Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - The B.C. Spree Killers Pt. 2

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

In the weeks after their third murder, Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky disappear into the woods of northern Manitoba, over a thousand miles away from where their killing spree began. The RCMP throws their resources into the investigation, but the biggest headway comes from a local man named Billy Beardy — an expert hunter and Cree Nation trapper who knows the land better than anyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and suicide. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In late July, 2019, a plane roared over the vast wilderness of northern Canada. But this was no ordinary aircraft. It was an Air Force Hercules transport plane, packed with officers from the RCMP. From up above, they surveyed the ground, hunting. for killer teens, Breyer Smegelsky, and Cam McLeod.

By that point, the two best friends had slaughtered three people and were now escaping on foot. Unless the cops could find them, more would be on the way. At first, the craft hurtled over an endless sea of pine trees, dotted with bogs capable of swallowing humans whole. Soon, the long-range camera caught a flash of white in the distance. Perhaps a tent may be a remnant of a campsite. The RCMP steered the Hercules toward the spot, just a speck of lint among the vast green.

As they got closer, however, they realized the object was moving. But it wasn't Cam and Breyer, or any human for that matter. Lumbering across a plain of tiny wildflowers was one of the most dangerous mammals on the planet, a polar bear. Cam and Breyer had chosen a treacherous place to hide, but the cops had an even bigger task. If they wanted to find the killers, they'd have to outsmart the fugitives. But if they wanted to stay alive, they'd have to tame the wilderness. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. And today, we're returning to our special series about the most dangerous and heart-pombed manhunts in history. We'll learn the top secret methods used to track down fugitives and the techniques they used to stay one step ahead. This episode, we're tracking the two teenage fugitives who haunted the desolate freeways of British Columbia, the BC killers. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. Last time, we followed three road trips that all led to a dead end and multiple grisly murders. The RCMP initially believed the teenagers Cam and Breyer

may have been the casualties of an experienced serial killer. But after a few days, the police realized the teens had been the murderers all along, and now they were on the run. This time, we'll follow a First Nations tracker as he pursues the two fugitives along a raging river. We'll learn how Breyer and Cam might have been able to outsmart the cops and combat the elements. Finally, we'll see how the trapper helped bring it all to a grisly end. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying activity twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. After brutally murdering a botany professor around July 18th in DeSlake, Cam and Breyer took off in the man's gray raft four and set their own truck ablaze. The ploy worked and gave the two best friends a head start. All the RCMP knew about was Cam's pickup truck. No one would be looking for this new SUV.

By July 21st, the teenagers rolled into Cold Lake Alberta. They'd made it nearly 1,300 miles and were making good time. By that point, the cops still hadn't connected the dots. They parked behind a Cold Lake Hospital for a bit. Being on the run was probably beginning to wear on them. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. As a reminder, she is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. According to Zhu Young Lee, an expert in criminal psychology, Cam and Breyer were likely feeling the world closing in. And now that the two best friends were on the run, the most mundane things become fraught with anxiety. This anxiety produces a stress response. As adrenaline circulates through the body, the heart beats faster than normal, and blood pressure goes up. Senses are enhanced. Additionally, the adrenal glands release cortisol, so the body stays revved up, and on high alert. This fight-or-flight mindset

can turn a bad situation worse, because when a fugitive is on the lamb, the potential for retaliatory violence is extraordinarily high. But at this point, between fight or flight, Cam and Breyer were choosing flight. Behind the hospital, they weighed their options.

They knew if they stayed in Canada, they'd soon be caught. But there was a chance of escape. If they could get to Hudson Bay on the opposite end of Canada, they could hijack a boat. Then they could escape across the Atlantic to Europe or Africa. So they hopped back in the RAF4 and Cam put his foot on the gas. But there was a problem. The tires spun over the mud. Wet dirt flew into the air. The RAV 4 was stuck. Cam pressed gently on the gas pedal while Breyer likely tried to push. But the vehicle wasn't going anywhere.

