(Photo – Darryl Burns, the brother of Gloria Burns speaks with reporters after the inquest learns Myles Sanderson died of a cocaine overdose. Burns spoke on mixed feelings he had while hearing the evidence. Photo by Joel Willick.)
The following is coverage from the third day of the Coroner’s Inquest into the manhunt, apprehension, and death of Myles Sanderson.
Coverage of the first two days of the inquest can be found at the following links: Day 1 – Day 2.
Content Warning: Some of the following details may be distressing
4:22
The final portion of Wednesday’s testimony was provided by two paramedics who attended to the scene – Nic Machan and Calvin Heurer.
Machan appeared through video. He is a member of the Ottawa ERT unit. A paramedic unit based out of the nation’s capital that works closely with the RCMP.
Machan was flown in from Ottawa to provide support in the search for Myles Sanderson. He says he travelled to Saskatchewan by airplane on the evening of September 6.
The paramedic says he was at the RCMP detachment in Saskatoon on September 7 when he heard about the spotting of Sanderson in the white Avalanche. At that point, he is deployed with the RCMP to the area Sanderson is spotted and continues to monitor RCMP radio chatter.
The paramedic says when he arrived on the scene of Sanderson’s arrest, he heard a report from some RCMP officers about what happened – his collapse and the possibility of a drug overdose. Sanderson was unconscious when Machan arrived, however, the paramedic says Sanderson was breathing and had a pulse.
As the most senior medical professional on scene, Machan took over the medical care of Sanderson. He says Sanderson suffered another seizure that lasted about 15-30 seconds. He says after this they could not find a pulse and his breathing became laboured.
Machan was then asked about naloxone and it only being affective for an opioid overdose. Sanderson died from a mixture of a cocaine overdose and heart issues that lead to a cardiac arrest.
He was asked if Sanderson was able to communicate that it was a cocaine overdose if there was any other care paramedics could provide. Machan mention benzo diazepine which could potentially help slow the situation. However, he says it is not a type of antidote as naloxone would be for an opioid overdose. While Machan says he carries this medication on him, Sanderson’s situation worsened and CPR had to be started. He says benzo diazepine would have been a “useless” intervention once Sanderson’s vital signs were absent.
A cardiac monitor was set-up to see what was happening with Sanderson, which Machan says showed a shockable rhythm and a shock was administered.
He says a follow up heart rhythm check showed no electrical activity and never improved.
At this point, Machan says local paramedics arrived where Sanderson was moved into the back of an ambulance. He would attend in the ambulance to RUH.
Local paramedic Calvin Heurer then provided testimony at the inquest. Heurer is an advanced care paramedic who has worked over 20 years in several different locations.
He shared with the inquest that he was at the Rosthern ambulance base when they received the call of the scene of Sanderson’s arrest and him entering medical distress.
Heurer described a phone call he received from a colleague who told him she had almost been hit during the high-speed chase between Sanderson and RCMP officers. He described the highway as being blocked in both directions at the scene of Sanderson’s arrest. The paramedic says they parked the ambulance on the highway and attended the scene.
He says people were administering care when he arrived and wanted to inquire what the situation was. He was advised that Sanderson appeared to be in cardiac arrest and was asked to grab a stretcher and a shot of adrenaline. At this point, Sanderson was loaded onto the stretcher and brought to the back of the ambulance.
Heurer was asked about the roles the three paramedics undertook on the way to the hospital. He says it is important to switch roles when continuously providing chest compressions on an individual. He also says 6 epinephrine doses were administered to Sanderson in the back of an ambulance. The paramedic says epinephrine is designed to help blood pump through the body with the hope the heart rhythm could return to a shockable rhythm.
On arrival at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Heurer says the paramedics would hand over care to a medical team at the hospital.
The inquest then adjourned for the day with the final two witnesses set to testify on Thursday morning.
Ex-partner of Myles Sanderson comments on the inquest
Vanessa Burns, the ex-partner of Myles Sanderson said she was relieved, but emotional in watching RCMP video of Sanderson’s arrest.
She told the media she was triggered when hearing his voice or viewing photographs of September 7, 2022. Yet, she said the testimony and evidence have answered many of her questions.
