As we mark the fifth anniversary of the Mayerthorpe massacre, we are reminded that two fine young men remain in prison serving the entirety of punishment for what went wrong on that day. A just society cannot rest while anyone is treated in disproportion to his culpability. Justice has not yet come to Mayerthorpe.
                 The sentencing, if not the plea itself, of Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman is a preventable second tragedy to come out of the Mayerthorpe murders. Justice screams for their pleas to be vacated and their cases to be reviewed afresh. Many other criminals have received significantly lighter sentences than Hennessey and Cheeseman for much greater wrong. They are being punished for the evil acts of James Roszko and the failures of the RCMP to prevent those acts.
                 In January 2009, Hennessey and Cheeseman pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter for their involvement in giving Roszko ammunition and a rifle (which was not used in the killings) and then driving him to his farm. They did this under Roszko's orders and threats while he was armed. Roszko told them he wanted to "get even" with the RCMP. While Hennessey and Cheeseman expected an armed confrontation could occur, they did not warn the RCMP because they were intimidated by Roszko and terrified ofhis retaliation. There was a factual basis for such fear.
                 For that, Hennessey got a I5-year sentence and Cheeseman got 12 years. Neither needs rehabilitation or further deterrence. They do need better justice.
                 That their sentences exceed their culpability was shown in two calgary cases which took place around the same time. Daniel Tschetter killed five people when he slammed his cement truck into the back of a car stopped at Calgary traffic light. For 20 kilometres, he drove dangerously at up to 140 km!h in a heavy com­mercial truck. He struck his victims without slowing and dragged them some 300 metres, then tossed an empty vodka bottle from his cab and refused a breath test. After a long emotional trial, he was found guilty of five counts of manslaughter, and sentenced to eight years. The judge proclaimed this "at the high end of the spectrum."
                 A few months later in a Calgary motel room Elizabeth Roberts mis­took Jennifer Renn as a possible informant and murdered her. She' jumped Renn and wrung the life from her by tightening her legs around her neck while Renn prayed and begged to live. For the next 4S minutes this cold-hearted killer nibbled on french fries and jumped on her victim's chest, squeezing every molecule of breath from her. Roberts chillingly bragged that this killing was "better than sex, better than any kind of drug, the ultimate rush." With 64 criminal convictions, she bragged, "I'd do it again." She was sentenced to 14 years.
                 Clearly over-charged and finding themselves in a scenario that demanded accountability somewhere, Hennessey and Cheeseman pleaded guilty to manslaughter. They sought to avoid the crush of further legal expense and the possibility, given all the political pressure and national scrutiny, that a trial might return a worse verdict.
                 Hennessey and Cheeseman had been subjected to a lengthy, all out undercover sting campaign by the RCMP which few of us could bear. The RCMP carefully nurtured a phoney trust with these two young men so that it could be later betrayed.
                 Law enforcement and the legal system had not vigorously protected the community from Roszko up to that time. To deflect criticism of their own operational lapses and to find someone - anyone - to blame for the loss of four of their own finest put the RCMP in a conflict of interest position. But press on they did. After years of determined digging and spending to lay this crime on someone other than the monster Roszko, we have two ordinary guys up on maximum charges with flimsy facts.
                 We must ensure balance and proportionality even when law enforcement officers are killed. We must not allow victims to control the process. One wonders whether this investigation and prosecution would have happened in this way if RCMP officers had not been killed.
                 RCMP spokesperson Wayne Oakes boasted, "I think today for law enforcement ... justice was served."
                 With its three murderers approach, the RCMP refused to concede that the culpability started and ended with one deranged, dead man.
                 These young men had minor involvement. Only by a huge stretch could they be guilty of four counts of first degree murder, even under party theory, in the Mayerthorpe massacre. They are two more Roszko victims. The bully sneers from the grave.
                 Neither Hennessey nor Cheese­man made or knew of any violent plan. Neither pulled the trigger, supplied the weapon that was used in the crime, or was even present at it. Our system treats guns much more harshly than cement trucks. Moral turpitude? Hennessey and Cheeseman knowingly did nothing to effectively advance a quadruple murder. They are paying with too much flesh for what Roszko did.
                 As we pause to mark these five years, we must be steadfast in justice also for the living. If the Hennessey and Cheeseman case is not quickly reviewed in its context, we are all abiding a miscarriage of justice that is neither honoured nor redeemed in the memorials of these four heroic RCMP officers.