The 2019 Northern British Columbia homicides were a

spree killing A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations. There are different opinions about what durations of time a killing spree may take place in. The United States ...

that took place on the Alaska Highway and Stewart–Cassiar Highway in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, between July 14–19, 2019. Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky are believed to have killed Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, before killing Leonard Dyck within a six-day time frame. By July 23, 2019, McLeod and Schmegelsky allegedly traversed stretching across four

Canadian provinces Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, N ...

in ten days. A nationwide manhunt for the suspects was initiated by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP). Between July 23 and August 7, McLeod and Schmegelsky used firearms to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

near the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay near Port Nelson, Manitoba, Port Nels ...

, northeast of Gillam, Manitoba.

Details

Shootings

In the summer of 2019, Australian national Lucas Fowler and his girlfriend, American national Chynna Deese, were taking a three-week road trip around Canada. On July 14, their 1986

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

van broke down along the Alaska Highway, south of Liard Hot Springs in

. At approximately 3:20 PM PST, Curtis Broughton, a mechanic, along with his wife Sandra, stopped to check on the couple. Broughton explained, "They seemed like they kind of had it under control. It was mechanical issues with the van. They were having a picnic waiting for the van to unflood, I guess, and try to start it again". Broughton was assured that the couple knew what they were doing, and saw them "happy" and "smiling" before leaving them shortly after. At approximately 7:00 AM PST on July 15, the bodies of Fowler and Deese were discovered by Trevor Pierre, a highway worker. Both victims were found in a ditch close to their van, with their bodies showing visible

gunshot wound A gunshot wound (GSW) is a penetrating injury caused by a projectile (e.g. a bullet) shot from a gun (typically a firearm). Damage may include bleeding, bone fractures, organ damage, wound infection, and loss of the ability to move part of ...

s and lying apart from one another. Both were lying north, with their heads facing west. The van's back doors were left open with their windows smashed, according to Pierre. On July 19, a burnt-out

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

was discovered south of the Stikine River Bridge on Highway 37. The body of Vancouver resident Leonard Dyck was found south of the vehicle fire, with "similar circumstances" as Fowler and Deese (whose bodies were found away). Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were initially reported as

missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...

s, as it was revealed that they were operating the pickup truck before it was destroyed. On July 22, the

(RCMP) believed there was a possible link between the

s and murder victims in British Columbia. The initial reports of the murders in northern

prompted confusion among some foreign media outlets, which incorrectly identified the murders as taking place on or near the infamous Highway of Tears, which has been the site of numerous disappearances and murders of Indigenous women.

Manhunt

On July 23, a burning

Toyota RAV4 The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is known for starting the wave of compact crossovers. The RAV4 is one of the best-selling SUVs of all time. By February 2020, a total of 10 million RAV4 ...

was found near Fox Lake Cree Nation, north of Gillam, Manitoba, believed to be driven by the missing pair. Following this discovery, the RCMP sought

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

charges against McLeod and Schmegelsky in relation to the British Columbia killings. After the case received nationwide attention, a resident of

Cold Lake, Alberta Cold Lake is a city in east-northern Alberta, Canada and is named after the lake nearby. Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (CFB Cold Lake) is situated within the city's outer limits. History Cold Lake was first recorded on a 1790 map, by the nam ...

, reported helping two younger males who had their RAV4 stuck on July 21. Later that same day, the pair was captured by

video surveillance Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...

at a store in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, the footage of which was turned in to the police days later. Eyewitnesses recalled spotting McLeod and Schmegelsky twice in the Gillam area on July 22. On the same day, the pair were stopped for a routine alcohol check by Tataskweyak Cree Nation band constables in

Split Lake, Manitoba Split Lake, or Tataskwayak (), is a community in Manitoba on the northern shore of Split Lake along the Nelson River, about west southwest of the river's mouth at Hudson Bay, and is within the Tataskweyak Cree Nation reserve, Split Lake 171. ...

