Sept. 28 (UPI) — Two male teenagers confessed to killing three people in Canada and planned more slayings before their suicides during a nationwide manhunt, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
In August, Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, both from Port Alberni, British Columbia, were charged in the death of Len Dyck, 65, of Vancouver, in Fort Nelson, and suspected in the deaths of Australian Lucas Fowler, 23, and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese, 24, near Dease Lake.
The homicides were about 546 miles apart. The suspects’ bodies were found near Gillam, Manitoba, more than 2,000 miles from northern British Columbia.
The B.C. North District released a summary of its findings Friday, including descriptions of six videos.
During a news conference in Surrey, the RCMP said the two men confessed to the deaths during a video recording.
“There was no indication that these were planned or predicted, “Kevin Hackett, B.C. RCMP assistant commissioner, said at the news conference.
He called the killings crimes of opportunity without a known motive.
On July 15, Fowler and Deese were found dead near Highway 97, south of the Liard River Hot Springs in British Columbia.
Two days later the Dease Lake RCMP responded to a vehicle fire on Highway 37, registered with McLeod. On July 19, a body later identified as Dyck was found and police learned the suspects had taken the victim’s car. They burned McLeod’s truck to destroy evidence, police said.
Authorities recovered six videos, which authorities don’t plan to release.
During a 58-second video in which the suspects were “cold” and “remorseless,” teens took responsibility for the three murders and said they planned to march to Hudson’s Bay and hijack a boat to Africa or Europe, police said.
In the third video, they said they wanted kill more people but they shaved their heads in preparation for their own deaths, which they expected would be within a week.
In the fourth video, they mention they were going to shoot themselves.
A 6-second fifth video appeared to be recorded by accident.
In the sixth video, which they described as their “last will and testament,” they said they wanted to be cremated.
Their bodies were found Aug. 7, near a river in rural Manitoba, about 5 miles from where they left the stolen and burned-out vehicle. Nearby were two rifles police believe the men used in all three homicides and their own suicides.
