COP KILLER'S ACCOMPLICES IMPRISONED

Judgment

'These Four Men Were Canadian Heroes'

Judge Gets Emotional Talking About Slain Officers

Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman may only have intended to thwart
an RCMP investigation into a marijuana grow op, but they ended up
helping Jim Roszko kill four police officers, Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Eric Macklin said Friday.

The judge handed Hennessey a 15-year term and gave Cheeseman 12 years,
sentencing each for four counts of manslaughter.

Macklin gave both men three years off their sentences for agreeing to
plead guilty, thus avoiding a costly, time-consuming trial. They were
also given double credit, which is standard practice, for the time
they have already served awaiting trial. Hennessey's remaining time to
serve is 10 years and 4 1/2 months, while Cheeseman's remaining time is
seven years and 2 1/2 months.

Both men knew that providing Roszko with a gun and driving him back to
his farm could lead to an armed confrontation with police at a Quonset
hut that housed a marijuana grow op, Macklin said.

"Any reasonable person would have known that Roszko's return to his
farm with weapons and ammunition in his agitated state created an
extreme danger for the officers, a danger of receiving
life-threatening injuries, a danger that was ultimately and tragically
realized."

The prison terms were close to the high end of what Crown prosecutor
Dave Labrenz asked for and were a reflection of the seriousness of the
crime, Macklin said. "An attack on a police officer is an attack on
society itself, and when a police officer is killed in the execution
of duty, the community is understandably outraged."

As he spoke of the devastation to the families of the four slain
officers, the judge became emotional and paused to gather himself.
"These four RCMP officers ... died in the course of those duties.
These four men were Canadian heroes and will forever be remembered as
such."

The court room was packed with RCMP investigators and undercover
agents, family members of the dead officers, the media and members of
the two men's families.

Hennessey, 29, and Cheeseman, 25, had both pleaded guilty on Jan. 19
for the March 3, 2005, deaths of constables Anthony Gordon, Leo
Johnston, Brock Myrol and Peter Schiemann.

The brothers-in-law were arrested in July 2007 after an extensive RCMP
sting operation. The RCMP spent $2 million investigating the murders.

On March 2, 2005, RCMP searched a Quonset hut on Roszko's property
that contained a grow op linked to both Roszko and Hennessey, who sold
Roszko's marijuana.

Roszko called Hennessey for help and Hennessey gave him a rifle and a
ride to the property, so Roszko could carry out his stated plan to
burn down the Quonset.

"There was clearly an element of self-interest in Mr. Hennessey's
actions, which were all directed at distancing himself from anything
that could link him to Roszko and the marijuana grow op," Macklin said.

Hennessey knew that armed conflict with the police was a real
possibility, Macklin said.

Out of self-interest, Hennessey also got his brother-in-law Cheeseman
involved, Macklin said.

Cheeseman is less blameworthy because he did little more than ride
along in the car when Hennessey drove Roszko to his farm, Macklin said.

"His actions put him in a position more similar to that of a
bystander."

Still, Cheeseman knew of the plan to burn down the Quonset. "While
acting in what he may have believed to be a noble cause of assisting
his friend and brother-in-law avoiding possible criminal prosecution,
his actions were clearly intended to obstruct a legitimate RCMP
investigation and subvert justice," Macklin said.

As the night unfolded, Cheeseman came to realize that Roszko presented
a grave threat to the police, so much so that he talked about warning
the police with a phone call, though Hennessey persuaded him not to.

A phone call to the police at that time, hours before the murders,
would have allowed the police to properly handle the situation,
Macklin said. "The RCMP officers would undoubtedly have taken a
different approach to securing the Quonset and their own safety."

The two men let down themselves and their families, the four RCMP
officers and their families, their communities and the country,
Macklin said.

The Crown had suggested Hennessey and Cheeseman should receive
sentences of 10 to 15 years. Hennessey's lawyer had argued for five
years, less two years for time served and his onerous bail conditions.
Cheeseman's lawyer had suggested his client should get the minimum
sentence for manslaughter with a firearm, which is four years less
time served.

Reaction

Admissions Were Made Under Duress: Aunt

Public Not Hearing Whole Story, Woman Says

The admissions of guilt Dennis Cheeseman made in an undercover RCMP
operation are not true, says Shawn Hennessey's aunt, acting as
spokeswoman for both men's families.

Cheeseman only made his admissions because he feared for his life,
Criss Hennessey said.

