the mr. big sting - alberta RCMP deaths › deadmonton 2005 › deadmonton › edmonton

Note: On August 18th, 2007 the National Post ran a story about the making of a documentary that takes a hard look at the Mr. Big sting technique.

On July 12th, 2007 CTV Edmonton reported the four first-degree murder charges brought against Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman came about as the result of an RCMP sting operation known as "Mr. Big."

The sting works like this: undercover officers convince a suspect that he is working his way up in a criminal organisation. After a period of time, the suspect is introduced to Mr. Big, the gang leader, whose confidence he has to gain by confessing to a major crime – such as the one police are investigating.

What follows is a transcript of the CTV story as broadcast on their 6:00 p.m. newscast. The reporter was Deborah Shiry.

Introduction

[A] source tells CTV News undercover agents targeted Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman in a sting that involved drugs and strip clubs, large amounts of money – even a private plane landing at the runway at Barrhead.

Story

A source close to the family says Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman were part of a type of RCMP undercover operation referred to as the "Mr. Big" sting.

The source says in December [2006] a woman called "Mary" approached Cheeseman at Sepallo where he worked saying her car had broken down.

The source describes the woman as attractive and flirty, said the two became close and within days Mary asked Cheeseman to meet her in Edmonton.

When Cheeseman arrived, he was told by a man called "Mark" that Mary had been called back to Saskatchewan.

The source says Mark befriended Cheeseman and later Hennessey, supplied them with drugs, alcohol and prostitutes, bought expensive clothes, and took the two on trips.

The source even says the agents staged crimes intended to include Cheeseman and Hennessey.

The source close to the family says that after nearly eight months of association with the undercover gang Cheeseman, who is often broke financially, quit his job at Sepallo after being offered a large amount of money to work for the organisation.

A source close to the family tells CTV News it was here at the airstrip in Barrhead where the undercover operation took a dramatic turn.

A pivotal player in the sting flew to this airfield, met Hennessey and Cheeseman on Friday and by the end of the weekend both men faced first-degree murder charges.

On Sunday, RCMP said undercover work played a part in the arrests but would not give any specifics.

Closing

Late this afternoon I asked RCMP about this alleged "Mr. Big" sting. They said we will have to wait for the court process.

Daryl McIntyre: And about this plane flying into Barrhead, is there any record of a flight?

Shiry: We checked the logs today and there were no entries for July the 6th. But I'm told by people at the landing strip that registering a flight is optional. So, even if there was one it might not have been recorded.

Other media outlets soon covered the Mr. Big sting angle.

On July 13th, CBC Edmonton's David Gerow filed a story that covered the sting and touched on some of the controversy surrounding the police investigative tactic. The CBC News At Six report can be viewed online.

During an interview with 630 CHED's Byron Christopher on the Corus radio network's Roy Green show on July 14th, Christopher suggested that more information about the alleged sting operation may come out at a bail hearing when the Crown has to argue why the two men charged should remain in custody.

At that time the Crown would have to give specific detail was to why it was felt Cheeseman and Hennessey "were a menace to society," as the crime reporter put it.

Also on July 14th, an extensive article written by David Staples was published in the Edmonton Journal. Staples' report identifies the source of the information that suggested how the sting was possibly used. Also offered are opinions of its effectiveness from those working in the legal community.

Note: On August 18th, 2007 the National Post ran a story about the making of a documentary that takes a hard look at the Mr. Big sting technique.

Massacre suspects 'set up'

RCMP sting behind twist in Roszko case, aunt believes

By David Staples, The Edmonton Journal

One day last fall, Dennis Cheeseman left his job at the food supplement factory outside Barrhead and came upon a pretty young woman on the highway, whose car was broken down.

"Dennis is so helpful he will drop whatever he is doing and go out and help," says his aunt, Marian Power.

Cheeseman, 23, didn't realize it, but the damsel in distress was likely a ruse, Power now suspects.

She thinks that for the next eight months he was the target of a controversial but conviction-winning police investigative technique known as the Mr. Big scenario.

The Grade 10 dropout was drawn into a make-believe world of girls, drugs and money that ended with him and brother-in-law Shawn Hennessey, 28, being charged with murder for helping James Roszko kill four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe on March 3, 2005, Power alleges.

"We think the fellows were set up. ... It's just too bad if that's what the police are trying to do."

The woman with the broken-down car was named Mary. She and Cheeseman started to date. Power heard good things about Mary from other family members, who found her friendly, well-mannered and pretty.

"I heard that it was about time that Dennis got a girlfriend because Dennis is very naive. He's led a pretty sheltered life," Power says.

