RCMP Watch

Edmonton Sun

Alberta RCMP have charged two men with four counts of first degree murder each in connection with the fatal shootings of four Mounties near Mayerthorpe in 2005.

Charged are Dennis Keegan Rodney Cheeseman, 23, and Shawn William Hennesey, 28, both of Barrhead, Alberta.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Sweeney said the two men are accused of being a party to what he called the “darkest day in RCMP history.”
“Today we have been able to provide Canadians with the first significant update on the Mayerthorpe investigation,” Sweeney said Sunday in front of a memorial to fallen Mounties in Alberta.

“Cheeseman and Hennesy are to appear in Mayerthorpe provincial court on July 12.”

Gunman James Roszko ambushed the young Mounties on March 3, 2005, in the RCMP’s greatest loss of life in a single day in more than 100 years.

Roszko, a virulent cop hater, later shot himself.

RCMP said that Cheeseman and Hennesy were not at the farm during the shootings.

The two men are accused of helping Roszko, but Mounties won’t say how.

“It is truly recognized that many questions remain unanswered,” Sweeney said, noting that the criminal investigation continues.

“We have an obligation and responsibility to respect due process.”

Hennesy was arrested without incident only hours before the Sweeney announced the charges.

Alberta’s Justice Department is to call a fatality inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths of constables Peter Schiemann, Tony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston.

No date for that inquiry has been set.

Schiemann’s sister, Julia, hugged Sweeney at the end of the news conference but declined to comment.

Grace Johnston, the mother of Leo Johnston, said after months of anguish she is heartened by the arrests.

“This is awesome that maybe now we will get some answers,” said Johnston in a phone interview as she choked back tears.

“All along I felt, I believed, that someone had to have helped him. There are no words.”