Police and investigators are seen at the side of the road outside Rosthern, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Canadian police arrested the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in the province of Saskatchewan on Wednesday after a three-day manhunt during which they had found the body of his brother. (Kelly Geraldine Malone/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mark Arcand, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation speaks to media at a press conference while holding a photo in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
An official familiar with the matter said officers rammed Sanderson’s vehicle and he surrendered. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Mark Arcand, right, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation over the long weekend, and Brian “Buggy” Burns, Bonnie Burns’s husband, speak to media at a press conference in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
Video and photos from the scene showed a white SUV off to the side of the road with police cars all around. Air bags deployed in his SUV.
Some family members of the victims arrived at the scene and thanked police, including Brian Burns, whose wife and son were killed.
Mark Arcand, right, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Mark Arcand, right, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation and Brian “Buggy” Burns, Bonnie Burns’s husband, speak to media at a press conference in Saskatoon, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
“Now we can start to heal. The healing begins today, now,” he said.
Another of Burns’ sons was wounded and “hopefully can sleep at night now knowing he’s behind bars,” Burns said.
Mark Arcand, right, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation and Brian “Buggy” Burns, Bonnie Burns’s husband, speak to media at a press conference in Saskatoon, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
The fugitive’s brother and fellow suspect, 30-year-old Damien Sanderson, was found dead Monday near the stabbing sites. Police are investigating whether Myles Sanderson killed his brother.
The stabbing rampage raised questions of why Myles Sanderson — an ex-con with 59 convictions and a long history of shocking violence — was out on the streets in the first place.
Mark Arcand, right, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation speaks to media at a press conference in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
He was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of over four years on charges that included assault and robbery. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, though the details were not immediately clear.
His long and lurid rap sheet also showed that seven years ago, he attacked and stabbed one of the victims killed in the weekend rampage, according to court records.
Mark Arcand, who’s sister Bonnie Burns and nephew Gregory “Jonesy” Burns were killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation over the long weekend, speaks to media at a press conference in Saskatoon, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards /The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said there will be an investigation into the parole board’s assessment of Sanderson.
“I want to know the reasons behind the decision” to release him, Mendicino said. “I’m extremely concerned with what occurred here. A community has been left reeling.”
Investigators have not given a motive for the bloodshed.
Mark Arcand, who’s sister Bonnie Burns was killed during a series of violence attacks at James Smith Cree Nation holds a photo in Saskatoon, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service said nine of those killed were from the James Smith Cree Nation: Thomas Burns, 23; Carol Burns, 46; Gregory Burns, 28; Lydia Gloria Burns, 61; Bonnie Burns, 48; Earl Burns, 66; Lana Head, 49; Christian Head, 54; and Robert Sanderson, 49, One was from Weldon, 78-year-old Wesley Patterson.
Authorities would not say how the victims might be related.
Police and investigators are seen at the side of the road outside Rosthern, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Canadian police arrested the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in the province of Saskatchewan on Wednesday after a three-day manhunt during which they had found the body of his brother. (Kelly Geraldine Malone/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mark Arcand said his half sister Bonnie and her son Gregory were killed.
“Her son was lying there already deceased. My sister went out and tried to help her son, and she was stabbed two times, and she died right beside him,” he said. “Right outside of her home she was killed by senseless acts. She was protecting her son. She was protecting three little boys. This is why she is a hero.”
Arcand rushed to the reserve the morning of the rampage. After that, he said, “I woke up in the middle of the night just screaming and yelling. What I saw that day I can’t get out of my head.”
Police and investigators are seen at the side of the road outside Rosthern, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Canadian police arrested the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in the province of Saskatchewan on Wednesday after a three-day manhunt during which they had found the body of his brother. (Kelly Geraldine Malone/The Canadian Press via AP)
As for what set off the violence, Arcand said: “We’re all looking for those same answers. We don’t know what happened. Maybe we’ll never know. That’s the hardest part of this.”
Court documents said Sanderson attacked his in-laws Earl Burns and Joyce Burns in 2015, knifing Earl Jones repeatedly and wounding Joyce Burns. He later pleaded guilty to assault and threatening Earl Burns’ life.
Many of Sanderson’s crimes were committed when he was intoxicated, according to court records. He told parole officials at one point that substance use made him out of his mind. Records showed he repeatedly violated court orders barring him from drinking or using drugs.
Many of Canada’s Indigenous communities are plagued by drugs and alcohol.
Police and investigators gather at the scene where a stabbing suspect was arrested in Rosthern, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Canadian police arrested Myles Sanderson, the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of multiple people in Saskatchewan, after a three-day manhunt that also yielded the body of his brother fellow suspect, Damien Sanderson. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)
“The drug problem and the alcohol problem on these reserves is way out of hand,” said Ivor Wayne Burns, whose sister was killed in the weekend attacks. “We have dead people, and we asked before for something to be done.”
Myles Sanderson’s childhood was marked by violence, neglect and substance abuse, court records show. Sanderson, who is Indigenous and was raised on the Cree reserve, population 1,900, started drinking and smoking marijuana at around 12, and cocaine followed soon after.
In 2017, he barged into his ex-girlfriend’s home, punched a hole in the door of a bathroom while his two children were hiding in a bathtub and threw a cement block at a vehicle parked outside, according to parole documents.
Police and investigators gather at the scene where a stabbing suspect was arrested in Rosthern, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. Canadian police arrested Myles Sanderson, the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of multiple people in Saskatchewan, after a three-day manhunt that also yielded the body of his brother fellow suspect, Damien Sanderson. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)
He got into a fight a few days later at a store, threatening to kill an employee and burn down his parents’ home, documents said.
That November he threatened an accomplice into robbing a fast-food restaurant by clubbing him with a gun and stomping on his head. He then stood watch during the holdup.
In 2018, he stabbed two men with a fork while drinking and beat someone unconscious.
When he was released in February, the parole board set conditions on his contact with his partner and children and also said he should not enter into relationships with women without written permission from his parole officer.
This combination of photos provided by Royal Canadian Mounted Police shows stabbing victims, from top left, Bonnie Burns, Carol Burns, Christian Head, Lydia Gloria Burns, and Lana Head. From bottom left, Wesley Petterson, Thomas Burns, Gregory Burns, Robert Sanderson, and Earl Burns. Myles Sanderson, 32, and his brother Damien, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 others in the attacks that spread across the rural reserve and into the nearby town of Weldon, Saskatchewan. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police via AP)
In granting Sanderson “statutory release,” parole authorities said: “It is the Board’s opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society.”
Canadian law grants prisoners statutory release after they serve two-thirds of their sentence. But the parole board can impose conditions on that freedom, and inmates who violate them — as Sanderson did more than once — can be ordered back to prison.
Sharna Sugarman, who was organizing a GoFundMe for the victims, questioned the parole board for releasing him and wondered why Sanderson was still on the loose so many months after he was deemed “unlawfully at large.”
“That’s just egregious to me,” said Sugarman, a counselor who counted one of the stabbing victims as a client. “If they claim that they’ve been looking for him, well, you weren’t looking that hard.”
