Alan Schmegelsky refuses to accept son Bryer shot dead Australian Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese

The father of a Canadian teenager who shot dead an Australian backpacker and his girlfriend refuses to accept his son is a serial killer, and revealed the chilling final text he sent him before his body was found.

Alan Schmegelsky fought back tears as he said he couldn’t believe his 18-year-old son Bryer and his friend Kam McLeod, 19, killed Lucas Fowler and his American girlfriend Chynna Deese – as well as Vancouver professor Leonard Dyck. 

‘I’m not going to say my son is a murderer until I get some facts, OK?’, Mr Schmegelsky told Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes on Sunday night. 

‘You want me to sit here and tell you that my son killed your co-citizen? I’m not doing it… I have just lost my son.’ 

Shot dead: Lucas Fowler, the 24-year-old son of an Australian police officer, and his girlfriend Chynna Deese, from Charlotte, North Carolina, were found dead on the Alaska Highway on July 15

Alan Schmegelsky said he can't accept that his 18-year-old son Bryer and friend Kam McLeod, 19, allegedly killed Lucas Fowler and his US girlfriend Chynna Deese

Alan Schmegelsky said he can’t accept that his 18-year-old son Bryer and friend Kam McLeod, 19, allegedly killed Lucas Fowler and his US girlfriend Chynna Deese

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were found dead on August 31 following a manhunt

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were found dead on August 31 following a manhunt

Bryer and Kam are suspected of killing Mr Fowler and Ms Deese, whose bodies were discovered in a ditch beside their Chevrolet van in the western province of British Columbia July 15. 

A 15-day manhunt for the teenagers led police across the country before they found two bodies a mile from the Nelson River near Gillam, Manitoba, on Wednesday morning. 

Days earlier, Bryer and Kam were seen alive but had evaded police at a checkpoint.  Mr Schmegelsky commended the pair for avoiding arrest. 

‘I knew they were still alive. These boys are smart, these guys are intelligent. Kudos boys. Kudos,’ he said.  

A 15-day manhunt for the alleged attackers led police across the country before they discovered two bodies believed to belong to the suspects a mile from the Nelson River near Gilam, Manitoba, Canada, on Wednesday morning (pictured left: Kam McLeod; pictured right: Bryer Schmegelsky)

A 15-day manhunt for the alleged attackers led police across the country before they discovered two bodies believed to belong to the suspects a mile from the Nelson River near Gilam, Manitoba, Canada, on Wednesday morning (pictured left: Kam McLeod; pictured right: Bryer Schmegelsky) 

Father and son: Mr Schmegelsky refuses to believe his boy could be a serial killer

Father and son: Mr Schmegelsky refuses to believe his boy could be a serial killer 

Bryer (pictured) told his dad that he was headed to the province of Alberta and that was the last he heard from him

Bryer (pictured) told his dad that he was headed to the province of Alberta and that was the last he heard from him 

Mr Schmegelsky burst into tears as he recalled the moment police confirmed the pair were suspects in the killings. 

‘My heart just sank, it just sank. I kept saying it was a mistake. There’s got to be a mistake,’ he said. 

Their final hide-out, a densely-wooded area, was found after local tour guide Clint Sawchuk spotted a blue sleeping bag tangled in willows in the Nelson River last Friday.  

Mr Schmegelsky revealed the last text Bryer sent him, saying he did not hear from his son following the message.

‘I’m off to Alberta,’ Mr Schmegelsky said his son texted.

Alberta is a province in Western Canada, nearly 2,000km from where the teenagers’ bodies were found.  

Officials said an autopsy will be performed on Thursday to confirm the identities of the deceased, along with when and how they died. 

But local media is reporting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police may never make the results public.   

Chynna Deese, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina

Lucas Fowler, 23, of Australia

The couple met in 2017 and spent the next two years sharing their love of travel by visiting Central and South America, Japan and South East Asia

This is the red and grey Dodge 'pickup truck' that Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were travelling in when they disappeared

This is the red and grey Dodge ‘pickup truck’ that Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky were travelling in when they disappeared

Kam McLeod

Bryer Schmegelsky

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky disappeared driving around the same region of Canada as Australian man Lucas Fowler and American woman Chynna Deese. They were found dead on August 31

Mr Schmegelsky also revealed he bought his son an airsoft gun, a replica firearm that shoots pellets, last Christmas. 

‘The guns look realistic, they’re like machine guns and they’ve got a realistic magazine. But they’re still just a built in air compressor and they shoot a pellet,’ he explained. 

He thought the $600 weapon would get his son off the couch and outside to play.

When asked if he was concerned that the gun is what led him to allegedly commit murder, Mr Schmegelsky denied that it was his fault. 

‘It was getting him out in the woods with his buddies. I’m not going to say it’s my fault, I’m not going to say that,’ he said. 

‘You can’t blame airsoft. I didn’t give him a real gun. I never gave him a gun that killed someone.’ 

Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, had been on the run since July 15 when the bodies of Lucas Fowler, 24, and Chynna Deese, 23, (pictured) were found in British Columbia

Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, had been on the run since July 15 when the bodies of Lucas Fowler, 24, and Chynna Deese, 23, (pictured) were found in British Columbia

The father reconnected with Bryer a few years ago after suffering years of homelessness and mental health issues.

However, it was when Bryer was five years old and his parents were getting divorced, that he began acting out. 

‘He’s mother moved away from him and he’s been angry since he was five years old,’  Mr Schmegelsky said.

‘He had a lot of time with very little attention. He was raised by YouTube and video games. He’s trained in isolation, mentally he won’t break down.’

