"The reports both said there was no way that the RCMP could have
anticipated the ambush and slayings."

http://lastlinkontheleft.com/fcalbertarcmpdeaths.html

Other information has been emerging about the man who killed four young RCMP
constables on Thursday. An affidavit signed by a bailiff and made public
Friday night says Jim Roszko would most likely shoot on sight anyone he
found on his property. "The debtor is quite dangerous, has a long history of
assaults, is in possession of a number of firearms ... and is known to have
booby-trapped land," it read. "We just never went out there alone ...
because of his reputation," RCMP Const. Julie Letal of the Mayerthorpe
detachment said. Letal, who was at the farm Wednesday, said she warned her
friends and colleagues about Roszko. "When I went, I told the boys to make
sure everything's clear, because he's watching us," she said.

Roszko's former lawyer, who represented him for about 15 years, wondered
under what circumstances the officers were sent to the farm. "It astounds me
that they ventured out and exposed themselves as they did," Guy Fontaine
told CTV News.

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Josephine Ruel -- Roszko's sister --  
said her brother had called her the day before the carnage. "He said there
were police everywhere. I wish I could have said something that could have
made a difference. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

Ruel painted a somewhat different portrait of the man her own father called
a "devil" -- a man convicted of violent crimes and sexually assaulting a
boy. "They made him out to be such a monster, but out of the eight of us
(children), I knew he was the one kid who needed more love than anyone
else," she said.

In a 1999 report, a bailiff sent to seize cattle on his farm wrote: "Called
a number of informants, including the RCMP, about this debtor. Learned he
was quite dangerous ... in possession of a number of firearms." Retired RCMP
officer Kim Connell, now deputy mayor of Mayerthorpe, said "Every time you
met him, it was a violent confrontation." Even during routine traffic
checks, he said, "The members would stop him and the argument would be on,
the screaming and yelling and spitting." 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.

With regard to how Roszko returned to his farm without detection, Cliff
Walde, a retired RCMP sergeant who served with the Mayerthorpe detachment,
said he once went to Roszko's farm to conduct an unsuccessful search for
possible illegal firearms. Walde said it wouldn't have been difficult for
someone to sneak back undetected to Roszko's property in the dark,
considering the size of the farm, the backroads in the area, and the cover
provided by nearby brush and rolling hills. "If you had 30 officers, it
still wouldn't have made any difference - you could've still snuck onto the
property," said Walde. "You got to remember, you're out in the country.
There's no street lights."

Recently released court documents reveal Roszko offered a young acquaintance
$10,000 in 1993 to kill a man with an automatic assault rifle that may have
been the same weapon used in slayings of March 3rd. Roszko was charged with
counselling another person to commit murder, but the charge was dropped
after a preliminary hearing when the judge ruled that casually talking about
killing someone isn't the same thing as plotting to kill someone.

An 18-year-old witness testified that Roszko kept raising the offer until it
reached $10,000, but he steadfastly refused to kill the intended target
because he was a friend. He said Roszko never really provided any valid
reasons for why he wanted the other young man dead. "He just offered me the
money and I wasn't going to do it," he told the court.

Between 1993 and 1998, Mayerthorpe RCMP had gone on to James Roszko's farm
three times, carrying search warrants and looking for any illegal or
unregistered weapons. "We didn't find the one we were looking for," said
retired RCMP Sergeant Cliff Walde. Police were specifically searching for a
HK rife that Roszko said his brother brought back from the United States 25
years ago.

Throughout the evening there were several unconfirmed sightings of ROSZKO's
vehicle in the Mayerthorpe area. To ensure the safety of the tow truck
operator, a member was assigned to provide a police escort.

During the search, ammunition was found which was also factored into the
assessment process and decisions made respecting who would guard the
property.