RCMP Watch

(Canadian Press) - Backpedalling after a week of denials, the RCMP apologized to the family of a murdered university professor after admitting they were warned in advance by a relative about the potential for violence.

Assistant Commissioner Darrell LaFosse, the RCMP’s commander in New Brunswick, said he has ordered an independent review of the force’s handling of the case prior to the murder last week of John McKendy, 59.

A spokesperson for the force repeatedly told reporters over the past week that family members didn’t approach the Mounties before the killing with concerns over any-one’s safety.

“I have since realized that this is not the case,” LaFosse told a news conference.

He said the force received a complaint from an undisclosed family member on Oct. 27 — three days before McKendy was killed in his home in Douglas, N. B.

The complaint concerned emails and other communication from Nicholas Wade Baker — McKendy’s 27-year-old son-in-law — to an undisclosed member of the family.

Police had been made aware of Baker on Oct. 3 after he took a vehicle and credit card belonging to McKendy’s brother, Michael.

The vehicle was later recovered in Bangor, Maine, and police said the credit card was used in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, and because of that they believed Baker was still somewhere in the United States.

“I have personally apologized to the family on behalf of the RCMP in New Brunswick and I am here today to publicly offer my apology for us saying they did not raise concerns. They did,” said LaFosse.

“We were investigating those concerns. Any perception they did not make us aware that there were concerns is false. I offer my apology to them for us saying otherwise.”

News of the emails only came to light Monday when one of McKendy’s colleagues at St. Thomas University in Fredericton told reporters about them.