He travelled constantly to Edmonton to see Mary. Two or three months into their relationship, she took him to a party. When they arrived, she said she had to go, but left him with a friend, Mike.

Mike introduced Cheeseman to a world of fancy clothes, lots of money and drugs, Power says -- but not prostitutes, as has been rumoured in some media reports.

Soon he was travelling constantly with Mike to B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Power says she started to think things looked suspicious.

She knew the RCMP had investigated her nephew over the Roszko killings. She wondered if Mary, Mike and all of Cheeseman's new friends might be police agents.

"It was just kind of funny that all of a sudden he had this guy who wanted to hang out with him all the time," Power says.

"I know how the police work to set somebody up, and I thought, 'Well, maybe.' But the guys had nothing to hide."

It was then, Powers suspects, that the RCMP employed the Mr. Big Scenario on Cheeseman.

The Mr. Big Scenario is a proven technique, much used by the RCMP since the late 1980s, when it was developed by Sgt. Al Haslett of Kelowna, B.C.

It's usually tried in cold cases, where the police have a suspect they believe isn't telling the whole truth.

Suddenly, new people show up in the suspect's life, become friends with him or her and then proclaim themselves to be criminals.

In time, these friends invite the suspect to join their criminal organization. Sometimes he's told he can make lots of money if he joins, but first he must be approved by the group's leader, Mr. Big.

Linda Fischer, a B.C. woman whose son was found guilty of murder after a Mr. Big sting, is critical of this type of operation.

"They kind of like to brainwash them to make them believe that Mr. Big knows all, and you can't hide from Mr. Big, and if Mr. Big believes you're lying to him your life is in danger, you're probably going to disappear."

At the meeting with Mr. Big, the suspect is told that because he knows about the gang's criminal actions the members need information they can use to prevent him from betraying them. It is then that targets often confess.

The technique is controversial because critics argue the confessions aren't always true, but sometimes occur when the suspect hopes for a reward or wants to look important.

Power believes her nephew Dennis might have fallen for such a scenario.

"You know how young guys brag and exaggerate, well, I think this is what happened in this situation. Because Dennis is the kind of guy, he only wanted to belong. I can see him stretching the truth a little bit. He is so naive."

Fischer has talked with the Hennessey family about this police technique.

She says it's not yet known if Cheeseman was involved in such a scenario, but feels the story has all the hallmarks of this type of work.

The RCMP refuse to comment on the concern of Hennessey and Cheeseman families, but Cpl. Wayne Oakes has said in a news release that the 28-month investigation included "a lengthy undercover operation."

No witness or piece of evidence was overlooked, Oakes said, adding that "all aspects of the investigation are carefully monitored to ensure the highest degrees of investigational standards are maintained."

Police use the Mr. Big Scenario because it can lead to confessions and convictions in difficult, unsolved murder cases, says defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky, a member of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

But Brodsky says these confessions aren't always true. The problem comes from offering someone a reward, such as money or a new car, which they can receive for telling a lie they don't think anyone will find out about.

If that lie involves admitting committing a crime they actually didn't do, some people will still do it.

But suspects end up charged and, in almost all cases, juries convict them, believing no one would falsely confess to a murder, Brodsky says.

Research shows that in 17 per cent of American wrongful conviction cases, part of the evidence against the accused was an untrue confession, Brodsky says.

For this reason, the Mr. Big scenario has problems, he says. "It's bad because you can't tell if you've got the real guy or not."

Before these confessions are allowed to become evidence, Brodsky says a hearing should be held to determine how solid the confession is, and whether it includes information only the real killer could know.

Canadian courts have allowed this kind of confession into evidence hundreds of times, ruling these scenarios aren't a dirty trick and wouldn't offend the public.

Haslett says police take proper care.

"We have checks and balances in place to monitor this and make sure we don't get false confessions," Haslett says.

"I've been doing this since the early 1990s extensively and I can tell you ... there have been no false confessions from anywhere in British Columbia. We get a confession that we think is bogus or false, we pursue it and we follow through to show that it is false, and we address it with the individual."

If, in fact, this scenario was used with Cheeseman, his relatives have no cause to be fearful, Haslett says. "They should be happy because they probably got the truth."

Power has heard that Cheeseman is on suicide watch at the Edmonton Remand Centre.

On Friday, he was visited by his sister Christine, who is Hennessey's wife.

"Dennis probably blames himself," Power says. "When he gets down and out, he gets very withdrawn."

Copyright © 2007 The Edmonton Journal

Return to main Alberta RCMP Deaths page.

deadmonton 2005 - alberta RCMP deaths - the mr. big sting