Inquest To Be Held Into Sudden Death Of Man In Police Cells

By Robert Thomas

The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Office will be holding a coroner’s inquest into a sudden death of a 40 year old man that occurred at the Moose Jaw Police Service’s holding cells on October 7, 2021.

In a written statement to MJ Independent the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Office said “A decision to hold an inquest regarding this death in custody was made subject to the requirement set out in Section 20 of The Coroners Act, 1999.”

Section 20 of The Coroners Act, 1999 “states that the Chief Coroner shall hold an inquest into the death of a person who dies while an inmate at a jail or a correctional facility, unless the coroner is satisfied that the person's death was due entirely to natural causes and was not preventable.”

The statement from the Saskatchewan Corner’s Office said the inquest is not to find blame but to determine the causes of what happened and to prevent a reoccurrence.

“The Saskatchewan Coroners Service is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, unexpected deaths. The purpose of an inquest is to establish who died, when and where that person died and the medical cause and manner of death. The jury and the inquest coroner may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.”

No date(s) were given as to when the coroner’s inquest would be held

In addition to the statement from the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Office the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety issued a statement that the investigation into the death by the Regina Police Service is now completed.

“This investigation was conducted by the Regina Police Service and is now complete,” the Ministry wrote in a statement.

The statement also included the role the government had in observing the investigation.

“The investigation was monitored under the province’s independent observer program, prior to SIRT coming into force in January 2023. The previous legislation required investigations into police-related incidents involving serious injury or death to have an investigation observer assigned to them by the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General,” the statement read.

The statements were issued in response to questions from MJ Independent.

In those questions this publication asked about the validity of the man identified as the alleged deceased as well as the alleged details of the sudden death provided by reliable sources.

The Ministry did not respond as to the validity of those details along with documentation provided by MJ Independent.

The details provided to the Ministry additionally included disciplinary actions allegedly already taken at the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) in reaction to the findings by the Regina Police Service (RPS). Those findings included not following appropriate search procedures of a prisoner according to sources familiar with the incident.

According to a press release issued by the Moose Jaw Police Service at the time of the sudden death officers had been speaking with the 40 year old man just moments before his body was discovered.

Immediate attempts were made by officers to resuscitate the man who were quickly joined by EMS.

Those resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

Under the Police Act the MJPS requested an outside police force - the RPS - to conduct an investigation.

The MJPS also requested the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety appoint an investigation observer. 

No cause of death was ever given with the MJPS stating they could not provide further comment citing the ongoing investigation.