They needed help. brings us to a man named Tommy St. Croix. At that moment, Tommy happened to drive by and spotted the SUV stuck in the wet dirt. Without saying a word, he backed his truck towards them, as if he were just doing a favor to two young kids. But Cam and Breyer weren't innocent teenagers. They'd killed three people for little reason and left their bodies to rot in the dirt. With a fairly new truck, his wallet and all his credit cards, it was possible that Tommy would be next. So with a boisterous, friendly hello, Tommy shook their hands, which felt soft and boyish compared to his. That's when he noticed something didn't feel right. The two teens were eyeing him

up and down. They looked scared, suspicious, like young cornered animals, trying to determine whether to strike. But Tommy didn't stay long enough for them to make a move. He hooked up the raft forward to his truck and towed them on to dry ground. He said his goodbyes and took off back to his family. Tommy was lucky. Only later did he realize how much danger he was in. He said, one shot to the back and that would have been it. After that, Breyer and Cam disappeared onto the highways and drove east from Manitoba.

Manitoba, the place that teenagers were headed, is a vast Canadian province in the center of the country. even more remote and unforgiving than BC. It's where many of the First Nations Cree people live, part of their traditional territory. And here's where we're going to add another person to our story. 48-year-old Billy Beardy, a master hunter, trapper, and fisherman, who knew the region like the back of his hand. We'll get to what he has to do with Kam and Breyer in a minute, but first a little about who he is and the area he lived in. Billy was a local and a member of the Fox Lake Cree Nation, an indigenous community.

He was born in the small town of Gillum, Manitoba, where many other Cree people lived. But in the 1960s, the hydroelectric industry overcame the town, along with an influx of workers. And according to Canadian news publication, The Globe and Mail, an increase in racism made the town untenable for many indigenous people. Billy's family had had enough. So a year after his birth, they packed their things and moved 32 miles away to a new area, tucked into the gruff northern snow forests. This place was called Bird. With little access to grocery stores or gas stations, it could be rough living in Bird.

At first, the Kree people lived in what were basically shacks with no running water or electricity. Residents took care of each other. They chopped wood for heat and shared what they could find while fishing and hunting. By 2019, 50 years later, the town had about 200 residents, but it was still a harrowing place to live. If you didn't know how to live off the land, you'd freeze or starve. The spirit of community and protecting one another was still as vital as the early days. Officially, Billy worked as a construction supervisor, but people knew him as someone they could call when times were tough. If his neighbors needed help, he was there, no matter what.

The Cree man had no idea about the drama playing out across the world's TV screens or the manhunt stretching across Canada's freeways. But on July 22nd, a week after Cam and Breyer started their rampage, that drama came to him. That evening, Billy and his wife Tamara were on their way home from picking strawberries with their youngest daughter. In the distance, a cloud of thick black smoke clumed into the sky, like a curse hovering over the town.

Though his daughter was right there, Billy knew the closest fire department was a 40-minute drive away. He had no choice but to check out the fire himself. The Beardies drove toward the terrifying black smoke, and then they saw it. An SUV discarded in a ditch, engulfed in flames. What he didn't know was that this was the B.C. Killers' escape vehicle, the Grey Rav 4. Billy jumped into action. He ran toward the burning vehicle, which seemed ready to be able to be. to explode at any moment, thinking someone needed help. As he got close, the heat blasted against

his cold-worn skin, so he had to back off. If anyone was inside, there was no hope for them now. He took a look around the site. At this point, he didn't know he was pursuing a pair of murderers. He just wanted to figure out what happened to the driver because he wanted to assist. So, using his hunting experience, he scanned for clues. According to professional, combat tracker John Hurth, it's important to keep an open mind. If you try to focus on any particular element, like footprints, for example, you could develop target blindness. You don't want to miss important eye-level clues, such as broken branches or cobwebs.

