Dead ‘over a damn dirt bike’

Two men are facing second-degree murder charges after a targeted shooting at a home in the Rural Municipality of Victoria Beach in June left a man dead and a woman killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

RCMP held a news conference Wednesday to announce arrests in the slayings of Melissa Julie Wilson, 41, and Sly Thibert, 29, near Sandy Bay, north of Victoria Beach, early on June 20.

“At this time, we believe the male victim was targeted by the suspects, and that the female was killed for being at that specific residence in Victoria Beach when the suspects arrived,” Staff Sgt. Sean Grunewald said at Manitoba RCMP headquarters on Wednesday.

Mitchell Johanson, 28, of Grand Marais, was arrested in Abbotsford, B.C., on Oct. 7, and has been brought back to Manitoba, RCMP said.

Nathaniel More-Harrison, 31, from the Rural Municipality of St. Clements, was arrested Wednesday in New Minas, N.S., and will return to the province for court.

RCMP said they began tracking both men days after the shootings, and the accused and victims were acquainted, all residing in the Victoria Beach area, about 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

While police wouldn’t say why Thibert was targeted, noting that it’s part of the ongoing investigation, his family told the Free Press the killings are related to a dispute about a dirt bike.

Thibert was renting the guest house from the owner of the property at the time.

Police wouldn’t reveal any motive Wednesday.

Grunewald said investigators are confident people in Victoria Beach and Traverse Bay have additional information about the crime.

“Now is the time to come forward and share with us what you know,” he said. “These homicides have deeply affected two grieving families and countless loved ones, and created concern for so many residents in the Victoria Beach area.”

Court records show Johanson has prior convictions for weapon offences, mischief to property and impaired driving causing bodily harm.

In March 2015, More-Harrison was convicted of robbery with a weapon and wearing a disguise with intent and sentenced in Steinbach provincial court to 18 months in jail, plus two years supervised probation.

News about the arrests was well received.

“Our prayers are answered. Many thanks to the RCMP for their hard work and diligence,” Wilson’s father, Kerby Friesen, said.

Police previously said a “person of interest” in a white pickup truck was seen driving at high speed southbound on Highway 59 shortly after the killings.

“I’m relieved the arrests were made, even though I don’t feel happy,” said Glenn Thibert, Sly’s father. “I believe others were involved, but these two were the main culprits — now justice for Sly and Melissa can begin, through the courts or whatever path it takes. I want them to face the consequences every day for the rest of their lives. I will be at the trial, sitting up front; I want you to look me in the eye and see the emptiness you’ve caused. This was pointless — over a damn dirt bike. My son and Melissa lost their lives for something so senseless.”

Friesen and Wilson’s stepmother, Bev Friesen, have struggled since the slayings.

“For the both of us, it’s just day to day to day,” her father said recently. “We are both truly in survival mode, in no uncertain terms.”

Patience, prayers and support have helped them endure the grief, they said.

“I’ve told the investigators a few times… I don’t care if it takes a few more months or whatever — I want proper evidence. I want it to be accurate. I don’t want mistakes,” Kerby Friesen said.

“I want it done right the first time. I want justice for our daughter. I want justice for us. I want justice for her children and grandchildren. The only way to do that is to have the stuff right.”

Happy memories brought fleeting smiles to their faces during an interview earlier this month. They remembered Wilson as a multi-talented woman who loved deeply, created art passionately and embraced the outdoors. She grew up in Winnipeg, where the Friesens live, and graduated from Glenlawn Collegiate with honours while raising a one-year-old daughter.

“She was an awesome mom,” Kerby said. “I was never not impressed with her and what she did with what little she had. She did what she had to do to make those kids’ lives better.”

Wilson was a mother to four and a grandmother to three at the time of her death.

Her family said her compassion ran deep. She was also resourceful, the kind of mother who could make magic out of almost nothing. She sold her art and, later on, sold cakes of extravagant designs.

“Put it this way: I can’t believe she could make, with whatever little bits would be in the cupboard and the fridge, just unbelievable meals,” Bev Friesen said.

Wilson battled mental-health issues, including bipolar disorder. In recent years, she began to advocate for mental-health education.

“It was her biggest nemesis in life,” Kerby said. “She always wanted to be understood.”

Her father would sometimes spend hours on the phone, long into the night and early into the morning, ensuring his daughter was OK.

Wilson used to tell him he wasn’t allowed to die before her.

“She would say that I was her rock and that she can’t go through life without her rock. That’s my anchor,” he said.

“She got her wish,” his wife added.

“Yeah. That’s the hardest part. She got her wish in a sense — in a sick sense,” Kerby Friesen said.

Wilson loved Victoria Beach, where the family owned a cottage, and she spent her childhood summers learning sailing and teaching art.

“She was happiest there,” Bev said.

At the time of her death, Wilson drove a school bus for Sunrise School Division and worked part-time as an assistant caregiver in Beausejour, working with people with intellectual disabilities.

She was known as the “cool school bus driver.” Bev compared her to Ms. Frizzle from the animated TV show The Magic School Bus.

A month after her death, the family — along with Wilson’s ashes — took one final ride on the bus she had driven for a decade. About 250 people showed up to say goodbye. That was a testament, the family said, to the impact she had on so many.

“It was truly a celebration of life, not a morbid funeral,” Bev Friesen said.

“She was one of the most talented people I’ve come across, and I was so proud that she was my daughter,” Kerby added. “She will always be missed.”

— with files from Dean Pritchard

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca