Convicted killer eaten by bear in BC

June 2, 2012 25d Comments

 blackbear

 

According to officials in British Columbia, convicted killer Rory Nelson Wager was pulled from the open window of his car and eaten by a black bear. Investigators believe Nelson may have been dead already.

Here’s the story from the Calgary SUN:

CALGARY – The corpse of a man eaten by a B.C. bear was that of a convicted killer, officials have confirmed.

The B.C. Coroners Service identified the man as 53-year-old Rory Nelson Wagner of Kamloops, B.C., whose dismembered and partially consumed remains were found Wednesday on a remote logging road between Merritt and Kamloops.

The National Parole Board confirmed he had fled a halfway house in Kamloops.

He was convicted of second-degree murder and began his sentence on May 31, 1996, according to Correctional Services of Canada. He had recently been granted day parole.

Wagner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, along with two other men, for the 1993 killing of Langley, B.C., resident Andy Kohlman, after Kohlman had been cleared of sexual assault allegations involving a relative of Wagner’s, according to media reports.

Wagner had been missing since May 23.

“They let people know when they’re expected to return, if they’re going to be late they’re expected to phone and of course he didn’t return,” said Patrick Storey of the NPB Pacific office.

“They were aware that he was missing, however they weren’t aware until recently that he was deceased.”

Hunters spotted his vehicle on a remote logging road and called Mounties, who discovered Wagner’s body hidden beneath some brush.

Officials believe he was already dead when a black bear dragged him out of an open car window to feed on him.

The fact the adult black bear approached the vehicle, then dragged Wagner out to eat is a serious concern for the B.C. environment minister and conservation officers, who are hunting the bruin.

“The concern is once it has lost its fear of humans, then others it comes into contact with would be at risk and this is an area well-used for hiking and fishing and there’s ranching up there as well,” said Minister Terry Lake.

Traps are set and conservation officers are on the hunt.

Acting Insp. Darcy MacPhee, of the Thompson Cariboo Region’s conservation officers, said the bear is likely to return, but might have moved on for now.

While the Coroners Service is confident Wagner was already dead when the bear found him, it’s still unclear what did kill him.

“We should be able to rule a few things out very shortly after the preliminary autopsy … if there was any trauma or any natural disease that caused death,” said Mark Coleman, regional coroner for the interior region.

“If those are ruled out we’d be waiting mainly on toxicology.”

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25 thoughts on “Convicted killer eaten by bear in BC”

  1. If he was already dead, then it makes sense that the bear would try to eat him, so leave him alone, if he was alive and the bear ate him, give the bear The Order of Canada

  2. Thanks Jeff, that story made my day
    maybe they should fill the jails with bears
    but the animal cruelty groups wouldn’t like that

    1. Iggy, you may be on to something there! Lemme go talk to my friends at PETA…

      Outdoorsguy

  3. Aparently, this guy was in jail for killing a guy that molested and killed a kid, so maybe we should hold off on the death penalty, the whole story is pretty bad

  4. If that is true that he had taken care of a man who molested and killed a child then we should have a state funeral for him. i don’t call him a killer. i call him a vigilanty and a darn fine one at that.

  5. Creepy topic… Creepy …Yikes! We have NHL Hockey in June! Not sure who to cheer for…

    1. Yeah, I didnt know anything about Wagner’s past, it was his ultimate demise that caught me eye…I suppose if the other is true, then it was a bad way for him to go.

      Outdoorsguy

  8. Jeff, I’m driving up to MTL this weekend, drive in Saturday, check the place out, fish into the evening, drive home Sunday morning……..in and out, and I’m looking for a navigator 🙂

    1. Navigator??? Isn’t that a Linclon product…hehe

      Sorry Iggs, would love to head up there with you..but I’ll be going to the trailer this weekend> Try to catch some pike!

      Take pictures though, and I’ll post them.

      Outdoorsguy

    1. tks Alain D, I’ll check that story out. Guess all the bears are starting to come to life!

      You make a great research assistant when Chessy isn’t around…speaking of the lad, where is he anyway? I’m scared to ask as it could be bad news.

      Outdoorsguy

      1. Oh yeah, dont forget the new Bounder mag – Summer 2012 issue is out…I’m putting together a Blog post on that as we speak.

        Outdoorsguy

  12. My mom broke her pelivs been in the hospital 3 weeks.. now she is home… 72 and still going …

    1. Hey Chess, glad to hear she’ll recover from that..its a nasty place for a break.

      What else you been up to?

      Outdoorsguy

  13. loooonnnnggggg story… lets say.. wsib placed me in a couple of wrong classes and i did not have enough credits to graduate and there response was tuff shi t not our problem appeal our desisions so now i am dealing with idiots every day just trying to survive… just a heads up to every one if you company offers insurance other than or on top of wsib take it … you will need it ..

    1. Chessy, that’s really unfortunate. Hopefully you are able to pick-up a course this summer or something, to close off the program. I know I ended-up taking a summer course at the end of my University program…cause I dropped a course in 3rd year I had to make up for. Also, that was in the 1980’s when University education in Ontario cost around $1500 per year for ALL your courses!!

      Outdoorsguy

  14. Poor bugger.
    I think laws should be tweaked a bit for child molesters and murders of particularly gastly degrees.
    If this guy went out of his way to wack a molester.
    Well. Really I know lots of people would love to do the same. But its still wrong unfortunatly. Otherwise. People would be droppin like flies! !
    The bear wouldn’t have bothered him if he was alive. The bear could smell death.
    Leave the critter alone.
    If crows were feeding on him. Would we put out a cull on crows too?

    I camp with a 45-70 handloaded for just such an emergency 😉

  15. I knew Rory I worked with Him at a towing company in Chilliwack when He first got parole back in 02-03. We talked once about the guy he killed. I guess the guy got off on a technicality or something. Rory was a good guy and i can’t say I would do anything different if it were my child that got molested and the molester walked free.

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