Kelly Burns knows he hasn’t “made the best decisions” in the past year. Ever since his half-brother, Myles Sanderson, killed 11 people and injured 17 more in a stabbing spree on James Smith Cree Nation and nearby Weldon, he says he has been consumed with guilt and shame. His other half-brother, Damien, and many of his friends and relatives were killed in the attacks.
“It’s like when you’re standing beside a puddle, and a vehicle drives past and I was splashed by it all,” Burns tells Global News from Prince Albert Provincial Correctional Centre.
Burns was arrested and charged with assault and “uttering threats” on James Smith on August 8. According to the RCMP, a woman reported sustaining serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the attack.
It came as the community prepared to mark the one-year anniversary of Sanderson’s rampage, with many on edge.
Several James Smith community members say Burns had been threatening to “finish what Myles started” before he was arrested. Global News has not been able verify that Burns made the alleged threats.
But Burns says that claim isn’t true. “A message was sent, but it was blown out of context,” he says, declining to comment on it further while the matter is before the courts.
However, he admits his substance abuse issues have spiralled out of control since September 4, when Myles carried out one of Canada’s worst mass killings.
Burns agreed to speak with Global News to help “people understand” more about his background, and Sanderson’s background, of which little is known. He was cordial and polite when he called from incarceration and was happy to answer questions, but shied away from some specific questions about Myles’ upbringing and his drug use, saying he didn’t “want to throw (his) brother under the bus.”
He was close with his brothers, even when they did not live together.
Sanderson’s mother, father and another half-sister declined to participate in the story.
“I have no comment, you can say whatever about me,” Sanderson’s mother, who declined to be named, said when Global News visited her home in Prince Albert. A wooden “blessed” sign sits in the front window of her small wooden bungalow.
“I am on a healing journey. They’re both dead now so there’s nothing to say.”
‘I took them as full brothers’
Burns did not live in the same house as Myles and Damien for much of his young life, because they had different fathers, and Myles and Damien’s mother and father split up when they were young, Burns says. But they stayed close.
“They might’ve been my half-brothers, but to me I took them as full brothers.”
Several community members who knew the Sanderson family, said there were eight siblings, including half-brothers and sisters.
Burns recalls being closer to Damien than Myles, because Myles was “in and out of prison” for most of his life. But he says he made similar mistakes to his brother.
“Damien was the more mature one, more than me and Myles.
“Obviously I’m phoning from jail, because I haven’t made the best decisions – especially in the past year.”
Burns says he began using marijuana and alcohol from a young age and the drinking in his early twenties was “out of control.” Then, his drug use “escalated.”
His court files provide a glimpse of a troubled life – with many of the same run-ins with the law that his brother had. Burns has been convicted twice for assault, with one charge still before the court. He served 11 days in jail for his first conviction and was sentenced to 274 days for his next.
He was charged three times with failing to appear in court, for which he received two $100 fines and one conditional sentence. He was also convicted of theft, for which he was fined $200, and received a conditional sentence for running away from police, among other offences.
Myles was charged with a remarkable 125 crimes over the course of his adult life, according to the 47 cases filed against him in the province’s criminal courts.
Burns’ first assault charge came at age 21, when he uttered threats to cause death and caused a disturbance at a bar in Melfort, Sask., located about 50 kilometres from James Smith.
One of his assault charges was against his girlfriend at the time, Deborah Burns. Deborah is the sister of Vanessa Burns, who was Myles Sanderson’s common-law spouse and the mother of five of his children. The Burns sisters dated the brothers simultaneously, had children with them, and say they suffered greatly at their hands. Though the sisters and Kelly Burns share the same last name, they are not directly related.
“I moved around a lot to get away from him but he always managed to find me or I would allow his mom to see the kids and she would weasel him back into our lives,” Deborah tells Global News. She is named in a court file in 2008 as payable for his return bail.
“Our oldest had attempted suicide twice and said it was because she didn’t want us to be together so that was definitely a huge eye-opener for me. So that’s where the recent charge comes from, I was planning to leave him for good and things were just getting worse.”
Deborah says she got out of the relationship safely in 2021, with the help of Melfort RCMP, social services and domestic violence therapy.
Vanessa recounted a similarly abusive relationship with Myles Sanderson to Global News late last year.
Burns could not be reached by Global News again to ask about his relationship with Deborah.
‘Jail is really the best place for me right now’
Vanessa Burns says she has been involved in a post-mortem psychological autopsy for her former partner, conducted by Saskatchewan RCMP.
The RCMP confirm their Behavioral Sciences Branch has recently completed a preliminary report of the autopsy and it will form part of the disclosure in preparation for the Saskatchewan Coroners Service inquest in 2024.
It is not known how many people were asked to be part of this, or if any of his family members participated.
Burns says he has spoken with the RCMP investigators about the murders. He says his brother did not tell him what he was planning and he has “no idea” about his motive.
But the knowledge of what Myles did has caused him to spiral “out of control,” he says. Many of the victims were friends and distant relatives, he says.
“It’s really taken a toll. Jail is really the best place for me right now. Drugs are not easy to get. I’m just clearing my head, reading and figuring things out,” he says.
“I don’t know how to heal. I’m hoping for better days.”
Burns’ most recent case, for assault and uttering threats is set for trial on September 14.
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