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Article online since May 16th 2008, 0:00
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EDMONTON - Alberta's highest court has upheld a ruling that the widow of one of four Alberta Mounties killed by a gunman in Mayerthorpe may decide where his body will rest, even if that means disinterring it against his parents' wishes.
The Alberta Court of Appeal refused Friday to overturn an order that allowed Const. Leo Johnston's remains to be removed from a cemetery in Lac La Biche and reburied in the national RCMP cemetery in Regina.
"We are absolutely devastated," said his mother, Grace Johnston. "Our desire through this whole process was to have our son's wishes respected and honoured. And that was that he wanted, to be at home. He always considered (Lac La Biche) his home."
Leo Johnston was one of four Mounties shot by James Roszko in March 2005 as they stood guard over stolen car parts and a marijuana grow-op discovered on his property in northwestern Alberta. Roszko later turned the gun on himself.
The three-member panel of judges could find no evidence that the original permit to exhume the body had been granted improperly. Furthermore, the court found that the director of vital statistics was under no obligation to inform Grace Johnston of the reburial plans, since the wife's wishes outrank those of the mother.
"The applicant Kelly Johnston was first in priority, under both the common law and policy rankings, with respect to control of the deceased's body," the judgment reads, adding that this is the first time such an issue has come before the courts.
The court's decision ends an ugly dispute that has pitted Johnston's parents and many friends and family members from the community against his widow. A previous attempt at disinterment saw 30 people gather at the cemetery to stop gravediggers before they received word the court challenges would go ahead.
Kelly Johnston has written in documents presented in court that she agreed to the burial originally, but wasn't aware at that time that the national RCMP cemetery existed.
"I believe in my heart that this act of reinterment is the best way to honour and respect my husband and that is the way he would have wish to be immortalized," she wrote.
Her lawyer, Chelsey Bailey, said in October that the dispute has been very difficult and emotional for her client and has kept her from visiting her husband's grave because she feared for her safety.
Grace Johnston has argued that her son told his twin brother, Lee, he wanted to be buried in Lac La Biche. Her lawyer argued before court that irreparable damage would be done if Leo Johnston's remains were removed from "sacred ground."
Three years after her son's death, Johnston is still a frequent visitor to his grave.
"Sometimes every day of the week, sometimes a couple days a week.
"Why is it important to keep doing it? Because I go and say 'Hi' to my son."
The slain officer's widow and mother are no longer in touch.
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