The Edmonton Sun has received a 5 page, handwritten letter that appears to be from Curtis Dagenais, Postmarked last Friday from Shell Lake, SK.,t he contents include the kind of details that indicate it’s unlikely to be a hoax;
The letter writer recalls the dispute, saying he wanted to remove some “so-called family of mine” from his home.
The writer said he and his mother Elsie own the property, “not my sister (Grace) who I wanted removed … because she has told me things to mislead me, to give herself more time to screw me over as to division of family property due to the divorce of (my parents.)”
The writer complains Mounties wouldn’t help him remove his sister from the home, not because “it was family,” as Mounties allegedly told him, but because of a pending civil lawsuit of his against Mounties over alleged “obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.”
A Mountie spokesman yesterday couldn’t confirm the suit.
Cameron and Bourdages arrived at the house, while the letter writer waited outside in his truck.
“Cameron said I was under arrest for assault and assault with a weapon, I couldn’t believe it. I had a screaming match with my sister, but never touched her.
“When I (earlier) backed away (out of the yard) with my pickup, I didn’t realize my steering was turned the wrong way and crowded Grace a bit. But Elsie and Grace can wrap any RCMP around their finger.”
The writer said he was so startled at being under arrest he fled because he felt that was “within my rights.”
Shell Lake is 30 miles from the crime scene, which indicates that Dagenais either remained in the area after eluding police, or had someone drop the letter at the post office box there on his behalf.
In a related development, the Globe & Mail is reporting that an hour passed before an ambulance was called.
Garry St. Onge, who runs Spiritwood’s ambulance service, said paramedics received the call at 10:24 that night to respond to two officers down near Mildred.
“It shouldn’t have taken any longer than seven minutes [to get there],” he said.
Paramedics were told to head to the village of Mildred, just 12 kilometres to the east, where they met with RCMP officers who escorted them another 15 kilometres to the scene of the shooting, which is a rural area surrounded by swamps, grain fields and forests.
The officers were then transported to Spiritwood, where their condition was stabilized, before being driven by ambulance to hospital in Saskatoon, Mr. St. Onge said.
He said the incident has been particularly hard on his staff, who work shoulder-to-shoulder with the RCMP in the community and knew the officers involved.
“First there was Mayerthorpe, now this,” he added. “Every community has someone on the edge, someone who is a bit strange.”
Sergeant Brian Jones, who is dealing with all media inquiries, did not return repeated phone calls yesterday. He has previously said that the RCMP won’t release details about what happened on July 7 until after the officers’ regimental funerals.
UPDATE The husband of Curtis Dagenais’ sister confirmed this morning that details appear in the letter that only someone at the scene could have knowledge of.
He also related information that the three officers had stopped Dagenais in his truck to speak with him, the two female constables at the driver’s side, and Marc Bourdages at the passenger’s side. They had parked their cruisers at the front and back of his truck, but did not corral it sufficiently to prevent escape. He was able to back up/go forward until free and at that point, the chase ensued.
A news conference is to be held momentarily. Listen live on John Gormley Live (where the above details were revealed)
UPDATE: As has been widely reported by now, Dagenais walked into the Spiritwood detachment of the RCMP this afternoon and surrendered peacefully.
Sounds as if Mr Dagenais would fit in well with Hamas……….all his problems are ‘obviously’ someone else’s fault.
He can say whatever he likes but the truth is he had no right to do what he did. He ran from the police and that will always cause problems. Police officers do not just drive around shooting at people and causing problems. This man lost his temper and is refusing to take responsibility for his actions. I’m sure not everything in the family dispute is his fault, but you must listen to the police when they show up.
How many other Canadians are wandering around out there thinking they’re “within their rights” to flee from the police and shoot at police who are trying to arrest them? A lot I’d wager. Vote Liberal.
So, let’s get this straight. Curtis hightails it into the bush, taking along with him 1) a notebook [see pic in the Sun], 2) a pen, 3) an envelope and 4) a stamp. A well-prepared traveller.