A good tracker creates a mental model of their environment, their targets psychology, but also the passage of time. For instance, based on the color of the exposed wood on a broken branch, you can estimate when it was snapped. Spiders usually weave webs in the evening, so if there are footprints underneath them, it's safe to assume the target was there earlier in the day. But tracks won't always show up as obvious shoe prints, like the kind you might see in a cartoon, so hunters use the time of day to their advantage. In the morning and evenings, the sun sits lower on the horizon, casting long shadows over impressions in the ground, revealing new details. Once trackers do

find footprints, they can glean much more information than simply which way the target is going. Tracks can also display speed and changes in movement. For instance, if only the top part of the foot is showing, the prey is likely running. If there's a rapid shift in direction, a hump will form on the opposite side of the track as the dirt or mud is pushed to the side. This can be helpful if you lose the trail at a river or brush, because then you'll at least know which way the target is headed. In this case, Billy was able to find several clues, tire tracks, footprints, and matches scattered across the ground. Because the tracks were even and measured, he realized this wasn't an accident. Someone carefully drove the SUV into the pullout, lit it on fire,

turned, and walked away. Perhaps he thought it was some insurance scheme. What he didn't know was that it was part of an escape plan for two wanted murderers, but he soon found out. The next day, Billy's friend texted him a picture of the Rav 4. It was a stomach-dropping moment. He realized just how close they were to danger. His wife Tamara said, quote, anything could have happened to us while we were sitting there. But an even worse realization dawned on Billy after that. Two men out of killing spree had disappeared into the woods like ghosts. They were now on foot stalking the town of Bird. And a member of the community, his community, could be next.

Coming up, Cam and Breyer face off against the wilderness and the people who live there. Every outfit starts with a choice. What am I wearing underneath? Something comfortable? And let's be honest. Something that keeps everything looking smooth. That's where Vanity Fair lingerie comes in. Their new smoothing wireless bra has four-way stretch fabric.

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Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. And now back to the story. On July 22nd, 2019, a Cree Nation trapper named Billy Beardy found a burning Ravre four nearest home, the indigenous town of Byrd. The next day, he realized it belonged to a victim

of the BC teen killers. When the police caught wind or the torched SUV, they sealed off the road into town, hoping to isolate the young men. The RCMP called in the cavalry and dozens of officers surged through the region. Crisis negotiators, K-9 units and tactical teams loaded down with assault rifles, rolled through the quiet roads and convoys, as if it was a war zone. Officers canvassed the homes and cleared abandoned buildings. Police told residents to lock their doors and not to come out. Even the Canadian Armed Forces got involved. A plane with infrared sensors flew over the area, looking for heat signatures.

While the aircraft soared overhead, cops trudged through the brutal wilderness below, clad in heavy armor, accompanied by tracking dogs. Day and night, they cut through swaths of brush and did their best to shield themselves from the elements. The manhunt soon became one of the largest in Canadian history. After nearly a week, the RCMP had spent a little over a million U.S. dogs, all to find two teenage, albeit dangerous, boys. But there was a problem. Even though the SUV was dumped a few miles east of Byrd,

the RCMP officers were all stationed in Gillum, the hydroelectric town. The reason for why they were patrolling Gillum and not Bird is unclear. What we do know is that Gillum was 1,000 mostly white people, and Bird, where the teens probably were, was mostly indigenous. So the Kree people were left exposed and terrified. They wondered if the police really cared about protecting them. And adding fuel to that fear was that across Canada, the RCMP had a history of neglecting crimes against indigenous people.

One example is the infamous highway of tears. Along this desolate freeway, located in British Columbia, many First Nations women were slaughtered. The carnage went on for decades, while the RCMP stood idyllis. by. Critics believed it was partly due to their disinterest in protecting the indigenous. Fox Lake Chief Walter Spence said, quote, Our community members and volunteers are exhausted and fatigued. The ongoing stress is starting to take its toll. And for some, this stress may have been the result of PTSD.

