‘It’s not an easy thing’: Murder suspect’s dad watches suicide video
The father of Bryer Schmegelsky, one of the two young B.C. men suspected in the deaths of Leonard Dyck, Chynna Deese and Lucas Fowler, has been allowed to watch part of the video his son recorded before committing suicide in the remote Manitoba wilderness.
“It was very emotional for everyone. It’s not an easy thing,” said his lawyer, Sarah Leamon, who negotiated the viewing of the video with the RCMP. “He’s quite emotional about it.”
The agreement to allow the viewing resulted from negotiations between Alan Schmegelsky’s lawyer and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Schmegelsky watched the video on Thursday morning, Leamon said.
The Mounties have been tightlipped on many outstanding details of the case, though media reports indicate some members of the Schmegelsky family and relatives of his co-suspect, Kam McLeod, were allowed to view 30 seconds of the video weeks ago. The segment detailed what the suspects wished to have done with their remains.
The two were found dead on Aug. 7, having died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, along the Nelson River near Gillam, Man., some 1,000 kilometres by road north of Winnipeg.
Leamon, a criminal defence attorney, was retained by Alan Schmegelsky in late August.
The parties negotiated a non-disclosure agreement, which Leamon said was to balance the “rights as a father” with the protection of the continuing police investigation. She said there were no further details about the video that could be released.
“It happened rather expediently, in my view,” she said Thursday.
“The RCMP will not be discussing any private communications or discussions we have had with families,” RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said in an email.
Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod were initially considered missing persons following three suspicious deaths across northern British Columbia in July. They were facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Leonard Dyck, a university lecturer from Vancouver whose body was found south of Dease Lake on July 19.
No cause of death has been determined in Dyck’s case. The B.C. coroner’s service says the investigation continues. Nearby, a torched camper and truck that belonged to the pair were found.
A few days prior, on July 15, two bodies were found hundreds of kilometres away near Liard Hot Springs, near the Yukon border. Lucas Fowler, 23, from Australia and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese, 24, had been shot to death.
The RCMP issued an alert for a grey Toyota RAV4, and a cross-country manhunt for the two young men began. It led police to Gillam, the end of the road, where the landscape is dense brush and bog. The burnt-out RAV4 was found, but a massive search of the area took days to locate the bodies. They were found in the bush, about a kilometre away from the banks of the river.