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Suspected killer's father seeks video of son's 'last will and testament'

The father of one of the Port Alberni men suspected of killing three people in northern B.C. is fighting to get access to a video containing his son's "last will and testament.
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Alan Schmegelsky, father of Bryer Schmegelsky, poses in Mill Bay. Photograph by LAURA KANE

The father of one of the Port Alberni men suspected of killing three people in northern B.C. is fighting to get access to a video containing his son's "last will and testament."

The search for Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, spanned several provinces and lasted almost three weeks. The bodies of the two teens were found Aug. 7 in northern Manitoba. They died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

In an Aug. 21 email to Alan Schmegelsky's lawyer, the RCMP acknowledge the existence of a video in which Bryer Schmegelsky describes what he wants to happen to his body after his death.

The RCMP say the video has been released to Bryer Schmegelsky's mother as his next of kin, and they will not be sharing the video with his father.

The email also says police plan to release information about the video to media in the next couple of weeks, and ask that this information be kept private.

Alan Schmegelsky's lawyer, Sarah Leamon, said he wants access to the video in order to find closure after his son's death.

"Like any father, my client is just seeking to have access to his son's last will and testament so that he can get some final closure on the situation," Leamon said. "He's been unable to do that without access to the video."

Leamon said she is keeping all options open to obtain access to the video for Schmegelsky.

The RCMP did not respond to requests for comment.

Bryer Schmegelsky and McLeod were charged in the death of 64-year-old Leonard Dyck, whose body was found July 19 two kilometres from the pair's burned-out pickup truck near Dease Lake.

The pair are also suspects in the deaths of 24-year-old American Chynna Deese and 23-year-old Australian Lucas Fowler. The couple were found July 15 on the side of the Alaska Highway, near Liard Hot Springs. They had been shot and killed.

Schmegelsky and McLeod were initially considered missing, but RCMP later announced they were suspects in the three homicides.

The search for the two Port Alberni men spread from northern B.C. to Gillam, Man., where their bodies were found in dense brush on Aug. 7.

RCMP said the two had been dead for a number of days before their bodies were found, but the exact date of their deaths is not known. They were found about eight kilometres from a burned-out Toyota Rav4 belonging to Dyck.

Two firearms were found with the bodies, and a forensic analysis is underway to determine whether the weapons are connected with the three homicides.

regan-elliott@timescolonist.com

This article originally appeared here.