WARNING: Distressing content.
The Coroner’s Inquest looking in to the mass stabbings on James Smith Cree Nation and the Village of Weldon entered its third day Wednesday.
Wednesday afternoon the inquest heard testimony from one of the first officers to respond to the mass stabbings. Constable Tanner Maynard who along with Constable David Miller were the first two officers to arrive on the First Nation the morning of the mass stabbing.
Maynard said when the call came in he and Miller travelled to the detachment in Melfort before heading to James Smith. On their way to the First Nation more calls came in from people in the community who had been attacked. Due to the serious sounding nature of the call coming from the home of Robert Sanderson, Maynard said the decision was made to travel to that home first. The officer said when he arrived he noticed a man was seriously hurt and was laying in the grass.
“He was not breathing and he had no pulse,” he said.
Maynard left Miller at the first scene to travel to the home where the first call came from. At that scene, Maynard said the resident was injured and was applying pressure to his injuries.
“He was just waiting for an ambulance to come help him,” he said.
Calls continued to come in about more attacks on the First Nation. At a number of those calls Maynard found people who were deceased. In response to the sheer number of calls, Maynard travelled to locations where the most recent calls were coming from. He explained he made the decision to do this with the hope of stopping the violence.
“My goal was to catch our suspect,” he said.
As the most senior officer who was first on scene, Maynard took the role in coordinating much of the early response to the stabbings. This included helping to set up the triage centre at the band office where injured people were brought to be taken to hospital. Maynard said the scene was one of almost organized chaos.
“There were vehicles coming from everywhere,” he said.
Along with responding to the mass stabbing, Maynard along with his partner Miller responded to James Smith when Skye Sanderson, the wife of Damien Sanderson called RCMP to recover her vehicle before the mass stabbing. Maynard explained the two officers traveled out there with more than just the intention of getting the vehicle back.
“Damien was on warrant,” he said.
Eventually the two officers found the vehicle and were allowed to go into the house where they found it. While inside the house they found the keys to the vehicle. In the basement the two officers found a number of people and asked them their names. It has since been learned that one of the men in the basement was Damien, who gave the police a false name. Maynard said the false name did not set off any alarms for him.
“I had heard the name before,” he said.
On cross examination from James Smith Cree Nation lawyer Keith Brown Maynard said he didn’t remember Skye Sanderson pressing him to check the home again for Damien, nor does he remember her telling him that Damien was in the house when she came to get the vehicle.
After Maynard finished his testimony Constable David Miller was called to the witness stand. Miller said he was contacted by Maynard to come to the detachment as they had been called about a stabbing at James Smith. He explained he quickly got ready to respond.
“I immediately got out of bed,” he said.
On the way to the First Nation Miller confirmed the two officers were called about another stabbing which involved a person possibly being dead. When they arrived they found a man dead in the backyard. Miller said he went into the house and found a person with a wound to their neck. Miller said the victim gave him the name of a suspect.
“He said it was Myles Sanderson,” he said.
While Maynard left to respond to other stabbings, Miller stayed at the house to secure the crime scene and wait for the ambulance.
Coroner’s Council Tim Hawryluk asked Miller about searching for Skye Sanderson’s vehicle. Miller said he took Skye’s phone call about wanting to get her vehicle back. He added Skye told him she was afraid of Damien and told him she had pressed charges against him.
“She didn’t want Damien to know she’d phoned police,” he said.
Miller confirmed the two officers found the vehicle in front of a home and located the keys inside the house. When talking to and getting names from people in the basement, Miller said he did not notice anything suspicious.
“The individuals answered clearly and concisely,” he said.
Like his partner, Miller didn’t remember Skye telling them that Damien was present in the house when she arrived to get the vehicle. The officer said he remembered Skye being frustrated with police and that she wanted Damien arrested.
“I would say she was agitated,” he said.
Inquest learns about Melfort RCMP operations
The inquest opened Wednesday morning hearing testimony from the current commander of the Melfort RCMP detachment, Staff Sgt. Ryan Case, who provided testimony about the operations in the detachment area.
Case explained 27 per cent of the files generated in the Melfort detachment fall within the City of Melfort, while James Smith Cree Nation accounts for between nine to 10 per cent of the detachment’s files. The Staff Sgt, who has been with the RCMP for 23 years and worked in a range of communities across Saskatchewan said officers working in Melfort are dealing with more calls and files than many others.
“Their workload is on the higher end,” said Case.
Coroner Blaine Beaven asked the Staff Sgt. about RCMP staffing levels in the province overall, which the Staff Sgt. said are not where he would like them to be.
“Generally, I would say less than desirable,” he said.
When it comes to the use of illegal drugs and the drug trade, Case said it is an issue which is present in many communities in the detachment area.
During his testimony Case was asked about the James Smith Cree Nation security service, which was established after the mass stabbing. He explained the First Nation’s security has helped RCMP, including helping to find suspects in the community. Case said when officers travel to the First Nation they often get in contact with the security.
“They are our go to,” he said.
The Staff Sgt. said there have been talks with leadership from James Smith about posting members to the community directly. Case said having members present in the community is something which he thinks would be a positive. He added community leadership would need to sign off and other levels of government would also need to be involved.
“I would welcome it,” he said.
Keith Brown, the lawyer representing James Smith Cree Nation at the inquest asked Case about RCMP informing First Nations about the release of offenders from custody. Case said he is not aware of any firm policies that are in place governing the release of that kind of information.
“There’s no process of notifying any community,” he said.
The issuing and enforcement of active arrest warrants, which suspect Myles Sanderson was wanted on when he committed the mass stabbings, was also a focus of questioning. While being questioned by lawyer Sean Sass, who is representing the federal ministry of justice at the inquest, Case said enforcement of warrants is part of local officers duties.
“It is on top of the calls for service that are coming in,” he said.
Case explained when it comes to people who are wanted on warrants from different police services, they have access to a Canada wide database which shows people wanted on active warrants. He added there have as well been cases where other police services have reached out Melfort RCMP and asked them to execute a warrant on their behalf. In regards to prioritization, Case testified when possible officers will focus on those who are unlawfully at large or wanted for a violent offence.
The inquest is set to resume Thursday morning at the Kerry Vickar Centre in Melfort.
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