An extremely suspicious series of events culminating in a home invasion began in early 1999. The perpetrators of this home invasion claimed to be the RCMP. 

By that time, I had seen news clips of Shannon Murrin the prime suspect in the  murder of eight year old Mindy Tran. I was convinced that this was the same person that I had seen carrying a suitcase into a near by park on the night of her abduction. 
see- witness statement

During 1998, I was staying in Sicamous with my brother Steve while recuperating from minor surgery. I was  preparing to speak to the RCMP about what I had witnessed. During this time, I had been discussing details of what I had seen on the night of the abduction over the phone with a person who had just confirmed to me the name of a mutual acquaintance, Shannon Murrin's bank robbery partner. Murrin's former partner had sometime earlier been found dead of an apparent drug overdose. I said over the phone that I intended to tell my story and to become a witness in the trial. Within weeks of this, my brother and I became the victims of a home invasion perpetrated by armed and masked individuals claiming to be an "RCMP E Squad" on a proceeds of crime investigation. My brother and I were assaulted and a very specific threat was delivered at knife point, to not even think about ratting anyone out or they would be back to cut me in half. This threat made absolutely no sense to my brother Steve. We soon found that some of the home invasion suspects had recently been in custody of the Sicamous RCMP after having being caught previously under suspicious circumstances at my brother’s residence. We found that the RCMP had lied to us about their involvement with the suspects and would not properly investigate. These people appeared to have protection from prosecution. 

A death threat was phoned in to our residence following the home invasion and again the RCMP would not investigate. The perpetrators of the home invasion are known to have acted as RCMP informants in the past and are again suspected of acting as agents of the RCMP. The RCMP never mention this subject in their investigation of these people. One of the suspects from the earlier scouting trip was found dead of an apparent drug overdose one month after being in custody of the Sicamous RCMP.  He had been in the custody of Sgt. Schaal, who was actively making deals with criminals for drug information at the time. The dead man was an associate of "suspect B". The remaining members of this group appear to be the people who came back to do the home invasion.

Some of the home invasion suspects were again taken into custody in Calgary following the home invasion but released under suspicious circumstances. Sgt. Schaal claimed that some one had "pulled some strings" to have them released. The actual RCMP notes from the night of the home invasion, show that the perpetrators had claimed to be an "RCMP E Squad on a proceeds of crime investigation". Sgt. Schaal, was later shown to have been involved in an actual RCMP proceeds of crime drug investigation at this time. The target of that investigation was an associate of my brother Steve. Steve was included in this investigation based on false evidence supplied by the RCMP. Wire taps had been authorized as a result.
see-project endocrine

Shortly after the home invasion, information was given to us about an associate of the home invasion suspects who knew all about the home invasion. This person was identified as being suspect "B", the agent of Gary Tidsbury's from the past, who in 1994 lived directly across the street from where Mindy Tran's body was found. This was the same person that I had initially thought was crossing the street with the suitcase on the night that Mindy disappeared. He looks quite similar to Murrin. I knew this person as a dangerous and protected drug operative and this was the reason for not immediately going to the RCMP with this information. The disclosed involvement of suspect B, an agent of Gary Tidsbury's, in the home invasion, the assault, the death threats, and the negligent RCMP investigation, caused me to withhold testimony in the Tran case. I left it up to the DNA evidence to determine the identity of the killer.
see- past events

From media reports, I was led to believe that the RCMP had a very solid case including D.N.A evidence and even a confession from Murrin in Mindy Tran's murder case. When I heard that the RCMP had among other things, washed the confirming DNA evidence from Mindy’s clothes, I became even more suspicious that these events were related and began to search for evidence of this possibility. My life was being threatened by people who appeared to have the protection of the RCMP. 

Update: One of the home invasion suspects had a falling out with her partners and was about to inform on them in front of a judge. She was found dead of an apparent suicide or drug overdose one week before her scheduled appearance.

I  contacted an outside police detachment with my concerns following the home invasion but found that the Sicamous Sgt. Schaal was at my door within ten minutes of the call. I went to the Salmon Arm detachment in the summer of 1999 asking for assistance to investigate the death threats but was denied assistance and told that I had to deal with the Detachment in Sicamous. I tried to bypass the Sicamous and Kelowna detachments during  Murrin's trial by calling the superintendent in charge of Kelowna identified to me as as being Rick Preston. He did not return my call but  again I was immediately contacted by Sgt. Schaal and then by George Gfellner, the same RCMP member who came to take a statement from me shortly after the disappearance of Elizabeth in 1981.

The RCMP were later informed of complaints against their members as part of the official complaints procedure. All mention of the use of informants in the home invasion was avoided in the official RCMP response again exonerating all of their members. Sgt. George Gfellner the head of the Kelowna MCU, was the RCMP member who responded. He claims that I was being unreasonable to even be asking for any more explanations. George Gfellner is one of the RCMP member who's credentials were held up as proof that the investigation of Mindy Tran's murder was being conducted by an experienced and well trained investigator. Mr. George Gfellner is still running the MCU and is now justifying the RCMP investigation of this home invasion in the same manner. I would ask Mr. Gfellner to reconsider his stand based on the evidence of what his members are found to be doing. Some one is behind this. Mr. Gfellner is in a position to know who this is. 

This is a portion of the RCMP reply to the complaint concerning the handling of the home invasion investigation. The perpetrators of this home invasion are  suspected of again being RCMP agents threatening a witness! Mr. Gfellner notes the reluctance of witnesses to give information in regard to his own agents.

 

 

 

     Contact- info@mindytran.com