When we think about PTSD, we usually associate it with individual experiences, but it can also occur on a community-wide level. Dr. Katie Kamkar, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, says that many people may experience negative reactions when a disaster occurs, and that might have been the case in Billy's community. His wife, Tamara, could only sleep a couple hours a night, suffering from insomnia. Some residents locked their doors for the first time and watched fearfully from their windows. They didn't let children play outside. One elder resident said, quote, I think that trauma will always be

be there for a little while. But Dr. Kamkar says these reactions were all normal. Even if nothing bad happened to them directly, residents dealt with heightened vigilance, anxiety about going out, and changes in their sleep patterns. The best thing to do is to talk to each other openly about what's going on. Otherwise, brains fill in the gaps and create meaning out of the tension in the air. Dr. Kamkar says this is an issue because, quote, without the context and experience and understanding, we get to the worst-case scenario. And since Cam and Breyer were still missing, Bird was extremely eerie. With few streetlights, it was easy hunting grounds for any serial killer. The residents knew the murderers were on the loose, and no authorities were there to protect them.

If the teenagers decided to pick them off one by one, only the dark silhouettes of trees would bear witness to the carnage. Billy and his family were left on their own, with their house dangerously close to the tree line. Soon, he and others realized that if they wanted to keep their families safe, they were going to have to protect themselves. Billy and other Fox Lake members began patrolling the gravel groves and ATV trails around the town. They combed through the forest day and night, tracking the two teenagers. They weren't sure where they were or how far they'd hiked. Manitoba survivalist Sherman Kong gave the Daily Mail his read. He said the men were young and physically resilient. Even with the challenging conditions, they could cover five to ten miles

a day. But it's one thing to escape. It's another to stay alive. And in this chase, both fugitives and pursuers faced a common enemy, the elements. The boreal forests are host to some brutal conditions. The brush is unusually dense with thick needles that make it impossible to walk through. In the clearings, murky swamps lie in weight, hidden under layers of peat. One could step onto a mossy forest floor only to be sucked up to their waste in festering vegetation. It's like green quicksand. The heat at this latitude gets up to the high 80s, but at night the chilling rainstorms drop the temperature a good 50 degrees.

And that's not all. Wolves and black bears also roam the forests. As the RCMP helicopter found, even massive polar bears live nearby. But in the summer, the most vicious threat is much, much smaller. The invisible, unrelenting swarms of insects. Biting midges are the size of the tip of a pencil and feast on humans. You may feel sharp bites blanketing your body, but due to their size, you can barely see them, much less stop them,

until your body is already covered in lesions. The deputy mayor of Gillum told the Associated Press that if Cam and Breyer were hiding out in the bush, they couldn't have picked a worse time because, quote, the midges came out three days ago and they're just voracious. Superintendent Kevin Lewis, who'd been part of the force for 18 years,

knew the conditions would take a brutal toll. It was going to be, quote, tough for them to stay alive in those woods for any extreme length of. of time. Even a week would be very difficult. In truth, after several days of searching, some cops believe the two young men were already dead. But some still held out hope. Some like Breyer's father, Alan Schmigelsky. Back in British Columbia, Alan did interview after interview with journalists. With a gaunt face, shaggy hair and wide eyes, Alan seemed distraught and confused,

torn between remorse and hope. He was afraid for his son's life, terrified Breyer would be shot and killed by police. However, he had utter faith in his son's ability to fight the wilderness. He revealed that before the road trip, Breyer had shown an increased interest in camping and other survival skills.

This gave Alan some peace of mind. For instance, Cam and Breyer likely knew if they were going to stay alive for long, they'd need access to clean water. In general, some of the same. can make it one or two months without food. But without water, they'll perish after a few days. Oxygenated sources from a big waterfall are typically safer than still water. For Briar and Cam, the nearby Nelson River may have served as the perfect place to drink up.

Alternatively, Sherman Kong said, the teens could have filtered the water through a t-shirt and then boiled it to make it potable. It's difficult enough just to stay hydrated. These two killers were also evading everything from police dogs to experience force. trackers, so every movement had to be invisible. That meant the two teens couldn't light fires to stay warm. The smoke, not to mention the scent, would have been a dead giveaway. So while Alan truly believed the teens were masters of camouflage, they were at a disadvantage, because when it comes to evasion, the old saying rings true. You can run, but you can't hide. Remember, the young men weren't just avoiding the RCMP's transport planes. They also had to

