Suspects in death of RCMP officer make first court appearance

The two people accused of killing RCMP Const. Shelby Patton in Wolseley on Saturday faced the charges for the first time in a Regina courtroom Monday.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m., 41-year-old Alphonse Traverse and 42-year-old Marlene Pagee, both from Winnipeg, made their first court appearance on charges of manslaughter, failing to stop after an accident resulting in death, vehicle theft and other related charges.

Their appearance didn’t take very long — the charges were read to both suspects, and they began sorting out their legal representation.

Pagee is to return to court Friday, while Traverse is to be back June 21.

Police outlined the charges late Sunday night.

Patton, 26, was killed in Wolseley on Saturday morning when he was struck by a vehicle during a traffic stop.

In a news release, the RCMP broke down the timeline of what happened before and after Patton’s death.

Just after 7 a.m., someone from Wolseley called police to report a stolen truck from Manitoba was in town and Patton — an officer from the Indian Head detachment — went to investigate.

At 7:50 a.m., he found the truck and stopped it. Police said he was hit and killed shortly afterwards, during the stop.

At 7:56 a.m., emergency services were called to the scene to try and save Patton. People who were there performed first aid on the Mountie, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Then, at 8:36 a.m., a farmer near Odessa called 911 to report that people in a white truck were on the property, and that one of the farmer’s trucks had been stolen as well.

The search began for the two trucks.

Police found them both abandoned near the community of Francis, 67 kilometres southeast of Regina. They said Traverse and Pagee ran away, but officers were able to track them down with the help of a police dog.

Fundraiser scam

It appears that someone could be trying to make money off Patton’s death.

In a news release, the RCMP said someone using the name Sam Joseph made a GoFundMe page for the officer.

“Please do not give money to this account in the name of Sam Joseph or promote this account’s activities. We have advised (GoFundMe) the account is fraudulent,” the release read.