Canadian police confirm sightings of teen murder suspects

TORONTO (AP) — Police said Thursday there have been two sightings of the suspects in the slaying of an American woman, her Australian boyfriend and another man in the Gillam area of Manitoba and they are believed to still be nearby.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Julie Courchaine said authorities have corroborated the sightings of 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky. She said the sightings were prior to Monday evening’s discovery of a burned-out vehicle the suspects were driving.

Police also learned that Schmegelsky had taken a liking to Nazi paraphernalia.

Courchaine said there have been no reports of stolen vehicles that could be attributed to the suspects and that is why authorities believe the men are still in the Gillam area.

She described the terrain there as unforgiving. “There’s lots of dense bush, forest, swampy area, so it is very challenging,” she said.

It is critical that all Canadians remain on the lookout for Kam McLeod & Bryer Schmegelsky. If seen, do not approach, call 911 or local police immediately. #rcmpmb  https://t.co/vBjHaJbT26

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) July 26, 2019

Gillam is more than 2,000 miles from northern British Columbia, where another burned vehicle was found Friday and where the three people were found slain in two places.

The victims have been identified as American Chynna Deese, 24, Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and Leonard Dyck, 64, of Vancouver. McLeod and Schmegelsky have been charged with second-degree murder in Dyck’s death, whose body was discovered a week after Deese and Fowler were found shot dead.

McLeod and Schmegelsky themselves had originally been considered missing persons and only became suspects in the case Tuesday.

Schmegelsky’s father, Alan Schmegelsky, said Wednesday that he expected the nationwide manhunt to end in the death of his son, who he said is on “a suicide mission.”

The separate discoveries of three bodies and burning cars have shaken rural northern British Columbia.

During the investigation, police found Dyck’s body roughly a mile from the first burned-out vehicle.

Teens Kam McLeod & Bryer Schmegelsky "know how to hide" & have experience camouflaging in the bush. A manhunt is underway Canada. The teens are suspects in three suspected murders including shooting deaths of Lucas Fowler & Chynna Deese. @TheNewDailyAu https://t.co/akN5lzMEur pic.twitter.com/Izv7LXVVd1

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— Andrea Hamblin (@AndieHamblin) July 24, 2019

That was about 300 miles from the spot along the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs where Deese and Fowler were found over a week ago.

Fowler, the son of a chief inspector with the New South Wales Police Department, was living in British Columbia and Deese was visiting him.

Police also said Thursday that they were investigating a photograph of Nazi paraphernalia allegedly sent online by one of the suspects. Schmegelsky allegedly sent photographs of a swastika armband and a Hitler Youth knife to an online friend on the video game network Steam.

Alan Schmegelsky said his son took him to an army surplus store about eight months ago in his small Vancouver Island hometown of Port Alberni, where his son was excited about the Nazi artifacts.

“I was disgusted and dragged him out,” the father told Canadian Press. “My grandparents fled the Ukraine with three small children during the Second World War.”

Alan Schmegelsky said he didn’t believe that his son identified as a neo-Nazi, but that he did think the memorabilia was “cool.”

The father, who is estranged from the teen’s mother, explained that he didn’t see his son between the ages of 8 and 16, and during that time the boy came under the mistaken belief that he had Russian heritage.

He said his son is a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

“I argued with him about that, in a friendly manner,” the father said. “He liked strong speakers.”