Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

A convicted killer from the United States who entered Canada illegallly to meet a woman he’d fallen in love with over the Internet will be deported after he is released from a Winnipeg jail.

Robert Rowelson, 39, was arrested last week while walking down Hwy. 12 near Sprague. He pleaded guilty days later to illegally entering the country and was sentenced to 45 days behind bars. He will be deported upon completion of his sentence.

“He wanted to come across the border to Winnipeg to meet the love of his life,” defence lawyer Randy Minuk told court.

“This was an Internet romance that acted as an aphrodisiac and tempted him to do what he’s done.”

Rowelson was released from prison just last year after serving 11 years for manslaughter. He stabbed a man named Danny Gore to death during a 1996 bar fight in Nebraska.

Rowelson was also convicted of fleeing from his work release program last year, which resulted in some additional time behind bars.

Crown attorney Steve Christie said Rowelson first tried to enter Canada in February through the Sprague border crossing. He told officials he had no prior criminal record, but was quickly caught in a lie when they did a computer check.

Rowelson was denied entry and told not to attempt another crossing.

On May 20, Canada Border Services officials got a tip that Rowelson had tried again and was successful. They notified RCMP, who found Rowelson just west of Sprague. He told police he’d snuck into Canada through the bush to avoid getting grilled by border guards.

“He said he was coming to Winnipeg, but that he had changed his mind and was instead going to go to Alaska,” said Christie.

“He said he’d gotten a ride up to the border crossing by a guy named Dave in a brown car.”

Provincial court Judge Ron Meyers questioned why Rowelson’s Internet girlfriend didn’t visit him in the U.S. instead of him attempting another risky entry.

“Why didn’t he just say to her ‘I was turned back, if you really love me, then join me down here’?” asked Meyers.

“He should have. But what can I say? Love makes people stupid,” replied Minuk.

“Well, she’s a very considerate woman,” said Meyers.

Rowelson is a father of two and will miss his son’s high school graduation next month because he will still be in jail, said Minuk. He also gave up his job as a carpet layer in order to follow his heart and come to Canada.

The woman — who is aware of Rowelson’s criminal history — still plans to continue a relationship with him and will travel to the U.S. in the future, said Minuk.

The unusual case harkens back memories of another lovestruck American criminal who paid a stiff price for passion.

Charles Gonsoulin, 44, lost eight fingers and toes to frostbite after getting caught in the icy grip of a brutal Manitoba winter while trying to walk from Pembina, North Dakota to Winnipeg in 2005.

The California native — who had a 20-year-old robbery conviction that denied him legal entry to Canada — was trying to get to Quebec to pursue an online romance.

Instead, RCMP found him on the brink of death, knee-deep in snow on an Emerson golf course and suffering from severe hypothermia after spending 100 straight hours outside.

Gonsoulin pleaded guilty and was sent back to the U.S. without ever meeting his girlfriend.

“I was a desperate man who resorted to desperate means to be with the woman I love,” he told the Free Press in a jailhouse interview.