The Mayerthorpe Story

by Robert Knuckle

  On June 17, 1993, Roszko, in turn, initiated a civil suit against Her Majesty the Queen and this same RCMP officer for “abuse of public office, false imprisonment, detention, and malicious prosecution.” Roszko’s lawsuit was dismissed on May 16, 2000, because he did not take the required legal steps to pursue the civil action.

  On September 28, 1993, he was charged with one count of assault that was stayed when witnesses were mistakenly issued subpoenas for the wrong court date. The clerical error was only discovered when witnesses did not attend the court as expected.

  In September 1993, he was charged with one count of impersonating an officer when he identified himself as an RCMP officer while attempting to trace a phone call. Roszko was acquitted because an essential witness in the case failed to attend the proceedings.

  On December 1, 1993, James was charged with eight counts for a series of crimes allegedly committed between May 24, 1993, and December 1, 1993. These charges were based on a complaint by “Bradley,” a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the complainant. The convoluted series of events pertaining to these charges is a good illustration of Roszko’s bizarre homosexual relationship with a local boy.

  Bradley, who worked on Roszko’s farm, went on trip to the United States with him. They crossed the border illegally and drove to Utah, where Roszko purchased a Beretta 9mm handgun.

  During the return trip to Canada, Roszko repeatedly asked to see Bradley’s penis. When Bradley refused, Roszko pulled out the Beretta, loaded it, cocked the gun, and pointed it at Bradley’s head. This assault continued for several miles until Roszko was pulled over for speeding. At that time, Bradley made no complaint to the highway policeman.

  In early July 1993, Bradley claimed Roszko went to his home and pulled the gun on him again. At that time, Bradley testified that Roszko allegedly held him down on a bed and told him “he had a job to do,” which was interpreted by Bradley to mean that Roszko was going to kill him. Then a friend of Bradley’s came in and interrupted the assault. Bradley waited until his friend left then got a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Roszko in the jaw. Then Bradley took Roszko to the hospital

  In October 1993, while Bradley was helping James put a replacement bumper on Roszko’s truck, he reported that James offered him $10,000 to kill Roszko’s enemy, a guy named “Conrad.” Roszko made this offer twice. For this murder, James suggested Bradley use Roszko’s rifle and he would supply Bradley with an alibi. Bradley refused these offers.

  On December 1, 1993 during a chance meeting between the two men at Whitecourt, Roszko persisted in trying to speak to Bradley, who did not want to talk to him. However, after lengthy persuasion, Bradley agreed to come out to Roszko’s farm to inspect one of James’s vehicles. When Bradley arrived at the farm, Roszko told him he needed to drive out into the fields to check on his cattle. But he returned brandishing a shotgun and produced a set of handcuffs that he told Bradley to put on. When Roszko loaded the shotgun and began working the action it frightened Bradley and he complied with Roszko’s demands.

  Then a conversation ensued where James made it clear he was angry with Bradley because he had been avoiding him for the past month. James wanted to know what Bradley had been telling people about their relationship. When Bradley denied saying anything to anybody, Roszko hit him in the face. After a long and heated argument, Roszko released Bradley from the cuffs so they could have a fair fight.

  When the fight was over, Roszko took Bradley to his house and said he still didn’t trust him. James said he “needed something” to keep him from talking. So Roszko decided to use a camera timer and take pictures of the two of them engaged in a sex act, which he could use to prevent Bradley from talking. Bradley then performed oral sex on Roszko. However, Bradley was prepared to testify that he had agreed to the oral sex and the pornographic photos.

  The trial commenced on June 3 in Queen’s Bench at Edmonton before a judge and jury. But, as the Crown had anticipated, Bradley did not attend court to testify.

  One week before the trial, Bradley fled to British Columbia. The Crown had a witness warrant issued and Bradley was arrested and brought back to Edmonton. Bradley tried to convince the Crown that the information he had provided to the police was all a misunderstanding.

  Bradley was released from the Edmonton Remand Centre and scheduled to testify the next day. But as expected, he fled the scene again. Consequently, a mistrial was declared and a warrant was issued for Bradley’s arrest.

