Four charged in connection with man’s death in Battleford in October

Four people have been charged in connection with the killing of a 27-year-old man in Battleford in October.

The RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit North announced Tuesday that three males — including one who was 17 at the time of the killing — are facing second-degree murder charges. Another man is charged with manslaughter.

According to an RCMP media release, members of the Battlefords RCMP detachment responded Oct. 18 to a call of an injured male in a house in Battleford. There, they found a man with serious injuries.

He was taken to hospital by paramedics and later died. Investigators subsequently determined that 27-year-old Ryan John Gatzke had been murdered.

Eight months later, 25-year-old Jacob Joseph Ballantyne of Edam, 22-year-old Isaac Melko of North Battleford and an 18-year-old from North Battleford were arrested and charged with second-degree murder, as well as other offences.

The youth was 17 at the time of the incident and can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Charles Michael Lewis McLean, a 23-year-old from North Battleford, was charged with manslaughter and two other offences.

The men were to make their first court appearances Tuesday in North Battleford. The youth’s first court date isn’t known yet.