Heartfelt Facebook post by sister of Chynna Deese takes issue with behaviour of Bryer Schmegelsky's father

Heartfelt Facebook post by sister of Chynna Deese takes issue with behaviour of Bryer Schmegelsky's father
by Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, August 11th, 2019

Tourist couple Chynna Deese and Lucas Fowler's love story ended tragically on the Alaska Highway in mid-July.

The family of murdered American tourist Chynna Deese has forgiven the father of one of the Port Alberni teens who's her presumed killer.

The forgiveness came in a lengthy, heartfelt, and occasionally scathing Facebook post by Kennedy Deese.

(ROSE note: I am unable to find where she says she forgives him...?)

In it, she criticized Alan Schmegelsky for not acknowledging the role he played in his son Bryer's upbringing and ultimate demise.

Deese's statement came on the same weekend that Schmegelksy told 60 Minutes Australia he felt there was a "mistake" when police suggested that his son might have killed three people in northern B.C.

In the interview, Schmegelsky also claimed that he still needs proof before he'll believe that his now-dead teenager was a killer.

Bryer Schmegelsky and his best friend, Kam McLeod, fled authorities over four provinces before being found dead in the woods near Gillam, Manitoba.

Police have said there's evidence linking the former fugitives to the murders of Chynna Deese and her boyfriend, Lucas Fowler. The teens were charged with second-degree murder in the death of UBC botany instructor Len Dyck.

In her Facebook post, Deese maintained that Schmegelsky's sorrow is only for himself.

"You cannot relate to us, as we had no doings in the cause of your pain, when you've played a part in the cause of our pain," she wrote. "To the murderers and their family, the appropriate action when mistakes are made is taking responsibility. The proper public response would have been a genuine apology."

Some of Schmegelsky's comments in the 60 Minutes Australia broadcast were astonishing.

"These boys are smart, they're intelligent," Schmegelsky said after learning that his son and McLeod had made it to Manitoba. "Kudos, boys. Kudos. Kudos."

Schmegelsky also revealed in the broadcast that bought his son a $600 pellet gun last year. Then he defended the purchase.

"They're like machine guns,' Schmegelsky explained. "They've got a magazine and you can put upwards of 400 pellets in there."

He said that he believed the pellet gun would get his son into the woods with his buddies.

"I'm not going to second-guess. I'm not going to say it's my fault. I'm not going to do that."

Video: 60 Minutes Australia broadcast an exclusive interview with Alan Schmegelsky

Then Schmegelsky insisted that he did not provide a real gun.

"I never gave him a gun that would kill someone."

The 60 Minutes Australia program noted that Schmegelsky has experienced homelessness and mental-health issues. His mother moved away with Bryer when the son was five years old.

In her Facebook post, Deese pointed out that having "a dynamic upbringing and obstacles in life is not exclusive to anyone".

"There is no excuse for staying broken and refusing to heal," she wrote. ...