Mayerthorpe case moved to Stony Plain courthouse

Two Alberta mencharged in connection with the 2005 killings of four RCMP officers will have a month-long preliminary hearing next May in the town of Stony Plain, west of Edmonton.

Dennis Cheeseman, 23, and Shawn Hennessey, 28, each face four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of constables Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston on March 3, 2005.

The brothers-in-law did not appear in person in court, where the Crown and defence lawyers both asked the judge to move the case from Mayerthorpe to Stony Plain, which has a larger courtroom.

"A case of this magnitude cannot be accommodated in a place like Mayerthorpe by virtue of the kind of case it is. It's very horrific in its sort ofcomplexity and because of the people and the attention that isrequired for it," said Crown prosecutor Steven Koval.

The Mounties were shot by a single gunman, James Roszko, on his farm near Mayerthorpe, in the RCMP's biggest single-day loss in more than 100 years.

Cheeseman and Hennessey, who were arrested in July, are accused of aiding and abetting Roszko, even though police said neither suspect pulled the trigger or attended the scene of the crime.

Friends and family of the two accused were in the courtroom Thursday.

Both men are still in custody.

Outside, Criss Hennessey,Shawn's aunt, spoke on behalf of the men'sfamilies, saying the case has taken an enormous financial toll and legal bills are expected tomount to a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

"Right now they are in the process of having to sell everything they own," she said.

The charges were laid following an investigation into Roszko's shooting spree on a Mayerthorpe area farm two years ago. Four RCMP officers were killed before Roszko committed suicide. Investigators have said the two men were not at the farm at the time of the shootings.