No police officer is safe until this guy is caught. Please keep in mind this is not TV folks. These officers are human. The amazing abilities of the FBI and CIA that we think we all understand is Hollywood. Unplug your I-pods and open your eyes. Your neighbour the cop is just a person like you and me. There are no superscanners to detect people in bushes or houses. There are people gathering enough courage to go search this nut out. The next time you get caught speeding, keep that in mind. They didn’t come looking for you, you drove too fast. When these people go stomping through this area to try and find Mr. Dagenais they’re just putting on their gear and walking in to the trees. It’s no less dark, and scarey for them than it would be for you and I.
As suspected, Dagenais is still among the living. And despite the “i feel terrible ” comment, he shows no real sign of regret for taking two officers lives. As expected, he blames everyone but himself for the events of the past week. What is sickening is that he will NEVER understand or care to understand how much pain he has caused for so many people. My guess is that now that he has taken the time to write and send a letter defending his actions, and the Edmonton Sun has published it for all to see (good move by the way), I predict he will turn himself in by weeks end. He likely feels he has explained himself and perhaps the justice system will go easy on him. Let us pray that is not the case and this man will spend the rest of his life in a small, cold prison cell.
He just DID turn himself in. Source from a news conference from Spiritwood via CKOM moments ago.
Just saw on CTV Newsnet , Dagenais turned himself in.
Now the Government can enact special legislation to lock the SOB up forever. Name the new law after his victims.
Hanging would be preferable, but we’re too “evolved” as a society.
Hey other Paul, did you even think about your comment before you wrote it? My bet is that a gun-totin’ RCMP hatin’ good ol’ boy from rural Saskatchewan is not ‘Liberal’. I don’t see what politics even have to do with this, unless you’re trolling.
Hey dmorris,
We have laws already. Two counts of murder and one of attempted. He’s no more likely to get out than Clifford Olsen. And, yes, we’ve evolved beyond vengance as a civilization. I would think we should all take some pride in that. You like Saudi Arabia? Or China?
Andy,
Clifford Olsen has been contributing to global warming just by breathing for the past 30 years. He’s taking up valuable prison space and costing the taxpayer a fortune. He should have been smoked years ago.
While Dagenais hasn’t been tried or convicted yet, if and when he is, he should be removed permanently.
And it’s not ‘vengance’ (whatever that is), it’s simply a very cost effective preventative measure.
Brian M.,
I don’t want this to get into a debate about capital punishment, which I oppose for all the usual reasons.
But, if my son or daughter had been killed by Olson (I had him as Olsen, for what it matters),I think I would like to have five minutes with him. I think I would like to rip his heart out. That’s vengance. As a Christian, I am moved to believe that there is something good – something from God – in all of us. It’s pretty much of a stretch to think that of Olson. He is the personification of evil. But, I wouldn’t, personally, kill him. Would you? Do you want civilization, as we know it and as we would like it to be, based on “cost effective preventive measures”? I think we can find a higher ground. Hard as it is. Even for Curtis Dagenais. Hard as it is.
As cost effectiveness goes, I would prefer seeing autonomous penal colonies à la Escape from New York. One time set-up, no guards!
Maple stump,
There are parts of Baffin Island (or whatever it’s called now) that would do the trick.
Andy
“But, I wouldn’t, personally, kill him. Would you?”
In Clifford Olsen’s case, yes, I would. And I’d sleep like a baby the same night.
Unwillingness to do the unpleasant acts in life doesn’t mean we’re any better than we were 50 years ago, we’re just less sure of our principles.
And no, I don’t want to turn this forum into a death penalty debate, I have my convictions, you have yours, as it should be. But I don’t want Mr. Dagenais paroled in 15 years on some legal sleight of hand, and it makes me sick to see the circus Cliff Olsen is performing in right now.
Every 2 years,for the rest of his life, he will have a parole hearing, and the families will have to re-live that horror over and over again.