  While that case illustrates the frustration the Crown experienced in attempting to prosecute Roszko, the following matter demonstrates the serpentine procedures Roszko would follow to avoid paying a minor speeding ticket.

  The trial for Roszko’s speeding ticket commenced on March 11, 1994. After requesting numerous adjournments, Roszko was forced to come to trial on November 24, 1994. Although he applied for yet another adjournment, he was denied. When he was convicted at trial, he appealed. A new trial was granted on the basis that the judge erred in not granting Roszko’s recent adjournment request.

  The retrial for the speeding ticket took place on October 10, 1996, at which time James was found guilty. He appealed that verdict but was unsuccessful and had to pay the fine.

  But he had kept the matter before the courts for nineteen months before this relatively minor issue was resolved.

  In March 1994, he was charged with one count of breaching a condition of recognizance, for which he was acquitted, and two counts of obstructing justice, which were discharged.

  Up to this date, by using one stratagem or another, Roszko had gotten off lightly for his crimes.

  But on March 29, 1994, he was about to meet his Waterloo.

  On that date, a trial commenced wherein he was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching.

  Evidence presented during the trial revealed that from January 1983 until December 1989, Roszko had sexually assaulted “Edward” on multiple occasions. These assaults began when the victim was eleven years old and James Roszko was thirty.

  The assaults included Roszko having Edward fondle James’s penis as well as Roszko masturbating the victim. These acts took place approximately once a week and progressed in intensity until Roszko began performing fellatio on the victim. On one occasion the accused attempted anal intercourse with the victim but failed because Edward resisted.

  The victim did not report these sexual assaults to the police until March 26, 1994, when he was twenty-two years old.

  The trial commenced on Sept. 28, 1995, and resulted in James being convicted and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary.

  But Roszko successfully appealed that trial and a new trial began on April 12, 2000, where he was found guilty again, but received a lesser sentence of two and a half years in prison. He then appealed that conviction but his appeal was dismissed.

  Although his nominal two-and-a-half-year sentence did not seem to fit his horrible crimes, at least Roszko’s sexual deviance had finally been exposed. And the community had the satisfaction of knowing he would be kept off the streets for a couple of years.

  However, even during the years that these trials were taking place, Roszko continued to commit other crimes. On January 1, 1995, he was charged with assaulting Edward with pepper spray, possession of a prohibited weapon (the pepper spray), causing a disturbance, and one count of breach of recognizance. This all came about at a New Year’s Eve party while Roszko was out on appeal for his sexual assault charges. James went looking for Edward, found him in a bar, and sprayed him in the face.

  This charge resulted in a stay of proceedings because Edward told the police he would not attend court and testify against the accused.

  In April 1999, Roszko was charged for applying for a second social insurance number. He was acquitted on the grounds that the Crown did not prove James was the actual person who had signed the illicit application.

  In September 1999, while Roszko was awaiting his second trial for the sex crimes, he was charg
ed with aggravated assault on “Gregory,” plus assault with a weapon on Gregory, and assault with a weapon on “Harold,” and pointing a firearm at Gregory and Harold.

  In this matter, these two boys had gone to Roszko’s farm to vandalize his property. Roszko was awakened by his dogs’ barking and by an alarm sounding on his Quonset hut. He grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and went out and caught Harold near his barn. He tied Harold’s hands together and forced him to call out to Gregory to surrender.

  After Gregory gave himself up, Roszko threatened them with his shotgun and made them walk towards his house. On the way, he fired a warning shot in the air to frighten them and make them obey his orders.

  A second shot superficially hit Gregory on his face and his left arm. As a result of the injury, James offered to drive Gregory to the hospital. But when they all got into Roszko’s truck, it soon became evident that James wasn’t heading for the hospital. He was driving farther onto his own property.

  Alarmed by this, the two boys overpowered James and took his shotgun away. Then they gave Roszko a beating, threw him out of his truck, retrieved their own vehicle, and drove to the hospital.

