- Alan Schmegelsky spoke about his son, 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, and his friend, 19-year-old Kam McLeod, to Australia’s “60 Minutes” in a special that aired on Sunday.
- Bodies believed to be of the younger Schmegelsky and McLeod were found in northern Canada last week.
- The elder Schmegelsky told Australia’s “60 Minutes” that the loss of his son was “heartbreaking”, but he’s not ready to believe his son committed the crimes he is accused of.
- “Kudos,” he said of their ability to evade police for weeks.
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The father of one of two Canadian teenagers suspected of killing three people says he won’t believe his son is a murderer until there is proof – and gave the men “kudos” for evading police during a 20-day manhunt.
Alan Schmegelsky spoke about his son, 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, and his son’s childhood friend, 19-year-old Kam McLeod, to Australia’s “60 Minutes” in a special that aired on Sunday, days after bodies believed to be of the teens were found by Canadian police in Manitoba.
“These boys are smart, they’re intelligent … kudos, boys, kudos,” he said of their ability to evade police for weeks, before learning his son was likely dead.
A camera crew was with Schmegelsky when he learned that police found bodies they believed belonged to his son and McLeod.
"He was my only child. [I'll] never get to hug him again, never get to spend time with him again," he told "60 Minutes." "At least I know where he is. His troubles are over. I'm so sad that he felt he had to take that road trip."
Alan Schmegelsky had previously predicted his son would die in a hail of bullets.
"He's going to be dead today or tomorrow," he told the Canadian Press of his son Bryer on July 24. "They're going to go out in a blaze of glory. Trust me on this. That's what they're going to do."
Read more: Inside the 20-day manhunt for 2 Canadian teens police believe went on a brutal killing spree
Two bodies believed to be of Bryer Schmegelsky and McLeod were found last week, and autopsies were completed on Sunday, CBC reported. Further information is expected to be released.
Alan Schmegelsky told Australia's "60 Minutes" that the loss of his son was "heartbreaking," but he's not ready to believe his son committed the crimes he is accused of.
"You may think he's a monster but he's my son, he's my Bryer," he said. "I'm not going to see my son as a murderer until I get some facts. You want me to sit here and tell me my son positively murdered your co-citizen? Because I won't, because I can't."
A search for McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky started as a missing persons case when their burned-out Dodge truck was discovered on July 19, but they soon became suspects in the murders of Leonard Dyck, 64, Chynna Deese, 24, and Lucas Fowler, 23.
Over the course of the 20-day search for the teens, connections to Nazism surfaced, dozens of reports of sightings poured in, and Canadian residents were afraid to leave their homes.
- Read more:
- This map shows the extreme journey 2 teen murder suspects took across 4,000 miles of Canada before their bodies were found by a river
- The bodies of 2 Canadian murder suspects have been found after a 20-day manhunt across 5 provinces, police say
- Canadian police ask people to stop 'spreading rumors' about teen murder suspects' whereabouts as 14-day manhunt moves 600 miles across the country
- The 2 Canadian teen fugitives were searched at an alcohol checkpoint the day they were charged with murder, but authorities let them go