It would be the mark of an “evolved” society that we spare the families of the 2 RCMP officers the same. Life should mean life.
penal colonies:
Ive pushed this idea for years though not recently.
no worries about ‘nimby’ or ‘escaping into the urban grid’. hard to do that when the closest village is 500 kms somewhere across the tundra.
why the %$$%# cant we build a friggin prison in the middle of friggin baffin island exclusively for the likes of olson, bernardo etc et friggin CETERA. no priviliges, no tv, beans and weiners, no reading material and the music is a choice between shania twain or alvin and the chipmunks.
the rule is every corrections staffer needs to do 4 or 6 month hitch once during their career to keep the place staffed.
brutal ??? TOO BAD !!! its IRRELEVANT !!! theyre never getting out !!! what difference does it make in ‘hardening’ their attitude towards society ??? thats liberalism talking !!!
Robert,
Shania Twain? How about Celine Dion!
dmorris,
Thank you for a civilized discussion. I take your point about victims having to endure the parole option every two years after a while. I don’t know how to avoid this in a society that holds redemption as a possibility. Life does mean life in our penal system, with some exceptions and some opportunities (Milgaard). This is a fact, in spite of the exceptions that emerge in the media from time to time. I’m happy to be part of that, even if it is painful.
Robert with degrees:
One of the scariest sites I’ve seen or felt in my life is an urban prison in Arlington VA, adjacent to Washington DC. It’s a 15 storey building occupying a city block in urban Arlington. It’s filled with young black men and you can hear the sound of the prison as you approach it. It’s also near the legal community in VA. There’s a steady stream of mothers, sisters, lovers etc., visiting. Moving these guys to Baffin Island would, I think, refocus these guys big time. Same goes for Canada. In other words, I agree with you!
Andy, Would I kill Clifford Olsen? If he took the life of my child? In a heartbeat.
I don’t want to entertain a discussion on the whole CP discussion either. It’s been done. But, with due respect to your Christian values, I do appreciate your stance on this one. However, I’m afraid I don’t subscribe to those values. I’m not necessarily an athiest but I guess I don’t consider human life (of the Clifford Olsen/Paul Bernardo variety) to be sacrosanct. If there truly is a hell, which I doubt, I would like to think that there would be some special dispensation for those who take matters into their own hands.
Also, I do agree that ‘life’ in a mosquito infested swamp in the middle of northern Canadian nowhere would be a good option.
Andy, sure hope you’re right about life being life. We in B.C. have another sterling gentleman called David Shearing, mass murderer, Johnson-Bentley family, same era as Olsen.
He’s due for release this fall also. Parole board officials in the past have said he shows no remorse, likely to re-offend. He killed five people, and raped and tortured 2 little girls before murdering them. Then burned the bodies.
And I’m very familiar with the Milgaard case, which does prove that we should not be too hasty in executing someone, unless there’s no doubt whatsoever of their guilt.
Perhaps we could enact a law providing “special”treatment for the psychopaths who kill, after all they think they’re special.
btw, thank you for your comments. We can agree to disagree on capital punishment.
Robert J, Baffin Island has always appealed to me for a prison site.
oh ya. the cliffie olson road show, courtesy the uber namby pamby liberal francis ‘the talking horse’ fox.
dagenais should be a real celebrity in jail having offed 2 cops in a single evening.
sad situation.
what to do what to do.
way in the back of my mind, (which resembles pristine wilderness, lots of variety and surprises eh, and a huge wealth of untapped riches that only I know about), there is the notion that a GREAT DEAL of the despicable acts visited upon we peace loving and freedom loving canucks is our own fault for too often hitting the liberals spot on our apparent ‘dart board’ approach to voting; theyve held power the majority of the time the last 50 +/- years, why is that ???
when are we going to finally discard this grossly naive and anachronistic inclination towards liberalism ???
yo, canada, GROW UP.