  The results of the preliminary inquiry into this matter ordered Roszko to stand trial.

  But he was not convicted, because when the trial convened on Oct. 16, 2003, the Crown case was compromised by the fact that both Gregory and Harold had lied during the preliminary inquiry by testifying that they had gone on Roszko’s property to steal gas. In truth they went there to vandalize his property and break some of his windows. Consequently, their entire testimony was tainted, and the Crown’s case against Roszko was acquitted.

  The last charge registered against Roszko was dated December 29, 2004. It involved the two counts of mischief that Cpl. Jim Martin had charged against him for using a spike belt to damage the tires of the meter reader and the census taker who ventured onto his property. Roszko was scheduled to appear in court to face these charges on April 28, 2005.

  Some people in the Mayerthorpe area thought Roszko’s long and varied criminal career should have qualified him to be classified as a dangerous offender. And in fact, at the time of his conviction for the sexual crimes, Alberta Justice flagged his file for consideration as a potential dangerous offender.

  However, they concluded that proceeding with such an application against Roszko was not a possibility because his criminal history did not meet the Criminal Code of Canada criteria to support dangerous offender status.

  While Roszko was in the penitentiary, a psychiatric profile stated that he refused to accept responsibility for his crimes and was preoccupied with legal proceedings. Furthermore, it revealed that he spurned all attempts at treatment. This made him serve two-thirds of his sentence rather than his being released earlier on parole. Even after his release, he was sent back for refusing to accept treatment and for failing to co-operate with his parole officer.

  However, over and above Roszko’s lengthy record of criminal charges and his many court appearances, there are even more damaging rumours about his unlawful behaviour. In distinct and separate cases, three young men from the Whitecourt–Barrhead area who went to the police about James Roszko ended up dead. In each of these cases, the police had reason to suspect that Roszko might have been criminally involved.

  The most suspicious of the three cases involved a mixed-blood, bespectacled, teenager named Dale Mindus who lived in Whitecourt. After visiting Roszko’s farm and working with him there, Dale had become an “acquaintance” of Jimmy Roszko’s. However, several months later, when Dale attempted to sever his relationship with Jimmy, Roszko became very angry and began to stalk the young man.

  Although Mindus moved in with his sister Tracy and her husband, Cash MacMillan, in Whitecourt, Roszko kept pestering him and threatening the MacMillans at their house.

  Macmillan, at six feet two inches and 220 pounds, is a big, handsome, strong man who is built like a pro football linebacker. Over the years, he developed and maintained his great body shape by working on physically demanding jobs in the nearby oil fields.

  In an interview on CBC’s Fifth Estate, Cash MacMillan told the host, Linden MacIntyre: “He (Roszko) started appearing around our house, phoning the house. Somehow he had got our phone number. Dale was staying with us at the time.

  “He started coming around quite often, just parking in front of the house and making it apparent … just letting us know he’s here … ‘I’m here’ … ‘I’m always here,’ or whatever. He was trying to intimidate, I guess.

  “And the only one he really intimidated was Dale … and especially my wife. My wife was pregnant and he came … he started coming around more often when I wasn’t there. I was never there when he came.

  “When Dale wasn’t there, he came a few times, and then when Dale went to work … we were all gone … then he really started coming around and it was just Tracy there. So I don’t know if he was looking for Dale or if he was watching Tracy. I’m not sure.”

  Later in the interview, MacMillan told Linden MacIntyre: “Well, I started to worry about my family, because I thought when I’m there, there’s no problem. He’s not going to get past me. But when I’m away, I don’t know, I feared for my family. So that’s when I involved the RCMP, hoping they would take over and stop this.”

  The Mounties responded. They came over and asked Cash to tell them precisely what Roszko was doing.

  MacMillan told them Roszko was hanging around, parked either at the front of his house or in the back. The police told Cash that Roszko was parking on public property, and there was little they could do about it.

  Cash told Linden MacIntyre: “So then … he showed up in my backyard … looking at my wife as she was washing the dishes. She looked out the window and he was right there.”

