A man who threatened to kill as many RCMP officers as possible, praised Mayerthorpe killer James Roszko and said he hoped to kill upwards of 20 officers, pleaded guilty Monday and will be sentenced later this month.
James Houtstra, 32, pleaded guilty to a single count of uttering death threats and will be sentenced June 25. Houtstra and his lawyer pushed for sentencing right away, but Judge John Maher opted to hold off sentencing until after a pre-sentence report and mental health evaluation are completed.
Houtstra appeared through closed circuit television from the Edmonton remand centre, where he has been held since he was arrested. He came to police attention after a member of Facebook’s law enforcement team spotted posts on his wall on Jan. 13.
“Wow! After 4 years clean I cannot begin to tell you how good that first shot of heroin felt. That and are 50 Xanax. Now it is time to plan the killing spree. I have always thought murder suicide was the way to go,” read one of the posts.
It then went on to reference the man who shot and killed four officers.
“Dug up the old .380 last night and it shoots like I bought it yesterday! I can’t wait until this is all f…… over. I will be joining my hero, James Roszko.”
In subsequent posts, posted shortly after the first message, Houtstra again referenced Roszko, discusses using a fertilizer bomb and suggests he wants to double the number of officers Roszko killed.
“I’m going to make 4 look like a f…… drop in the bucket. I’m shooting for 20+.”
Other posts from the past year had Houtstra referring to police officers as pigs and Nazis.
After reading the post, the Facebook employee contacted the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, who contacted the RCMP.
While Crown prosecutor Doug Taylor read the posts into the record as part of the sentencing hearing, Houtstra kept his head down, with his hair covering much of his face.
After local RCMP became involved, they put Houtstra’s home under surveillance, interviewed his common-law girlfriend and eventually arrested him at a condominium in Grandin.
Taylor told the court that inside the condominium police found hundreds of hypodermic needles and that the apartment was extremely unsanitary.
Houtstra’s lawyer Anita Myers said her client had been on a bender and had little recollection of writing the posts and never had any intention of hurting anyone.
He said he didn’t believe Roszko was right, but that he could understand why he did what he did.
Houtstra will remain in custody until the June 25 sentencing hearing.