STOP catering to criminals of all stripes and geographic location.
since my BA BSc letters causes such dissention and hostility I have chosen to remove them from my handle in the interests of focussing on THE TOPICS AT HAND. the BA is in politics from McMaster in Hamilton 96 and the BSc is computer science Brock in St Catharines 85. I often tell people politics is much more predictable despite what one would initially expect.
shania twang is a FRAUD. she doesnt have a single titch of aboriginal blood in her; getting adopted or whatever by a status indian or whatever dont count. her whole career is a based on a lie.
and the next radio station that plays that tune about ‘brad pitt’ or whatever is gonna get their transmission tower downed by some strategically applied bolt cutters.
more goings on on baffin island:
see, its all an engineering problem.
you build the facility out of modular add-on sections linked to a central hub, say 7 or 8 ‘spokes’, adding to any ‘spoke’ as need changes.
one spoke for staff quarters and administration, one for kitchen, one for storage, one for barber, dentist, medic stuff, one spare and the rest for the inmates.
note the absence of exercise facilities. excercise for what? so they can bulk up and overpower the guards?
its real easy to expand and contract the size of the facility; to contract you merely shut off all power, heat and water to the first unneccesary pod and mothball it. to expand, you either open it up or have another one sent via boat and overland tractor, assembled from prefab parts with a couple hundred large bolts or whatever. keeping a small crane thing at the site just for this purpose.
there is nothing outside the facility but bleak empty landscape. all activities are video monitored with a feed to the southern centres via satellite so there is no hanky panky deals for guards getting cash and favours from inmates family members. its ALL on video.
and there is NOTHING for the inmates to do. absolutely nothing but mind numbing silence and unpainted concrete. and time spent bitching with paul bernardo and cliffie about how ‘unfair’ the legal system is.
no books, no tv, no radio except alvin and the chipmunks, no scenery to gaze at longingly except a polar bear in the distance once every 3 months; utterly NOTHING to do except get angrier and angrier at ‘the system’ and then *maybe* think to themselves, gee, maybe they shouldnta raped and murdered all those kids.
a perfect living hell on earth. a precursor what the Almighty has in store for them.
now, THAT could prove to be a REAL deterrent. be interesting to see.
buuuut instead the namby pambyists at liberal party headquarters just could bring themselves to support such a measure, eh?
more goings on on baffin island:
possible twin posting !! if so ignore !!
see, its all an engineering problem.
you build the facility out of modular add-on sections linked to a central hub, say 7 or 8 ‘spokes’, adding to any ‘spoke’ as need changes.
one spoke for staff quarters and administration, one for kitchen, one for storage, one for barber & dentist & medic stuff, one spare and the rest for the inmates.
note the absence of exercise facilities. excercise for what? so they can bulk up and overpower the guards?
its real easy to expand and contract the size of the facility; to contract you merely shut off all power, heat and water to the first unneccesary pod and mothball it. to expand, you either open it up or have another one sent via boat and overland tractor, assembled from prefab parts with a couple hundred large bolts or whatever. keeping a small crane thing at the site just for this purpose.
there is nothing outside the facility but bleak empty landscape. all activities are video monitored with a feed to the southern centres via satellite so there is no hanky panky deals for guards getting cash and favours from inmates family members. its ALL on video.
and there is NOTHING for the inmates to do. absolutely nothing but mind numbing silence and unpainted concrete. and time spent bitching with paul bernardo and cliffie about how ‘unfair’ the legal system is.
no books, no tv, no radio except alvin and the chipmunks, no scenery to gaze at longingly except a polar bear in the distance once every 3 months; utterly NOTHING to do except get angrier and angrier at ‘the system’ and then *maybe* think to themselves, gee, maybe they shouldnta raped and murdered all those kids.
a perfect living hell on earth. a precursor what the Almighty has in store for them.
now, THAT could prove to be a REAL deterrent. be interesting to see.
buuuut instead the namby pambyists at liberal party headquarters just could bring themselves to support such a measure, eh?
Rob
Do you get out much? 😉
jack:
actually Im out most of the time, dreaming up this stuff wherever I go. LOL !!!
in an ideal world, I could dictate the postings on my cell phone which rings my win xp system, activates speech recognition s/w which plops the posting into correct spot on the blog.
much better than txt msging
LOL !!!