contend with the Cree people, who knew the airmen, much better than them. Through their knowledge of the land, the Fox Lake Cree Nation hoped to turn the tables on the two dangerous murderers and reclaim their home. And soon, Billy wasn't the only local on their trail. On Sunday, July 28, Travis Bigotty drove to York Landing, Manitoba, another First Nations community like Bird. He was part of the Bear Clan, an indigenous led crime prevention group. Travis went door-to-door checking on indigenous residents, making sure everyone was staying safe. At the end of the day, he drove by the trash dump. He often spotted animals there, scrounging in the garbage for food, but this time he caught a glimpse of something

even more frightening. Two slender figures, one wearing a blue t-shirt, the other in military fatigues. The figures, though, immediately sped off into the brush. It was the first sign of Cam and Breyer in about a week, and Travis knew that he had to make it count. With the crew, Free people's knowledge of the land, combined with the power of the RCMP, they just might be able to put a stop to the killers before anybody else has to die. The RCMP received a tip about the sighting. It was time to track these teenagers down once and for all. Coming up, the road trip ends in disaster. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigued, ask your doctor about zeppbound, terseptitite.

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a Cree Nation patrol member made the rounds through York Landing, a community about 55 miles from Gillum. That's when he saw the two teens dashing into the forest. He knew better than to try to approach the two armed murderers himself, so he called the RCMP. The police swarmed through the town and the surrounding woods. Unfortunately, they found nothing. The sighting was a dead end. By this point, the authorities had scoured Gillum, York Landing, and a total of nearly 7,000 square miles,

an area more than three times the size of the state of Delaware. But it turned out they were looking in all the wrong places. By August 1st, the leads had dried up, so the cops finally refocused their efforts back to the area just around the RAP 4 near Byrd. More than a week after the SUV was set ablaze, a team of police headed into the forests. Trackers and tactical officers donned assault rifles, ready to fire at any moment. The woods were thick, but soon they came upon the winding and wild Sundance Creek.

Not far from the banks lying in the grass was a backpack. They opened it up. Inside were several rounds of ammunition. They found an ID as well. The card read, Cam McLeod. It was the first hard evidence of the teens the authorities had found.

The RCMP were beginning to get an idea of where the teens were heading and how they'd gotten there in the first place. And so we're going back to July 22nd right when the teens abandoned the burning car. This is how the cops believed the teens might have gotten away. The RCMP thought that on that day,

after torching the Ravre 4 outside of Bird, the two best friends ducked under the trees. They heard the search planes soaring overhead and likely knew the cops would be searching the towns. It would be foolish to try to get to Hudson Bay by hitchhiking. So with maps in hand, they charted a different route. If they reached the nearby Nelson River, they could follow it to the Hudson Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and freedom. But it wouldn't be easy. The trek would be 70 miles, with the cops on their tail every step of the way. They had no time to waste.

took off south from the SUV where they came to the mouth of the winding and wild Sundance Creek. Survivalist Sherman Kong told the Daily Mail that since they were on the run, they likely pushed hard at first, which forced them to slow down later due to exhaustion. They were loaded down with two sleeping bags, stolen from one of their victims, maps, two rifles, and bullets. At some point they realized they were going to have to travel lighter. Cam dropped his backpack, weighed down with ammo. The two best friends had broken the first rule of survival, leave no trace.

They trudged along the small riverbed until they came to an ATV trail. Then they likely hiked along the hidden trail for a few miles, ducking into the woods if any pursuers came down the path. Eventually they made it to the edge of the Nelson River. They trudged several more miles along the riverbank, knowing it would eventually lead to Hudson Bay. It was tougher than they expected. Instead of being able to swim or use the water for sustenance, the raging waters taunted them and lapped at their feet. Barren cliffs towered above. Cam and

Breyer were likely struggling. It had been around a week since they torched their ride. They might have been safe from the police, but there was nowhere to go but forward. With only a backpack stolen from their third victim and sleeping bags, they didn't have much. But Leonard also packed a video camera for his trip, so to pass the time, Cam and Breyer pressed record. Facing the camera, the teens taunted the police with their escape plan. They would commandeer a boat in Hudson Bay and take off, far away from their home country. But the plan started to seem further and further out of reach, because eventually the teenagers came to what they feared most, a dead end. They'd inadvertently walked into a trap. The river was too intense to cross and the embankment too steep to climb.

