AMID GRIEF, A NEED FOR ANSWERS

Murder Case Still `Full Of Mysteries'
Family Holds Funeral For Roszko

EDMONTON--Basking in late winter sunshine to watch the televised
memorial service for four slain RCMP officers, Chris Karapanos was
struck by how needless their deaths were.

"They didn't have to be there," Karapanos, 38, said of the farm near
Mayerthorpe, 130 kilometres northwest of here, where last week the
quartet was shot by a lone gunman who then took his own life. "These
guys died guarding a few pot plants and some car parts.

"What a complete waste."

Karapanos, an auto mechanic, said he came to the memorial service at
the University of Alberta's Butterdome yesterday out of respect for
the fallen officers. Unable to get inside, he stood with dozens of
others on the sidewalk and watched it on a big screen.

Like other mourners, Karapanos has many unanswered questions. Why, he
wonders, would four young officers be left on the property of their
eventual killer, James Roszko, a man with a history of guns and
violence and a hatred for the RCMP?

"They could have just waited it out," Karapanos said. "What was the
rush? They knew this guy was heavily armed and dangerous and psychotic."

Betty Mardiros, 82, said the case remains "full of mysteries,"
especially how the four Mounties, who were keeping an eye on the
marijuana and what they thought were stolen truck parts until
auto-theft officers arrived from Edmonton, could have been ambushed.

"It seems to be very odd to send four young, inexperienced officers
into that situation," Mardiros said as she watched a procession of
uniformed police officers file into the memorial.

"They seemed to be taking his background very lightly."

The killings are part of an RCMP investigation and will be the subject
of an inquiry announced this week by the Alberta government.

"These deaths seem very unnecessary so I think it's important we look
into what happened," said James Lambert, 19, a political science
student at the U of A. "But I hope we don't get into those contentious
issues and start pointing fingers and laying blame until these
officers have been fully mourned."

A funeral for Const. Peter Schiemann, 25, was held Tuesday. Funerals
for Constables Leo Johnston, 32, and Anthony Gordon, 28, will be held
today and one for Const. Brock Myrol, 29, is set for tomorrow.

"I'm astounded that the RCMP should have allowed themselves to be
victims," said lawyer Guy Fontaine, who represented Roszko on a
variety of charges and disputes between the mid-1970s and early 1990s.

Saying he's "appalled and troubled" by the loss of life inflicted by
his former client, Fontaine said he wasn't surprised Roszko resorted
to violence, and the RCMP shouldn't be either.

"They were so imbued with knowledge about this man's propensity for
violence that they should have simply read the script."

RCMP officials, irritated by second-guessing of their actions, have
said every precaution was taken, and the officers were well trained.

"They were prepared," said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes. "Obviously, somebody
in the initial stages felt that appropriate measures were taken."

In stark contrast to the Edmonton memorial, some of Roszko's relatives
held a small, private funeral at a Mayerthorpe funeral home yesterday.

Baptist Pastor Ed Broadway said he tried to bring comfort to Roszko's
family during the service, which included an eulogy by one of Roszko's
sisters.

Roszko's father, William, did not attend, and wanted no part of any
remembrance for a son he has called a "wicked devil."

"I'd be making a bad sin to have anything to do with it (a funeral),"
Roszko, 80, told Canadian Press. "Maybe he'll be cremated and the
ashes thrown out."