The father of one of two B.C. teens accused in a trio of 2019 killings in northern B.C. that set off a cross-country manhunt has launched a formal complaint against the RCMP.
Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, were eventually found dead in the Manitoba backcountry — the result of what police described as a suicide pact.
Schmegelsky’s father Al has now filed a complaint with the RCMP’s Civilian Complaint and Review Commission, alleging that the force failed to keep him informed during the investigation and in its aftermath — claiming he learned of his son’s death on the news.
“I don’t want this to happen again…I don’t want any father to find out his son is missing from the media, I don’t want any father to find out his son is dead from the media,” says Schmegelsky in the complaint.
The complaint further alleges that Bryer’s mother and stepfather were both notified of the death and provided counselling services, while he was not.
He also claims he was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement before viewing a final video Bryer and Kam recorded prior to their deaths, while “the other parents” were not.
The B.C. RCMP confirmed it was aware a complaint had been filed and that the matter was under investigation. It said the outcome would be shared privately with the complainant.
Under the CRCC process, complaints are first investigated by members of the RCMP itself. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the outcome, they can request a review of the investigation by the CRCC.
The two teens are accused of the murder of Chynna Deese, Lucas Fowler and Leonard Dyck in July 2019, near Fort Nelson and Dease Lake.
Police had initially reported the duo as missing persons themselves; it wasn’t until a week after Deese and Fowler’s bodies were found that the pair became the prime suspects in the killings.
A 17-day, $1.7-million investigation followed that took police — and eventually the armed forces — into the wilds of Manitoba.
Police found their bodies, along with two SKS semi-automatic rifles, about eight kilometres from the community of Gillam, Man. on Aug. 7.
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