Ryan Gatzke’s common-law wife Tashina Peters described how helpless she felt the night he was murdered.
Ryan was shot to death in his Battleford home during a home invasion and attempted robbery on Oct. 18, 2019.
“I just felt so useless because I was six months pregnant and there was nothing I could do,” said Tashina in a phone interview Jan. 23.
When three Terror Squad gang members broke into their home, the couple had already gone to bed after a night out at a casino in North Battleford.
“We were out at the casino for a little bit. We won some money. I think we only won like $1,500 at the casino.”
Tashina said she woke up to a strange noise.
“I heard a rattling at our door and then I woke up right away and that’s when everything went crazy. I woke up Ryan and I told Ryan ‘someone’s in the house’ and he got up and I saw one of them standing there with a gun in Ryan’s face.”
Ryan fought off the intruders and was shot.
“He protected both of us,” said Tashina, referring to her and their unborn child.
“Ryan was laying there in a pool of blood on the floor.”
She cried softly as she recounted the memory.
It’s been just over four years since Ryan’s murder and Tashina still struggles. She takes anxiety medication as well as sleeping pills to deal with her night terrors.
“I think my heart is permanently broken because of this. I’m trying to move on. I’m trying to be strong for our daughter.”
Tashina, who is originally from Eastern Canada, said she had to move out of the Battlefords and Saskatchewan.
“There’s memories everywhere there for me with Ryan. We went everywhere together. We did so much together. Everything would bring back the memories.
“I tried to live there. I just couldn’t. I stayed maybe a year but just couldn’t do it because I was always constantly checking my doors, checking my windows, checking on my kids. I wouldn’t sleep all night until they went to school in the morning and then I would sleep while they were at school.”
She said her four-year-old daughter, Halo, is the spitting image of Ryan and so much like him.
“I sit here and look at his daughter and she looks so much like him and she has his personality. She’s so outgoing. She is so popular in school.”
Tashina said every time Halo sees an airplane she says, “Look mommy, daddy’s up there.”
And she still misses Ryan, a lot.
“I miss his smile, his laugh you know. He was so excited to be a dad. I’ve never seen someone so excited to be a father than him. He was just buying everything and getting everything ready. When he found out that we were pregnant, I’ve never seen him smile so hard in my life.”
Tashina is trying to live a normal life but said many things trigger memories of the horrific night, like the sound of ambulances and police vehicles, or the sound of gunshots in a movie.
“I can’t even watch movies with gun violence. I’m a First Nations person and I can’t even go hunting because it scares me, just the sounds of guns. I’m so traumatized. I can’t go out and go hunting. That is part of my culture. I can’t. I just can’t. It’s too much.”
Tashina said she will never forgive the four people convicted of Ryan’s murder.
She expressed disgust that the Indigenous young offender brought up his childhood abuse as an excuse for his violent crimes.
“I grew up with alcohol. My grandmother went to residential school. I grew up with alcoholic parents. I grew up in the foster care system. I was bounced from home to home. You don’t see me going out and killing people because my grandma went to residential school. That’s not a good enough excuse for him to get off.”
Tashina testified at one of the accused’s trials, which was traumatic.
“I just broke down. I was almost vomiting. I was so sick to my stomach seeing him sitting there crying. Like ‘why are you crying?’ I’m the one who is affected by this and the one that has Ryan’s only child.”
A sentencing hearing was held Jan. 22 for a young offender convicted of manslaughter in Ryan's death. He will be sentenced at a later date.
In June 2023, Jacob Ballantyne was sentenced to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Ballantyne, from Edam, was originally charged with second-degree murder.
In February 2023, Isaac Melko was sentenced to 12 years. Melko, from North Battleford, was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
In March 2022, Charles McLean pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in prison.
This story by SASKTODAY first published on Jan. 23, 2024.
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