He apologised to the victim’s families and said he would never wish this upon anyone.

‘I’m so sorry for what’s happened, OK?’ he said.

‘Whether it’s my son or someone else, we don’t know. I have just lost my son, I know exactly how you [the families] feel.’

Despite losing his son, he feels a sense of relief that ‘his troubles are over’.

The body discovery concluded a 15-day manhunt that began in the western Canadian province of British Columbia and spanned about 3,100 miles across five provinces

The body discovery concluded a 15-day manhunt that began in the western Canadian province of British Columbia and spanned about 3,100 miles across five provinces

Bryer and co-suspect Kam McLeod, 19, have been accused of killing Mr Fowler and Ms Deese (pictured)

Bryer and co-suspect Kam McLeod, 19, have been accused of killing Mr Fowler and Ms Deese (pictured)

Ms Deese’s sister, Kennedy Deese, described Mr Schmegelsky’s apology as hollow.

‘He is trying to relate to us. When he played a part in the cause of our pain. We had no doing in his,’ she told Daily Telegraph.

‘His sorrow is for himself and not sincerely for us,’ she said.

‘We are not cut from the same cloth, as he has played the victim throughout his life and won’t acknowledge his hand in his child’s upbringing and ultimate demise.’

Despite her position on his apology, Ms Deese said, ‘we still forgive you and have mercy’. 

Chynna Deese's sister, Kennedy Deese, described Mr Schmegelsky's apology as hallow

Chynna Deese’s sister, Kennedy Deese, described Mr Schmegelsky’s apology as hallow

'We are not cut from the same cloth, as he has played the victim throughout his life and won't acknowledge his hand in his child's upbringing and ultimate demise,' Kennedy said

‘We are not cut from the same cloth, as he has played the victim throughout his life and won’t acknowledge his hand in his child’s upbringing and ultimate demise,’ Kennedy said

Schmegelsky and McLeod were the sole suspects in the murders of North Carolina of Ms Deese, 24, Mr Fowler, 23, and Mr Dyck – a Vancouver botanist and father-of-two.   

The heartbreaking saga began on July 15 in the western province of British Columbia when the bodies of Fowler and Deese were found in a ditch beside their broken down blue 1986 Chevrolet van.

The lovestruck couple was on a Canadian road trip.

Lucas Fowler hugs Chynna Deese in the last recorded moment before their deaths

Lucas Fowler hugs Chynna Deese in the last recorded moment before their deaths

Four days later Dyck was found dead on another BC highway some 300 miles away by Dease Lake. His Toyota RAV4 was missing and a Dodge pickup truck had been set on fire about a mile away.

Police determined that the Dodge belonged to McLeod, who had vanished along with his childhood best friend Schmegelsky. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported the teens as missing on July 19, fearing that they had been killed or kidnapped by whomever committed the murders of Deese, Fowler and Dyck. 

On July 24, RCMP announced that Schmegelsky and McLeod were suspects in the three murders after the RAV4 was found in flames near Gillam by local residents Billy and Tamara Beardy. 

While Schmegelsky and McLeod are currently the only suspects in the three murders, police say their investigation will not close until it is proven they were responsible. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA BACKPACKER FEARS: A TIMELINE 

July 15: At 7.19am, Royal Mounted Canadian Police are called to the side of the road on the Alaska Highway, in remote British Columbia.

Police found the bodies of a young man and young woman about 20km south of the Liard Hot Springs, not far from a beat-up blue minivan.   

July 16: Police publicly announce the two bodies were found dead on the side of Highway 97 but say ‘no further information is available’

July 17: Investigators ask anyone who may have seen, or have dashcam footage, between 4pm Sunday and 8am Monday to come forward 

July 18: Detectives confirm the identities of the two dead as Lucas Fowler, 24, and Chynna Deese, 23 

Some 470km away near Dease Lake, police discover an abandoned truck  

July 19: The body of Leonard Dyck is found two kilometres from the burned-out remains of the truck McLeod and Schmegelsky were travelling in 

July 21: Witness tells media of seeing a ‘bearded man’ having a ‘heated exchange’ with Fowler and Deese on the side of the highway

July 22: Pictures emerge of Fowler and Deese’s minivan with a blown out back window 

Police issue urgent appeal for two men who have gone missing near Dease Lake, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18

July 23: McLeod and Schmegelsky are named as suspects – a massive search gets underway

A grey Toyota RAV 4 being driven by the pair is spotted in northern Saskatchewan

A burnt-out car is found near the town of Gillam, Manitoba. 

July 29: York Landing in Manitoba is thrown into lockdown after two men were spotted  foraging for food at a landfill

 July 31: Manhunt involving police, military, tracking dogs and drones has found no trace of two teenage murder suspects 

August 1: Police begin searching the province of Ontario, 2,000km from where the pair were last seen, after reports of a suspicious vehicle near Kapuskasing

August 2: Police say the sighting of the pair in Ontario was not credible, as Lucas Fowler’s friends and family hold an emotional memorial for him in Sydney

Police find several items directly linked to the suspects near the Nelson River after a battered rowboat washes ashore

August 3: Ontario police reveal they received more than 30 tips in just eight hours, and say they are following up on every single one

August 6: The search in the Nelson River is called off, and police block off the town of Sundance, which has been abandoned since 1992, and once housed a murder suspect for three years 

August 7: Canadian Police announce that two male bodies believed to belong to McLeod and Schmegelsky were found in ‘dense bush’ by the Nelson River, five miles from where they abandoned the burning car

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk