMP had committed to moving forward with the recommendations, and later that year, the organisation announced that it would spend at least $1 million to add more high-powered guns to its arsenal. The families of the Fallen Four were generally satisfied with the results of the inquiry. But outside court, Sean's father, Barry Hennessy, said he was bitterly disappointed in the results. He said the inquiry was determined to reduce the Mayerthorpe tragedy to black and white,

when really it existed in a world of grey. Barry didn't deny that Sean and Dennis had culpability, but stated, that the RCMP have just as much culpability for failing to secure the scene. Dennis Cheeseman was released on parole in 2013 at age 29. The parole board reported that he'd been a model offender during his prison sentence, helpful with an excellent attitude who attended school and worked as a cleaner. Dennis, still a man of few words, told the board that he hadn't lined up a job yet but he was working on it, and he planned to live with a relative until he could get his own place.

18 months after that, in 2015, Sean Hennessy was granted full parole at age 35. The board noted that he completed his high school equivalency diploma while behind bars, and had taken responsibility for his actions. He told the board that he feels for the families of the four officers, and he still thinks about his role in the man. Marathorpe tragedy and had tried very hard to change who he was. He said he used to be an immature, self-centered person who did and sold drugs and hung around with unsavory characters like Roscoe, but he's a different person now.

At each man's release, the families of the fallen four had mixed reactions, but the common thread was hope that the men would turn their lives around. And if the absence of any further news is an indication, they did. The only update on Sean Hennessy and Dennis Cheeseman is that both men successfully completed their parole period after release. But the public remains divided. Some believe their sentences appropriately reflected the gravity of the crime and their involvement. But others believe Sean and Dennis paid a price that was much too high. a price that not only covered their own crimes, but also those of James Roscoe,

the one who was on site, who pulled the trigger, and who was no longer around to face the music, take his own punishment, and absorb his share of the public's devastation. And many have pointed out that the RCMP also played a role by not adequately assessing the threat posed by Roscoe and not taking the appropriate steps to keep their members safe. But while Dennis Cheesman and Sean Hennessey admitted fault, the RCMP did not, and seemed to escape the situation with a pat on the back and a few recommendations for change. In a 2020 article in McLean's called The RCMP is Broken, author Stephen Mayer acknowledges that the force is fraying under a rural policing model

that's resulted in underworked, underpaid RCMP officers who are not always as well equipped as their counterparts in cities or other police forces. The article quotes criminologist Darrell Davies, who was hired to help the Mounties spend that $1 million to buy new rifles and upgrade their arms. As a result of his experience executing this initiative, Davies ended up becoming a critic of the forces management culture, which he described as excessively secret and authoritarian.

He said the politics of the artis. and the secret subterranean nature of the organization is a major problem when it comes to trying to decipher and understand what happened in situations like Mayerthorpe. The author argues that the problems with the RCMP are much more complicated than this, stemming back to its ugly legacy of being created to control Canada's indigenous population. And even with this legacy, the RCMP continues to make headlines with tragic and contrary. controversial mistakes. Eleven years after the Marathon Massacre was another one in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2014, when a man with a rifle was able to kill three Mounties because they were outgunned.

They'd only been equipped with pistols. And in April of 2020, there was the Port-a-Pic Massacre in Nova Scotia, where an armed gunman went on a rampage over 13 hours, killing 20,000. two people, including one RCMP officer. Since that massacre, many questions have been asked of the RCMP's response, like why the force failed to act on previous complaints about the gunmen. People also asked how he was allowed to move around for 13 hours while the RCMP looked for him in the wrong places

and failed to notify the public of the danger. These questions are only the tip of the iceberg, but the force remains predict. predictably tight-lipped. Tune in to the nighttime podcast's extended coverage and exclusive interviews on the Portopic Massacre for more information on this. Every year since the Mayerthorpe tragedy, the four constables who lost their lives that day have been honoured in a number of ways, from anniversary ceremonies to candlelight vigils.

Today, the Fallen Four Memorial Park stands in Mayerthorpe to commemorate constables Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, Brock Myrol and Peter Sheeman. The memorial depicts four large bronze statues, each a life-size likeness of the four RCMP officers standing in what's described as the four positions of readiness, all in the centre of a quiet green space. Each officer had been assigned a position according to their experience in the RCMP, which ranged from just a few weeks for Brock my role to five years for Peter Sheiman. According to the website for the park, Fallen4.ca, about 7,000 people visit each year to remember them. The park is considered equally important both to the RCMP family and to the town of Mayerthorpe. On the 10-year anniversary of the

