INDEPTH: RCMP
The suspect
Jim Roszko
CBC News Online | March 9, 2005
A wicked devil. That's how 80-year-old Bill Roszko described his son to reporters the day police identified 46-year-old Jim Roszko as the man responsible for Canada's deadliest police shooting in 120 years.
James Roszko is shown in this undated handout photo.(CP Photo/CTV)
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Bill Roszko said his son was on a dangerous path since he started experimenting with drugs and guns as a teenager. They lived in the same area but they hadn't spoken in nine years.
The Roszko family settled in the rural area 130 kilometres northwest of Edmonton about 100 years ago. The family name is common in the area.
Neighbours described Jim Roszko as a loner - a man who went out of his way to remain private. Roszko drifted apart from his parents, four brothers and three sisters. For the past 15 years, he lived in a trailer on 200 hectares of land northeast of Mayerthorpe.
He rented out some of his land to local cattle farmers.
A neighbour told CBC News that Roszko had a reputation and people generally stayed out of his way.
"He never wanted anybody to come on his land," Dianne Romeo said. "He had two really mean dogs. So nobody really bothered him much there."
Romeo said Roszko had several run-ins with the RCMP.
Roszko racked up a string of charges dating back nearly 30 years. Court and parole documents give details of his criminal past, which included pointing a loaded handgun at a young man he had lured into his house and demanding sex, as well as using alcohol and money in attempts to befriend young people.
The trail started in February 1976, when Roszko faced charges including break and enter, and possession of stolen property. He was sentenced to one year's probation in April 1979.
Three charges of failing to comply with a probation order earned him 45 days in jail in December 1993.
There were also dismissed charges of counselling to commit murder and pointing a firearm, of assault and of impersonating a police officer.
In 1994, he was charged with sexually assaulting a young male, and later spent 2½ years in prison.
In September 1999, there was yet another weapons charge, which was dropped.
It was followed by a psychiatric profile done in 2000 that said Roszko refused to accept responsibility for his crimes and was preoccupied with legal proceedings. It recommended keeping him locked up.
In total, Roszko was charged with 36 crimes, including driving and trespassing offences, and convicted of 12 of them.
At the time of his death, he was facing two charges of mischief to property.
Lawyer Guy Fontaine represented Roszko on many of the charges, and knew him for 20 years. He says Roszko hated the RCMP and blamed them for interfering with his life.
"These police officers were completely mindful, they were completely aware of Roszko's history, of his files, of his involvement with the law," said Fontaine. "They were completely aware of his potentiality towards violence."
When Roszko was a teenager, he and a friend robbed a gun shop, according to his brother, George Roszko.
The suspect's brother and father also said Roszko started using drugs early on in life and made money on the side by making moonshine before moving on to other substances.
Neighbours said Roszko regularly confronted people around his sprawling farm property for no apparent reason and didn't hesitate to fire warning shots.
At a local pub, area resident Sharon Seymour alluded to a man who was feared by many in the town.
"He's led a troubled life and he's put a lot of grief on a few families in this town," she said.
Bill Roszko said his son appeared to be on a collision course with the RCMP.
"I think he had terrible hate against the police."
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