Michael “Shesley Free Mike” Oros (1952 -1985)
Michael Oros was a young American who settled in Alaska first and then sought asylum in Canada. He established one of his camps on the Shesley River near the site of the old Shesley telegraph station. He built an octagonal cabin less than a mile from the base camp of Fletcher Day, a veteran outfitter whose stepfather had come north during the Klondike gold rush. Day helped Oros get settled but Oros trapped beaver on Days trap line out of season. Day reported Oros to the wardens and Oros threatened to kill him.1)
In 1981, Oros built a camp at Hutsigola Lake, just south of Teslin Lake. Gunter Lishy, a trapper from Atlin, moved into the area and started to build a cabin nearby. Oros considered the area his; he shot Lishy in the back and buried his body near the lake. The police suspected Oros but had no body, so they detained him for more than five months and then set him free. Three years later, he was still living in the bush looking for signs of imaginary tormentors. He spent part of the winter of 1984-85 in a vacant vacation cabin south of the village of Teslin not far from Teslin Lake. He carted most of the furnishings to his cabin at Hutsigola Lake and then used the cabin to butcher the game he killed during the winter. The owner reported the devastation to the police in the spring and Oros was the prime suspect being the only one in the area.2)
The police went out to look for him but Oros shot at the plane. The RCMP brought in their Emergency Response Team to capture him. He was spotted on the Teslin Lake ice and a helicopter went out with two teams of three men to cut him off from the bush, but Oros evaded them. He circled behind and shot Michael Buday dead and attempted to shoot a second officer, but his gun misfired and he was killed. Several months later an officer stumbled across the remains of Gunter Lishy.3)
The deceased Michael Buday was an eight-year veteran with the RCMP with special training in dog-handling and in emergency response tactics. He was born in Brooks, Alberta and based in Terrace, British Columbia.4)