Mayerthorpe tragedy, which was in 2015, Rod Nickt, RCMP Senior Deputy Commissioner, aka one of Alberta's top mounties at the headquarters in Edmonton spoke to Jana Pruden of the Edmonton Journal about the RCMP side of things. He said the secret investigation meant that the RCMP couldn't talk publicly about what happened at Marathorpe and that caused a growing public speculation

that the officers had done something wrong. He added that he was shocked by the criticism and speculation and the armchair quarterbacking when the full facts of the case weren't publicly known. And he said, by the time they were able to speak up at the inquiry,

there was an established perception that the RCMP was at fault, whether through incompetence, cover up, poor training or lack of equipment. Necht said it was part of the human condition to question why something happened and find someone to blame for it. He was, of course, talking about the general,

general public, blaming the RCMP. But he could just as well have been talking about the RCMP, blaming Sean Hennessy and Dennis Cheesman. The top Alberta Mountie added that he, too, had done a lot of soul-searching, but also found nothing that could have been done any differently. Quote, it wouldn't have mattered if they had the best body armour if they trained for six months before that. They were ambushed, pure and simple, and they didn't stand a chance. At the end of the interview, Rod Necht stressed that a situation can turn quickly. Quote, you can never prepare for that random act, and Roscoe was that random act. At the end of the day, you have to blame the person that pulled the trigger.

That's the person that did it. Thanks for listening and special thanks to We Talk of Dreams for Audio Editing and Production and Danielle Parody for research. We're doing something a little different to end today's episode. After the first part of the series, a bunch of listeners have been sending me messages, directing me to what I now know is an iconic song released by Canadian songwriter Coe, who's opened for Snoop Dog and has a cult following thanks to his powerful lyrics and live shows. Coe also told me he's a true crime buff and wrote this song called The Ballad of Jimmy Roscoe in 2009.

But I think it perfectly captures the angst that still surrounds this tragedy 16 years later. This song comes from the perspective of James Roscoe, the man at the center of the whole tragedy, who was finally cornered into a hole where he had nothing to lose and chose to take as many down with him as he could. The song is dedicated to those who lost their lives that day, and it incorporates real police audio that's no longer publicly available, starting with the call made from the auto theft unit seconds after they first heard gunfire from the concert hut. A huge thanks to Co for permission to play this, you can find him at K-O Nation.com. And here's his song, The Ballad of Jimmy Roscoe.

RCP, Bonjour. Manor-P-R-C-Mpt. It's the complaint line. How can I help you? The Constable Holy Strat, Autofthft. We are at a search seat at Manethorpe had. We got shots fired, and when he had the member I said we got a member down. Okay, you need an ambulance? I believe so.

We just got out here. We just got out of this. We just got out here. Okay. Members went into the garage and there were shots fired. Okay. Okay. Okay.

He'll cut heading out that direction. He don't like himself and he don't know how to deal. He spent most of his time with his crops in the field. He's unloading and cleaning. Still thinking they're gonna feel I will feel if they come between me and my getting high Sun they all gonna die He's nervously dumping out a box of shells thinking There's no way I'm living in a cell and it's four

Officers dead sting the gravel red where they dreaded It's nervously dumping out a box of shells thinking there's no doubt I'm going to hell And he's poor The officers dead Sting the gravel red gravel bed where they bled so no no so ho you forget I spent too much time on these bullet keys and see I know that I'm a problem but you the disease then I'm fixing to get what I need not a man's gonna take that from me land he's screaming

get off my property starts pumping shells and dropping d's overcar payments and crops of trees with that bad you think that you can't bleed well I'm Not a man's gonna take that from me Dumping out a box of shell's thinking There's no way I'm living in a cell And who's full, Well, officer's dead Stain the gravel red where they dumpin at a box

The shell's thinking There's no doubt I'm going to hell And it's full All officers dead Sting the gravel red where they bled So no, no so hokey When you heard the The gunshot and you heard the

you heard some screaming. Do you remember any words? Could you decipher any words or what was being said in amongst that screaming? No, there were no words. There was just screams. And I don't remember how many. I recollect two or three screams, but no words, no spoken words at all. And when the sheriff rode up on the Ross School residence, a little slow, a little hesitant. See those cruisers, park so still, game a chill, they'd all. been killed it was father sons and constables dropped by a man man who lost his soul and well why'd you kill him jimmy you should have driven jimmy and why'd you kill him jimmy well he's nervously dumping out a box of shells thinking there's no way i'm living in a cell and he's four little officers dead sting the gravel red where they led it he's nervously dumping out of boxes of shells thinking there's no doubt i'm going to hell and he's four

Old officers dead Stained a gravel red where they fled So no No soul can foggy So no No so ho can forget So ho can forget I'll be all right little dog

It will