For the past three weeks, teenagers Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky have been the most wanted fugitives in Canada after being suspected of killing three people: Lucas Fowler, Chynna Deese and Leonard Dyck.
They were found dead last Thursday by Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a remote region of far-north Canada.
Now, Bryer Schmegelsky’s father, Alan Schmegelsky, is defending his son in the wake of his death.
Speaking with 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Alan told reporter Sarah Abo: “I’m not going to say my son is a murderer until I get some facts”.
“You want me to sit here and tell you that my son positively murdered your co-citizen? Because I won’t… I can’t do it.”
Watch the trailer for Alan Schmegelsky’s interview with 60 minutes below. Post continues after video.
“You may think he’s a monster but he’s my son, he’s my Bryer,” he said. “I didn’t meet that monster… that’s not who I know.”
Alan recalled the moment he discovered his son was in trouble, one Monday morning.
“I was reading the news and there was my kid’s picture on the front cover of the Vancouver Sun, missing. That’s how I found out.”
The last Alan had heard, Bryer was going on a road trip to Alberta, a province in Western Canada. When the teenagers’ status changed from potential victims to suspected murderers, Alan remembered his “heart just sank”.
“I said to myself there’s a mistake, there’s got to be a mistake.”
Canada-wide warrants had been issued for McLeod, 19, and Schmegelsky, 18, after Canadian authorities officially charged the pair with second-degree murder of Vancouver man Leonard Dyck, whose body was discovered near their burned out car in northern British Columbia on July 19.
They were also suspected of killing Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese, 24, who were found shot to death near their broken down van on July 15, along the Alaska Highway in northern British Columbia.
What exactly motivated his son to allegedly go on a killing spree, Alan isn't sure. But when Bryer was 17-years-old, Alan bought him an air soft gun to play with his friends.
"It was getting him out in the woods with his buddies, it was getting him outside. I can’t second guess, I’m not going to say it’s my fault, I’m not going to do that."
He emphasised that he never bought his son a real gun that was capable of killing a person.
Alan did admit, however, that his son "could have had a better upbringing".
"He’s been angry since his mother moved away with him when he was five years old. He had a lot of time with very little attention given to him and I know that," he said.
Bryer lived with his grandmother after his parents' split, however Alan believes "He was raised by YouTube and video games".
"It doesn’t just happen," Alan said of his son's accused crimes. "Something led up to it. And the fact is nobody knows what happened out there."
Alan further emphasised that although Bryer will remembered as a killer, he's still going through the pain of losing a son.
"It hurts a lot. He was my only child, I'll never get to hug him again, never get to tease him again, never get to spend time with him again."
Top Comments
Watching this was hard. Of course he doesn’t want to think of his son as a murderer, no parent would but you could see him realising it was what he was. It’s a hard situation for both the families of the victims and the families of the perpetrators. They’ve all lost.
Maybe the media could practise some ethics and stop interviewing this emotional man for his clearly biased views. In the end it doesn’t matter whether he believes his son was a murderer, and it’s just hurting the victims families.