2 - alberta RCMP deaths › deadmonton 2005 › deadmonton › edmonton

With the official word from the RCMP now on the record, Edmonton media outlets ramped up their coverage of a story with nation-wide interest.

Almost encouraged by Cpl. Wayne Oakes to dig into the background of the story after the news conference concluded, reporters scrambled to see who could uncover what first.

What follows is a summary of the reporting of over a half dozen news crews working the story.

CTV Edmonton's Deborah Shiry answered Sandie Renaldo's questions on the network's national newscasts within hours of the news conference.

The CBC, drawing on information first aired in their Fifth Estate installment "A Hail of Bullets," reminded viewers that James Roszko and Shawn William Hennessey were in telephone contact immediately before the shootings. The episode can be viewed online.

The CBC also reported that Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman lived together, with Global Edmonton revealing Hennessey was married to Cheeseman's sister Christine and had two daughters.

Much of what the media soon reported came from voluminous court documents and search warrants, recently unsealed through legal application.

The arrests of Cheeseman and Hennessey suddenly put of lot of that information in focus, and the towns of Barrhead and Mayerthorpe were soon host to a horde of reporters.

Global Edmonton was the first to air footage from the town where the two men lived. Within a day those following the matter were bombarded with interviews of those close to the pair.

The Global station reported that Dennis Cheeseman worked at Sepallo Foods in Barrhead. His boss of three years described him as a "friendly, positive person."

"Dennis was a very good, steady, stable employee here," said Sepallo owner Brad McNish.

"He worked his way up over the years. He literally started at the entry level position and worked his way up and took on a position of more responsibility as a team leader in the plant."

"He was conscientious – he was well-liked by the people that he worked with here."

Cheeseman was not married and had no children.

Shawn Hennessey worked at Barrhead's Kal Tire automotive outlet for many years.

In 2005, when bailiffs first entered a Quonset hut on James Roszko's property, they found a vehicle "chop shop" in addition to a marijuana grow operation of 300 plants.

Barry Hennessey, Shawn's father, was interviewed by Global via telephone.

"We lost our son. The kids lost their Dad."

"You can't imagine what we're going through. We don't know anything more than you do."

The Edmonton Journal illustrated the emotional high point of the news conference in a story that occupied the top two-thirds of the front page of their July 9th edition.

The CanWest Mediaworks paper chose an alliterative headline not unlike those usually run by its tabloid rival, whose cover displayed a rather straightforward eye-catcher.

By the time CBC's The National carried the story, attention had focused to the families and their reaction.

Among the folk living in and around the towns of Barrhead and Mayerthorpe at the time of the tragedy, the names of Dennis Cheeseman and Shawn Hennessey were familiar ones. By the time they were arrested, talk of the two men on street corners and behind closed doors had long faded.

To residents, the RCMP investigation had become a dead issue. What they didn't know was that a one-year undercover operation was taking place right under their noses.

"I know how painful it has been."

"Especially for the families, for me and other officers of the force and the employees who work with us, and for all Canadians to have to wait 28 months to get to this point," RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes told nation-wide viewers of the CBC.

Despite the arrests, understanding that current point in time meant re-examining the past with a new focus and a closer examination of the relationship between James Roszko and the two men charged.

Witnesses said Hennessey and wife Christine were visiting this Barrhead home on the morning of Sunday, July 8th 2007 when RCMP turned out in force. Dennis Cheesemen normally lives in the basement.

Brittany Baker told CTV Edmonton what she heard.

"I'm in the house and all of a sudden I hear like super hardcore screaming like 'Get on the ground, get on the ground!' It kept going louder and louder."

About 20 officers entered the home, and occupants were told of Cheeseman's arrest in Sherwood Park the night before.

Search warrants showed that Roszko phoned Hennessey twice the afternoon before the shooting of the four Mounties, and Hennessey phoned back twice. Those same warrants suggested he sold marijuana for Roszko, something Hennessey had always denied.

The two men were also linked through a .300 Magnum rifle Roszko used to shoot the officers. The firearm was registered to John Hennessey, Shawn's grandfather, and was reported to have been stolen four months earlier.

CTV Edmonton reported the first-degree murder charges brought against Hennessey and Cheeseman came about as the result of an RCMP sting operation known as "Mr. Big" that involved "drugs and strip clubs, large amounts of money – even a private plane landing at the runway at Barrhead" » full details »

Return to main Alberta RCMP Deaths page.

deadmonton 2005 - alberta RCMP deaths - 2