Their hope for escape was beginning to wane. The next day, they had a new plan. They abandoned a sleeping bag and backpack on the shore, then hiked back up the river until they found a break in the cliff wall. A small green crop of trees called to them. It provided cover from the elements and protection from the police. From there, they had a perfect line of sight to the river. They could see if anybody from the RCMP sped towards them. They still had their semi-auto rifles. Breyer had the perfect shot, and he had the skills to take it. A year before, Breyer asked his dad for a Christmas present he could use to play with his friends, an airsoft rifle. The replica weapon was as close as one could get to a semi-automatic gun with real magazines and all, though it fired tiny pellets

instead of bullets. Alan was skeptical at first, but knew his son had a hard time ever since the divorce, and instead of making friends or getting help from his parents, he sought solace in gaming and the internet. But here was his chance to make up for it. So the estranged father bought his son the $600 rifle. For about six months, Breyer and his friends held shootouts in the forest, firing at one another from behind the dense foliage.

Alan just wanted to get his son outside of the house, but now Breyer had all the experience he needed to shoot and kill. That's why the RCMP was prepared for a deadly firefight. And as Breyer and Cam hunkered in place at the river outcropping, the RCMP felt like they were closing in on the fugitives. They discovered the backpack in the woods. Now they turned their attention to the Nelson. They flew a helicopter over the waterway and spotted a bar.

blue sleeping bag and a second backpack on the shoreline. It was close to where they found Cam's ID and wasn't an area people would camp in. So as soon as they laid their eyes on the items, they knew they were Cam and briars. But by that point, the killers were gone. This second backpack may have contained clues as to where the teens were hiding, but to get to the shore of the river, police would have to traverse it first, and to navigate this current, you had to respect it. The Nelson was a soupy death-rethed. trap, unforgiving and unpredictable. The mayor of Gillum said, quote, it would not be a river that many people would survive. So the RCMP needed someone who knew the river well and could

safely shepherd their team across. There was only one man for the job, Billy Beardy. Billy was at work when he got the call. He wanted to say yes. It was what he was used to doing, helping his community. but his wife wasn't so sure. She was afraid. When Billy and Tamara's son was just 16 years old, he died in a car accident. It was a terrible loss, and she didn't want to risk losing Billy, too. What if the teenagers were looking for one last standoff with police? In tears, she told Billy, quote,

You have young kids to worry about. You have a lot at stake, too, not just them. But Billy couldn't turn down a chance to help. he had to keep his family safe. Soon he found himself in a tiny speedboat shepherding four officers over the rushing waters. He knew the dangers of the river. If you stop, you're pretty much a goner.

Luckily, Billy was able to navigate the eight to ten foot swells and helped the police reach the backpack. But still, the teens were nowhere to be found. After nearly two weeks, the case went cold. No new sightings or evidence. Some cops believed the bodies would never be found. Their remains might have been eaten by wolves

or swept down the Nelson River out into the Hudson. On August 7th, the search commander was about to wind down the manhunt. He was set to return to his hometown later that day. But before he left, he thought he'd send the river team out for one final search. At 9 a.m., Billy and the other four officers took the jetboat out, Headed toward the area they spotted the second backpack and sleeping bag from the chopper. The current was so fast, there's no way the supplies washed shore. That's how Billy knew. The suspects were close.

As they approached, one of the officers leapt up and scanned the cliffside with his rifle, ready for a showdown. Tomorrow's words echoed in Billy's mind. He stood at the front of the boat holding the wheel. He looked to his left and right and realized the other officers wore bulletproof vests. He had nothing. He realized then that he was a sitting duck with just his work jacket on. The teens could open fire on them at any time. In an interview, superintendent in Kevin Lewis emphasized that even with protective gear,

it was still dangerous to hunt down a fugitive through the woods, because, quote, even a bad guy can get lucky with a shot. Billy looked toward an outcropping of trees at the river's edge where Breyer and Cam were hunkered down. And that's when he said. saw it. Movement. By this point, Breyer's dad saw the writing on the wall. Only someone in serious pain could be responsible for such terrible murders. And he believed Breyer wanted his pain to end. Alan thought his son was going to die in a standoff with police and take out as many officers

as he could along the way. But before that happened, he had one last message for his son. He said, rest in peace, Breyer. I love you. I'm so. So sorry all this had to happen. Back at the river, Billy Beardy looked toward the trees. His attention trained on a distant movement, a flash of black like a bullet. But this shining missile wasn't a rifle shot or any other weapon. There in the brush was the namesake of his hometown. It was a bird.

