Six people accused in Gallagher case appear in court

Six people arrested in connection with the disappearance of Megan Gallagher appeared in Saskatoon Provincial Court on Thursday.

Robert Thomas, John Sanderson, Thomas Sutherland, Roderick Sutherland, Cheyann Peeteetuce and Robin John were all in court, and all had their next appearances set.

Shortly after the accused appeared, Megan’s father Brian says the family knows this will continue to be a long process.

“It is what it is; we can’t change that. It’s part of the concept of innocent until proven guilty that’s an important piece of our legal system,” Gallagher said.

He knows they will likely be in court for the next couple of years when it’s all said and done.

On Wednesday, Roderick Sutherland — who was one of the first four to be charged in the investigation with indignity to human remains — also was charged with first-degree murder.

That decision surprised Gallagher.

“We were told when the original charges of indignity to human remains came that would be their only charges (to those four people),” he said, noting the surprise came with more details coming out.

“To know that the secret had been kept for that long, somebody must have spoken up somewhere. So again, it takes us back to the same thing — that the silence that’s killing us. Breaking the silence is part of the solution.”

Megan’s birth mother Ingrid MacColl was present on Thursday as she’s been dealing with health issues and hasn’t made it to all of the court appearances.

She says now is the time to focus on support for the family rather than the accused.

“Government representatives, First Nations (and) Metis representatives need to step up as well and support what’s going on and make the changes that need to be made,” MacColl said.

Gallagher said the more family members speak out, the more he’s hearing about new evidence or new information on other cases.

Megan Gallagher, 30, was last seen on video surveillance footage at a corner store on Diefenbaker Drive in Saskatoon in September of 2020. In January of 2021, police announced they were treating the investigation as a murder.

Her body hasn’t been found, but human remains were discovered last Thursday during the first day of the search of an area of the South Saskatchewan River near the village of St. Louis. Police haven’t said if the remains are those of Gallagher.

Police have said their working theory is that Gallagher was abducted, unlawfully confined and killed in Saskatoon, then her remains were disposed of in the area where the search is now taking place.

Four people now have been charged with first-degree murder — Roderick Sutherland, Robert Thomas, Peeteetuce and Summer-Sky Henry. Police are still searching for Henry.

Three other people have been charged with committing an indignity to human remains, and two are facing charges of assault and unlawful confinement.