Cleanup is underway following a lengthy investigation by Calgary police and Chestermere RCMP on an acreage east of Calgary.
“Basically, all the tires I want in a pile here. Anything that’s scrap wood can go there. Anything that’s actually valuable like building material can go in the trailer,” Paul Lock told the men assembled to help clean up the aftermath of the investigation.
“We’re going to start with the garbage, sort out anything of value.”
Lock owns the steel quonset hut on Vale View Road in Rocky View County that police arrived at on April 6 to conduct a search warrant.
The next day, Lock told Global News he had rented the structure out as shop space to a man he described as “a bit of a hoarder.” Lock said, “the guy that rents that shop is obviously in some sort of serious trouble, I would think.”
On April 10, police charged Richard Mantha with 13 charges including kidnapping, confinement and sexual assault.
“Yes, we used cadaver dogs,” CPS Supt. Cliff O’Brien said that day, noting thousands of exhibits were gathered. “The investigators were being very thorough.”
Police released the scene back to Lock the same day.
Outside the structure, a camper van, an old ambulance, propane canisters, old furniture and piles of garbage were sitting in the dirt.
A white refuse bin was trucked in among the piles.
“So far, we brought in a bin and we’re focusing on the actual garbage-garbage, get that out of here. And then anything of value we’re going to put back in here until we figure out whether he’s going to get out of jail or not,” Lock said.
Lock and his wife Muriel had been staying in an area hotel during the investigation of the structure behind their home. He said police gave him the option of having them move all of the detritus back into the quonset, which would require extending the search warrant.
Lock said he wanted to come back home, even to a surprising scene.
“I don’t normally come back here. But now with all this out there, it’s…. You just move forward, I guess. I don’t even know what to say.”
Inside the shop space, a mattress was seen lying outside a fifth wheel trailer, with shop tool cabinets opposite.
“There’s definitely some damage to the building. Got structural damage to the trusses. If you look close over there, there’s bullet holes in the wall – looks like a small calibre,” Lock told Global News.
A search warrant notice was posted to the trailer door.
The interior of the trailer appeared to be in disrepair and disarray, with apparent dirt and filth covering the counters.
“And then he’s got a wood-burning wood stove in a fifth wheel that he cut a hole in the roof and vented that out,” Lock said, pointing to a makeshift smokestack poking out to the sky.
“Obviously that’s going to have to be removed and repaired. Those are pretty minor considering what we are dealing with as far as the cleanup program.”
The Chestermere-area landowner said the refuse bins are costing him $550 per bin plus tonnage, and estimates there’s more than six bins worth of material he can get rid of immediately.
But Lock isn’t able to clear out the quonset entirely since his former tenant’s property remains, and he’s seeking legal advice on how to handle that.
“It would be more than welcome for someone to give me a shout.”