'It changed the City of Moncton': Murdered police officers remembered 50 years later

Warning: Some readers may find the details in this article disturbing

Friday marks 50 years to the day since Const. Michael O’Leary and Cpl. Aurèle Bourgeois were murdered while on duty in New Brunswick.

Officials say the two police officers were captured while investigating a kidnapping. After the boy was returned safely, the officers were checking out a vehicle without headlights – and they were never heard from again.

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The officers were found buried in shallow graves on Dec. 15, 1974. Reports say they were shot through the head and wearing handcuffs.

James Hutchison and Richard Ambrose were arrested and convicted of murder.

“I think it changed the City of Moncton,” said David Morrisey, who joined the police force just months after the incident.

“I think nobody ever thought that a Moncton police officer would ever get shot or killed or anything and even us, I didn’t go to work everyday thinking, ‘I’m going to get shot.’ You just couldn’t do that.”

Lionel Hebert, who was a constable at the time, says he was working the same shift as the two men the night it all happened.

“That morning when I came back, this was on a Friday morning, we stayed at the police station until Sunday afternoon when we found them,” he said.

“Christmastime has never been the same since. I’ve never had a Christmas where this isn’t on my mind all the time, and it is what it is, but I’d never want to see that happen again – to actually dig up somebody that you’ve worked with. It’s just unbearable.”

Hebert says that day is just as raw today as it was 50 years ago.

“This morning I was having my coffee at 6 o’clock this morning, by myself, and I was thinking what I was doing 50 years ago, and I was just going back to the police station to go look for these guys,” he said.

'My dad was my hero'

Dozens gathered at the Moncton police memorial Friday morning to remember the fallen officers for their heroism and ultimate sacrifice. Among the crowd was someone who called one of the officers “dad.”

“My dad was my hero,” said Charlie Bourgeois, who was just 13 when his dad, Aurèle Bourgeois, was killed.

While he can’t believe it’s already been 50 years, he says the memories that come back the most from that day are how the community rallied to support his family.  

“I remember how strong my mom was and has continued to be. We were four young children in the family, so she showed great strength to raise four kids under some challenging situations,” he said.

Other than that, he remembers who his dad was outside of the police force, and the huge impact he had on his life.

“We shared a great passion for the game of hockey. We didn’t miss a game on Saturday night for the Montreal Canadiens,” he said.

“He built an outdoor rink for me and I was fortunate enough to go on and play in the NHL and when I scored my first goal against the Montreal Canadiens, I figured he had something to do with that.”

Dozens of people gathered at a police memorial in Moncton, N.B., on Dec. 13, 2024, to honour two police officers who were captured and killed while on duty in December 1974.

Monument honours fallen officers

Members of the former Moncton Police Force say they visit the monument every year on Dec. 13.

For them, it’s important to remember their brothers and friends and make sure history isn’t forgotten within the community.

“These men died in a horrible way and to forget them would be to leave them behind,” said Brian Barnes, who joined the force in 1975.

He says, although he didn’t get to know O’Leary and Bourgeois personally, he feels like he got to know them through their friends and family after their deaths.

“I’m hoping in 50 years’ time we can have as many people as this, but as time goes on, people’s memories, of course, get shorter and shorter,” he said.

“To see this many people is very, very enlightening for us and it made you feel you had a comradeship of sorts with others.”

Wayne Beattie, a Moncton Police Force member and the one who designed the monument, says it still impacts him every day.

“It’s hard still to talk about it. A lot of people will ask me, ‘What happened? What happened?’ but we don’t tell the story anymore. It’s just to remember, say a prayer,” he said.

“I was on the same shift as Mike and Aurele on that tragic day and Mike and I came on together in ’69. We wrote our exams the same day and it was a very trying time. We just didn’t know how to handle the whole thing.”

He says the monument, which sits proudly at Bore Park in Moncton, is designed in the shape of a book to mark the final chapter of sorts for the Moncton Police Force and hopefully provide some closure to members, family and the community.

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