James Smith Cree Nation councillor angry that killer using alias worked on First Nation after 2022 massacre

A band councillor on James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) is angry that a convicted killer using an alias worked in the cultural centre on the First Nation following the Sept. 4, 2022, stabbing massacre.

"I couldn't believe this individual was in our community," said Deborah McLean in an interview.

"I almost puked, that's how awful I felt."

Myles Sanderson murdered 11 people and wounded 17 others in the rampage. Earl Burns Sr., one of the victims, was McLean's brother. A coroner's inquest in Melfort examining the events leading to the massacre offered 29 recommendations after almost three weeks of exhibits and testimony. 

McLean is angry that Kelley Thackeray worked on JSCN prior to the inquest — under the name Kelley Bird-Naytowhow — without telling anyone that he'd previously been convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing a man. 

Kelley Thackeray Bird-Naytowhow declined repeated requests for an interview. It's not clear exactly when, or why, he transitioned from presenting himself as Kelley Thackeray to Kelley Bird-Naytowhow. 

JSCN Chief Wally Burns declined interview requests but, in a statement emailed to CBC, a spokesperson confirmed the leadership "learned that Kelley Bird-Naytowhow was Kelley Thackeray when Band Councillor Deborah McLean brought that information forward in the fall of 2023."

McLean learned of Thackeray's background in October 2023 when another therapist sent her a 2016 Toronto Sun article.

"I was really shocked," she said. "I went to the band office, and they were shocked."

The 2016 newspaper story featured an interview with Patricia Newman, the younger sister of Barrie, Ont., taxi driver Gary Newman, who had been stabbed 29 times in a robbery gone bad in 2001.

Kelley Thackeray pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Newman's death in 2004 and was released on full parole in 2014. In the newspaper story, Patricia Newman spoke about getting updates on Thackeray from the parole board.

"They tell me he travels to Saskatchewan a lot," Newman said. "For a convicted murderer, sounds like he's having a pretty good life."

The Parole Board of Canada decision to release Thackeray characterized him as a low risk to reoffend and applauded his efforts to move forward. CBC obtained the parole documents.

"He [the parole officer] indicated you've resumed your university studies, completed a sun dance with positive results, and volunteer," his parole board pre-release decision sheet said.