He told police operatives, who were posing as organized crime bosses
intent on recruiting him for their gang, that he and Hennessey knew
Roszko was going to kill the Mounties when they dropped him off at his
farm on March 3, 2005.

The public has been swayed against Cheeseman and Hennessey because of
that admission, Criss said, but people should understand that
Cheeseman was under duress when he said those things.

On three occasions, Cheeseman asked officers posing as gang members if
they intended to "whack" him, she said. "Why isn't that out there for
people to know?"

Undercover agents from the RCMP's "Operation Kourage" were in court
Friday, and their presence upset the families of the two convicted
men.

"You cannot print what I think about those people," Criss Hennessey
said, adding that the RCMP tactics were "horrible."

"There was a whole row of all the Mr. Big operatives sitting there (in
court), Mr. Big himself, the girlfriend, the guy who made all this up,
all sitting in a row, laughing."

Crown prosecutor Dave Labrenz said senior prosecutors advised the RCMP
on the undercover operation and had no problem with its legality.
"It's a very useful technique. It's a very personal technique that
captures truth.

"In this case, it captured the truth. These men pleaded
guilty."

The RCMP have used so-called Mr. Big stings across Canada for many
years, said RCMP deputy commissioner Rod Knecht, commanding officer of
K Division.

"It has been challenged in jurisdictions across Canada and right up to
the Supreme Court of Canada. It's been found to be constitutionally
sound. We shouldn't forget that the Mr. Big scenario was only a small
portion the entire investigation," Knecht said.

"Investigators used interrogations, interviews, physical surveillance,
technical surveillance, search warrants, witness testimony, crime
scene analysis, physical evidence was seized," Knecht said.

Indeed, before Cheeseman confessed in the Mr. Big operation, he
confessed to his own boss at work, Brad McNish.

But the Hennessey and Cheeseman families are convinced the public has
yet to hear the full story.

The only reason Hennessey helped Roszko was because Roszko threatened
him with a rifle on the night before the murders, said Shawn's father,
Barry Hennessey.

"The gun was in Shawn's face. He said, 'I want your grandfather's
gun!' " Out of fear, Shawn Hennessey asked his brother-in-law
Cheeseman to help, Barry Hennessey said.

As far as the two young men knew, Roszko wanted the gun to help him
burn down the Quonset, which housed a marijuana grow op. The plan was
for Roszko to shoot holes in a fuel tank, then ignite the gas and burn
down the Quonset.

"These boys had nothing to do with murder," Barry Hennessey said.
"These guys didn't have a clue what Jim Roszko was going to do. If
they knew, they wouldn't have let it happen."

He said his son and Cheeseman decided to plead out on the advice of
their lawyers.

The two men feared facing first degree murder convictions and life
sentences if they went to trial, and partly because they felt it was
the right thing to do, Criss Hennessey said.

"There is a part that says we have to take responsibility for whatever
role we played, and they are man enough to do that."

The family has already spent as much as $80,000 on legal fees, Criss
Hennessey said, and could not pay lawyers for a 10-week trial.

The Hennessey family is also unhappy with the agreed statement of
facts. In the statement, the two men say they knew Roszko was enraged
at the police and armed confrontation was likely. They also admit they
gave Roszko a gun and a ride to his farm, then decided not to warn the
police.

Justice Eric Macklin said Hennessey offered assistance out of
self-interest to help Roszko burn down the marijuana grow op, which
was linked to both Roszko and Hennessey.

But Criss Hennessey said that is simply the judge's opinion. In fact,
she said, her nephew acted out of fear. "This was not Shawn's idea to
go do this. If Roszko had not shown up on his doorstep, Shawn would
have gone to be like a normal night."

The two young men didn't call the RCMP to warn them because they didn't
want to cross Roszko, who had a history of following through on
threats against those who crossed him, Criss Hennessey said.

She wished the two young men had warned the police, but said, "I was
not in their position, and it's very easy to judge if you're not in
that position."

As for Cheeseman's earlier confession to his boss, she said he took
all the responsibility for helping Roszko to help Hennessey.

"He felt if he could make himself look worse, which is what these
confessions were, they would probably leave Shawn alone."

Criss Hennessey said she's going to devote herself to making people
understand Hennessey and Cheeseman's predicament that night.

"It's my new mission to make sure this whole story is heard, not just
what makes these guys look bad, but to make people understand where
their heads were at, and the fear that they had."