. They were eventually released, marking the interaction with band constables as the last confirmed sighting of the suspects as of July 22. By July 24, the RCMP deployed the Emergency Response Team, a crisis negotiation team, air services and canine units to Gillam and its surrounding area. A checkpoint was set up at the intersection of Provincial Roads 280 and 290, with heavily armed officers canvassing the area. The RCMP acknowledged the 'inhospitable' environment with dense forests, swampy terrain, and wild animals. After almost a week of unsuccessful search attempts in Gillam, the RCMP received a new tip on July 28: Travis Bighetty and Justin Coelho, of the Indigenous Bear Clan Patrol, had spotted two people with "matching descriptions" of the fugitives at the York Landing community landfill, 200 kilometres southwest. By July 29, the RCMP reported that they were unable to locate the suspects, but reassuring the public of their continued presence in the Gillam and York Landing communities. On July 30, Northeast

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

(OPP) received a report of two suspicious men with matching descriptions of McLeod and Schmegelsky near Iron Bridge, east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. On July 31 at 10:30 AM, OPP James Bay Detachment was notified that the fugitives might have been travelling eastbound in a white vehicle on Highway 11 near

Kapuskasing Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. ...

, carrying a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

. Officers could not locate the subjects in either incident. On the same day, nine days after the manhunt began, Manitoba RCMP announced that despite inspecting over 11,000 square kilometres and searching more than 500 homes in Gillam, York Landing and their surroundings it had been unable to locate the suspects and so was "scaling back" its search operation. By August 1, more unconfirmed locations of the suspects had been reported to the OPP including Sudbury,

West Nipissing West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former towns, villages, townships and unorganized commun ...

, North Bay and Parry Sound. A breakthrough came on August 2 when Gillam-based tour guide Clint Sawchuk reported to the RCMP that he saw a blue sleeping bag at the edge of the

, near the entrance to

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

. On August 6, the RCMP announced it found several items believed to belong to the suspects on the shore of the river. A fresh search of the river by the RCMP on August 3 found a damaged rowboat below the Lower Limestone Rapids, about 65 km north-east of Gillam. Near the rowboat were some other items which the RCMP linked to the suspects. This location was north-east of where the burnt RAV4 had been found on July 23. An underwater search by the RCMP close to where the rowboat was found did not find anything further. On August 7, RCMP in northern Manitoba reported that they believed they found the bodies of the fugitives in thick bush close to the Nelson River, about west of where the damaged rowboat was found. By August 12, an autopsy report from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

confirmed that the two bodies found belonged to the wanted suspects and that they died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The pair recorded a series of videos prior to committing suicide, in which they confessed to the murders. They gave no motive and expressed no remorse for the killings.

Response

On July 26, a formal request from RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki was approved by

Minister of Public Safety The minister of public safety and emergency preparedness () is the minister of the Crown responsible for Public Safety Canada and a member of the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio succeeded the role of Solicitor General of Canada in 2005. Gary ...

Ralph Goodale Ralph Edward Goodale (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021. Goodale was first elected in 1974 as the member of Parliam ...

and

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Harjit Sajjan for assistance in locating the perpetrators. By July 27, an RCAF 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron CC-130H Hercules aircraft was deployed from Winnipeg for aerial

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

to the Gillam area, while following RCMP requests. The aircraft utilized its

thermal imaging Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

equipment in the search, with negative results. On July 27, 2019, an Indigenous-led neighbourhood watch group arrived in Gillam at the request of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. They offered volunteer support and services to the residents of the town, amid the high-risk manhunt in the area. The manhunt sparked the creation of

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

groups theorizing the suspects' next moves. It also caused online trolls to emerge, tease the police and encourage the suspects in evading search efforts; one of those went by the alias Thomasabrahamutoyo and alleged that the suspects were his friends and taunted that they are "smarter than you think".

References

External links