  Linden MacIntyre: “In the yard?”

  Cash: “Yes … looking up into the kitchen window. So as soon as they made eye contact, he left, and she phoned me and she phoned the police. They would do nothing. They would have nothing to do with it.”

  Finally, in February 1998, Tracy called Cash in his shop at work and told him that Roszko was at the house again. It was around eleven-thirty a.m. She said she was vacuuming and looked out the window and he was out there. She said he was “freaking her out.”

  Cash left the shop immediately and headed home with Dale in Dale’s truck. When they arrived at the house, Roszko spotted them and took off in his truck.

  This time, Cash was determined to put an end to Roszko’s nonsense. He’d had enough of his pestering his wife and Dale, so he chased after him — at a very high rate of speed.

  As they roared through town, Roszko turned into an alley that runs behind some of the downtown restaurants. Cash stayed right with him and finally pushed his truck to the side and made him skid to a stop in front of a telephone pole.

  Then Cash ran over, pulled Roszko out of his truck, and dealt with him — as Linden Macintyre says — in “the old-fashioned way.” Cash pounded him into the ground.

  Predictably, Jimmy Roszko went to the police and laid assault charges against MacMillan. Cash welcomed the charges because he felt that Roszko had been harassing his wife and his brother-in-law far too long. Furthermore, Cash believed he had been provoked into dealing with Roszko physically. And Dale Mindus, who was there and saw the physical confrontation, would testify as a witness against Roszko.

  It appeared that all the parties involved looked forward to the case’s going to court.

  But prior to the trial, Dale Mindus received a phone call from Jimmy Roszko. Roszko asked him, “What are you going to say in court?”

  “The truth. I’m going to tell the truth.”

  “You’ll never live that long,” Roszko replied and hung up.

  Days later, Dale Mindus was found dead at the bottom of a stairwell in a basement apartment in Whitecourt. He had alcohol in his blood and died from a severe wound on his head. The cause of death was attributed to his falling down the stairs head first and s
mashing his head against a brick wall at the bottom of the staircase.

  The case looked suspicious to the Crown and the police but no charges were laid against anyone in the case. The authorities conceded that Jimmy Roszko had both the motive and the means to commit such a crime, but, without proof, they could do nothing.

  Linden MacIntyre, his producer, Scott Anderson, and a CBC crew went to the death scene and filmed it.

  Linden says, “It looked very suspicious to me. There were only six stairs, they were carpeted, and there was no brick wall at the bottom of them. And there was very little blood spatter at the scene.

  “The boy’s injuries were not consistent with the recorded explanation of his death which indicated that his head was bashed in. I think Dale Mindus was battered with a blunt object at some other place, dragged to that apartment, and dumped at the bottom of those stairs.”

  But the authorities maintain that there is absolutely no proof of this.

  To this day, Cash MacMillan, his wife, Tracy, and many other residents of the area are convinced that James Roszko had something to do with the murder of Dale Mindus.

  Whether or not this is true, the Mindus case in 1998, above all others, makes it patently clear that James Roszko’s capacity for violence, paranoia, and hatred of authority was immense.

  By all accounts, he truly was a disaster waiting to happen.

  3 | The Mounties

  TWO RCMP DETACHMENTS — one from Mayerthorpe, the other from Whitecourt — are integrally involved in James Roszko’s lethal assault on the police.

  The Mayerthorpe Detachment of nine members was under the command of Sgt. Brian Pinder. He was originally from Saskatchewan and was the longest-serving member in the precinct. Sergeant Pinder had previously worked at the Whitecourt Detachment, as well as other postings throughout Alberta.

  Corporal Jim Martin was second in command at Mayerthorpe, but a great deal of the Roszko incident involves him because Sgt. Pinder was on holiday leave when this tragedy first began. Martin had fifteen years’ experience with the RCMP in Alberta. After graduating from Depot in 1990, he served at Spruce Grove, west of Edmonton. Then, in 2001, when he was promoted to corporal, he was assigned to Mayerthorpe.