RCMP Watch

Canadian Press

A retired RCMP officer is defending two men accused of aiding and abetting James Roszko, who fatally shot four Mounties on his farm in 2005 and then killed himself.

Steve May, who worked at the Barrhead detachment for 17 years before retiring from the RCMP, said Dennis Cheeseman and Shawn Hennessey were not troublemakers.

“Our community’s in shock because they don’t fit the mold to be a dangerous person or someone who would harm another person,” he told Global TV.

Hennessey, 28, and Cheeseman, 23, are charged with four counts each of first-degree murder in the March 3, 2005, shooting deaths of constables Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston.

Roszko, 46, ambushed the officers while they were searching his farm near the northwestern Alberta town of Mayerthorpe, Alta. for stolen car parts and a marijuana grow operation.

Police have been tight-lipped about what role they believe Hennessey and Cheeseman played, but they have confirmed that Roszko was the only gunman.

In a letter to the editor published in the Barrhead Leader, May wrote: “Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman did not cause the police nor the community a moment’s problem.”

He also wrote in his letter that Hennessey did not share the dislike that James Roszko, a known cop-hater, had for the police.

“He (Hennessey) respects me and I do know that he would never criticize or want to harm the police,” he told Global.

RCMP have said that Hennessey and Cheeseman were known to police and that they were associates of Roszko.

May said if there is a link between the men and Roszko, it’s possible they were victimized by him.

Roszko had a long criminal history that included a sexual assault conviction, weapons charges and dozens of other offences dating back to 1976.

Roszko faced 40 criminal charges during his life, but not all were prosecuted because witnesses either lied or failed to show up to testify.

The families of both accused also wrote a letter to the editor in which they asked the community to support the men.

“We need our community to pull together and support these two innocent men,” the letter said.

Cheeseman’s aunt, Marian Power, said she feels her nephew and Hennessey were charged just because they knew Roszko.

“We just feel they are just tried and convicted before they get going because it’s concerning policemen,” she told Global TV in a telephone interview from her home in Green Court, Alta.

“In this town I don’t expect it to be fair, there’s quite a few here that have made up their mind.”

Police alleged in 2005 search warrants that Hennessey received several calls from Roszko the day before the fatal shootings.

The warrants also alleged Hennessey sold marijuana for Roszko, which Hennessey has denied.

Police also said in a warrant that one of the weapons Roszko had was a rifle registered to Hennessey’s 74-year-old grandfather, who told police it had been stolen several months earlier.

Lawyers for Cheeseman and Hennessey were scheduled to appear in Mayerthorpe provincial court Thursday.