After an eight month investigation, RCMP have charged four people in the homicide of 27 year old Ryan Gatzke. Last October, Battlefords RCMP responded to a call of an injured person in a residence on the 100 block of 26th Street West in that community. They found a man with serious injuries and he was taken to hospital where he died.

25 year old Jacob Joseph Ballantyne of Edam and 22 year old Isaac Melko of North Battleford and an 18 year old North Battleford man, who was 17 at the time of the incident, are charged with Second Degree Murder. 23 year old Charles Michael Lewis McLean of North Battleford is charged with Manslaughter. All of the accused are facing a variety of other charges as well.

McLean, Ballantyne, and Melko were remanded in custody to appear in North Battleford Provincial Court Tuesday. No court date has been set for the 18 year old.