A raven zipped away. Billy exchanged glances with the other men of the boat. None of them seemed to notice, but Billy knew what it meant. Ravens are scavengers. They eat eggs and berries, but also picket animal carcasses, or any other remains for that matter. Billy moored the boat at the embankment where he spotted the raven. An officer jumped out and approached, gun at the ready. But there wouldn't be a showdown.

Billy said, as soon as we got to the shore, sure enough, we saw them. Cam was lying on the slope, dressed in a cam out top and black rain pants. Breyer was a few feet away, wearing full camouflage. The two SKS semi-automatic rifles and the video camera lay next to their bodies. It was a murder-suicide pact. The two young men were dead. The RCMP had spent 23 days and $1.5 million Canadian dollars to track down two teenage boys only to find them all.

already dead. The officers reached down and picked up the camcorder. It still contained a tape of final goodbye from beyond the grave. Speaking into the lens, the two best friends took full responsibility for the murders of Lucas, China, and Leonard. But they made it clear they had no remorse. That was it. No answers. No reasons. No closure. The best we can do is speculate. There was Breyer, falling into the internet, convinced the world was hell. And Cam, a good friend, maybe wanting to help in any way he could, even if it meant hurting others. That said, we'll never really know.

At the final press conference, the spokesperson for the RCMP said, quote, when I speak to family's victims, they say, It's not the justice I'm looking for. I just want an apology. I want to understand what drove that person to do that to my family member, to my loved one. But after all that effort and firepower, they never got an answer. As the assistant commander of the RCMP said, quote, If there was in fact a motive, it's gone with the accused.

In mid-August, the residents of Byrd gathered at the spot where Breyer and Cam set Leonard's Ravrefour ablaze. They didn't want to remember that fire, one that brought only. fear and death, so they made a new one. On the hard gravel, the Kree men built a bonfire, and neighbors gathered in the chilly air to form a circle around the flames. Each of them shared how the manhunt had shattered their sense of security and changed them. It was a cleansing ceremony. Tamara Beardy shared her feelings about the two lost teens. She said, quote, there's still someone's children, and I know how it feels to lose a child, and I feel sorry for all the victims that are involved,

but I can't help but to feel sorry for these two young men, too. As Dr. Katie Kamkar says, trauma isn't just a personal experience. When something happens to a community, PTSD can be shared, but she said the same is true for healing. As the Kri people spoke, their fears slowly burned away, The connection reminded them that they weren't alone. They had each other. In October 2019, Billy was elected the new chief of Fox Lake Cree Nation.

Robert Wavy, the CEO of the group, told a reporter, quote, Despite what has happened to us in the past, we're still here. We're still supportive of each other. Without Billy, many details about the manhunt would still be a mystery. The West brought violence and fear to Billy's town, and it took Billy to bring the fear to an end. When he was asked if he'd risk his safety and do it over again, he said, quote,

I would probably do it again, yes, but he would change one thing. This time, he'd only do it with a bulletproof feston. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parkast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Stay safe out there.

Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast, executive produced by Max Cutler. Our head of programming is Julian Bois Roe. A supervising sound designer is Russell Nash, with Nick Johnson as our head of production and quality control by Spencer Howard. Stacey Nemick is our supervising editor and Derek Jennings is our writing lead. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Ben Carrow, edited by Terrell Wells, fact-checked by Catherine Barner, research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood, produced by Bruce Kitovich, and sound design by Michael Motion.

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U-N. Details at Yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up, getting ready for bed, is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcast this year, but they're not crime.

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