By a landslide vote by Citizen readers, the Prince George newsmaker of the year is Cst. Aaron Kehler, the RCMP officer who pulled over Cody Legebokoff in 2010, leading to his conviction this year for murdering four women.
In the online poll, Kehler took a resounding 49 per cent of the vote with a total of 323 votes.
Coming in at 17 per cent was Greg Pocock and the new owners of the Prince George Cougars with 114 votes.
The striking teachers took 13 per cent of the vote with a total of 87 votes, while snow removal from city roads and former Mayor Shari Green each took 10 per cent of the votes for a total of 67 votes each.
There was a total of 658 online votes.
The Citizen took the online poll a step further and asked readers to vote by e-mail as well.
For the e-mail portion of votes, there was a total of 33 e-mails received with a resounding 28 voting in favour of Kehler and five for Pocock.
Kehler pulled Legebokoff over on the night of Nov. 27, 2010 when he saw him driving onto Highway 27 from a rarely used logging road about 40 kilometres north of Vanderhoof and pulled him over.
He noticed blood on Legebokoff's face and clothes, sparking a series of events that led to the discovery of the lifeless but still-warm body of Loren Donn Leslie, a legally-blind 15-year-old girl, that soon turned into a wider investigation.
A jury found Legebokoff guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Leslie, Jill Stacey Stuchenko and Cynthia Maas, both 35, and Natasha Lynn Montgomery, 23.
Along with the e-mail votes some readers wanted to make their case for how they chose to cast their vote for newsmaker of 2014.
Here are some of the messages received that accompanied the e-mail votes.
I would like to vote for Cst. Kehler for newsmaker of 2014. I have worked with this man every day for the past 1.5 years. He is a selfless man who would do anything for his family or a coworker. He is an exceptional police officer and terrific friend. He does not say a lot about his experience in the north as I think he has seen a lot of troubling crimes. I think it was fate that this young constable pulled over that man and no doubt stopped many more vicious attacks of innocent women. Thanks for the consideration.
Cst. Erin Moar Langley RCMP
I vote for RCMP Cst. Aaron Kehler as PG news maker of the year.
It may have been luck that Cst. Kehler stopped the killer that day, but it was not blind luck. He used knowledge, training and instinct to make the arrest. It would have been easy to just shrug his shoulders and keep driving. Not only did he use good judgment to pull him over he used good judgment and training in questioning him.
The other candidates for news maker of the year are both worthy, however, Cst. Kehler's action has a deeper and broader effect on society, not just in PG but BC and Canada.
Warren Burkinshaw
Hi there,
I vote for Cst. Aaron Kehler for PG's 2014 newsmaker. If not for his following through with due diligence, the serial killer he apprehendedmay still be committing acts of murder today. With all the hostility towards police in the news these days, this story shows that police officers have a crucial job to do and they deserve our respect and cooperation. I'm so proud of Cst. Kehler for his excellent work in this file, and also deeply grateful for all our RCMP officers who worked together to bring some closure to the families of the slain women.Merry Christmas!
Tanya Rhodes
Cst. Aaron Kehler is very worthy of being selected as the news maker of the year.
Here is a young police officer who is responsible for solving several horrific crimes against women. But of equal importance is that he started a sequence of events that ultimately has prevented the brutal slaying of an unpredictable number of future victims. Mr. L (I refuse to type his name) was a serial killer so young, he potentially had an entire lifetime of crime ahead of him which has now been stopped. At a time when many police stories are undeservedly negative, it would be fitting and uplifting for a local police officer to be recognized by circles other than his own.
I feel that sports stories appeal to sports fans and the sporting community, political stories will either please or displease specific supporters. The teachers strike made many people angry and will soon be forgotten, but you will be hard pressed to find anyone who was not proud of the local cop and the relief, closure and safety he has brought to his communities and surrounding area. These feelings will live on for many years to come for many citizens, but will last a lifetime for those directly involved.
C.W. (Chris) Knight
