‘Night’s not going to end well,’ killer told ex

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This article was published 19/12/2011 (5203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Derek Jensen first laid eyes on Tabitha Stepple at downtown Lethbridge nightclub Studio 54 last Boxing Day.

It wasn’t long before Jensen and Stepple, both 21, moved into a basement suite together, signing a lease that forced them to remain under the same roof even after mounting tensions led to their split sometime around Halloween.

Throughout their volatile on-and-off relationship, Jensen shuttled between Edmonton and Lethbridge, completing classes at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to become a paramedic. He had one more test to take before completing his program and was planning to move to Edmonton to pursue his new career.

On Wednesday night, Jensen’s friends took him out for a farewell party at the Shark Club bar.

“He seemed calm, collected,” said Jeff Schwarz, who has known Jensen for much of his life. “He was happy.”

A few hours later, Schwarz and Jensen decided to move the party across the street to the Blarney Stone pub. Jensen saw Stepple seated at a table in the bar. High school friend Ryley Mitschke, 21, said Jensen was likely startled to see her hanging out with two guys he didn’t recognize.

They were rising baseball stars and best friends Mitch MacLean, 20, and Tanner Craswell, 22, who had moved from Prince Edward Island to play for the Lethbridge Bulls, part of the summer collegiate Western Major Baseball League. They were at the pub to celebrate Craswell’s 22nd birthday.

With them was Shayna Conway, 21. She had moved from P.E.I. to be closer to Craswell. She enrolled in business courses at Lethbridge College and worked at Montana’s Cookhouse with Stepple.

The boys planned to hit the road after the party to make it in time for their 5 a.m. flight out of the Calgary International Airport back home to P.E.I., with Conway and Stepple along for the car ride.

When Jensen saw his former girlfriend at the pub, he “lost it, lost his mind and pushed her out of a chair and he was, like, yelling,” Stepple’s friend Cait McFarland said. “Then we left. He was phoning her, phoning her, phoning her and said to her, ‘This night’s not going to end well for you, I hope you know that.’ “

Schwarz said Jensen decided he suddenly had to leave. It was 12:30 a.m. and the last time Schwarz would see his friend.

Meanwhile, Craswell and MacLean exited the Blarney Stone for the 200-kilometre drive north to Calgary. The four hit the road at 1 a.m.

Later that night, Jensen, Craswell and Stepple were found dead on the side of a lonely stretch of Highway 2 just north of Claresholm, about 130 kilometres south of Calgary. MacLean died shortly after and Conway was flown by STARS air ambulance to hospital in Calgary.

All five had been shot.

RCMP revealed Saturday morning Jensen had apparently driven north on Highway 2 in search of Stepple. In Claresholm, he located the group during a stop at a 7-Eleven convenience store.

From the surveillance video, it appeared the group didn’t know Jensen was there, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb said.

Moments after the group left the store, at around 3 a.m., Jensen rammed the back of their SUV, prompting driver Conway to stop and get out.

Jensen jumped out of his car, aimed a Heckler & Koch 9-mm handgun and shot Conway several times, police said.

He then pumped bullets into the SUV, killing Craswell and Stepple where they sat. MacLean, shot, escaped from the vehicle. He was found by police in the east ditch of the highway, rushed to the Claresholm hospital and airlifted to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, but died on the way.

After shooting the four others, Jensen pointed the gun at himself and took his own life.

Conway — described by her family as selfless and feisty — is at the Foothills Medical Centre, scheduled to undergo surgery today. She is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

— Postmedia News

A survivor’s horror

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — As family and friends of the victims in the Alberta highway shootings are busy planning funeral and memorial arrangements, RCMP say they are wrapping up their investigation after interviewing the lone survivor.

Shayna Conway, 21, has provided the only eyewitness account to RCMP. Following their interview with Conway, RCMP confirmed that Derek Jensen killed Tabitha Stepple, Tanner Craswell and Mitch MacLean.

Friends shared Conway’s account of the slayings.

The gunman said nothing when he shot her. The force of the bullet sent her crumpling to the road. He fired two more rounds, striking her, then began shooting her three friends.

Conway watched as the killer turned the gun on himself. She crawled to a cellphone, called 911 and waited.

“She can just remember screaming and yelling for help…,” said Conway’s sister, Courtney Crosby.

— Postmedia News