“How he died. Just the whole how it went down. Seeing it in the video helped with closure,” said Burns. “I hate to say it, but I was kind of relieved. He had no remorse for what he did. I felt that if he did live, he would have been still bugging me, stalking me.”
A pathologist determined that Sanderson died of a cocaine overdose.
He went into medical distress, following a high-speed pursuit with RCMP on Highway 11.
“Even on that day, I really had to see that he really was arrested from [other] people. I was still scared that he wasn’t. Are you sure they really have him? Some friends showed me pictures that he really was arrested,” Burns explained.
Burns is calling for positive changes, such as greater support for domestic violence survivors and enhanced rehabilitation programing for inmates convicted of domestic violence.
(By Dan Jones, with files from Joel Willick)
3:05
The inquest continued on Wednesday afternoon with testimony from RCMP Cst. Sean Nave. Nave, who had previous training as a paramedic before becoming an RCMP officer, would perform medical care on Myles Sanderson before paramedics arrived on the scene of his arrest.
Nave completed his paramedic training in 2000. Following his training, he worked in Regina for 6 years before becoming a member of the RCMP. He is currently serving at the Martensville/Warman RCMP detachment and was stationed there at the time of the Myles Sanderson manhunt.
When the call came in about Sanderson’s sighting in the Wakaw area, Nave and other officers stationed themselves in the Osler area listening to the radio for more information. Nave stayed at the location until they received direct confirmation of where to travel.
When the pursuit on Highway 11 began, Nave says he began travelling North toward the chase. The RCMP officer also says he informed the Prairie Spirit School Division of the situation in case lockdown procedures needed to be implemented.
Nave says they stopped all northbound traffic just north of Hague and prepared a spike belt. He says when the call came in that Sanderson’s vehicle was immobilized, they immediately started travelling northbound toward the scene.
The RCMP officer became emotional when speaking of his worry for his fellow RCMP officers at the scene. He would pause for several moments before saying “I just needed to get up the highway.”
When he arrived at scene, Nave says he noticed Sanderson on the ground and, when he got closer, he realized Sanderson was in medical distress, describing it as “seizure activity.”
The inquest then played video of the medical care Nave applied to Sanderson with Nave providing comments as to what he was doing. The video would be played up to the point paramedics arrived, took over care and moved Sanderson to the back of an ambulance.
Nave had provided two doses of Naloxone to Sanderson. The inquest has learned that Naloxone would have no affect for someone overdosing on a stimulant like cocaine. Nave says in his knowledge officers are allowed to carry Naloxone because there is no way it could harm someone who is not experiencing an opioid (Depressant) overdose, which was the case with Sanderson, who suffered a cocaine (stimulant) overdose. Nave would confirm an administered dose of naloxone would not make matters worse.
Nave says the whole time while administering care, he could not find a pulse.
He says when paramedics took over care, he went to check on the state of some of his fellow officers. Nave specifically mentioned Heidi Marshall, who had performed the “pit” maneuver that disabled Sanderson’s vehicle.
Nave remembers hearing paramedics say there was a shockable rhythm for Sanderson. He says there was a moment when everyone would move their hands off of Sanderson for paramedics to provide a shock.
Nave attended with the ambulance while Myles Sanderson was being transported to hospital in Saskatoon. The RCMP officer says he continued to assist paramedics by performing chest compressions on Sanderson. He says this continued all the way to Royal University Hospital. According to Nave, when arriving at the hospital, a team of medical professionals took over care.
At this point he says he stepped away and was not present when time of death was called.
While Nave says he was unaware at the time that Sanderson was experiencing an overdose on a stimulant he says when he heard this week that was the cause of death, he says it “makes sense.”
10:21
First witness on Wednesday was RCMP Cst. Bill Rowley – one of the officers who arrested Myles Sanderson.
Rowley spoke on where he was when the call came in that Sanderson was spotted in the Crystal Springs area. The RCMP officer says he was in the Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation area, where he was picked up by a fellow RCMP officer, and the two of them headed to the cutoff point which was the intersection of Highway 319 and Highway 11 in Rosthern.
Coroner’s Counsel Tim Hawryluk then spoke with Rowley about the addition of carbide rifles to the RCMP arsenal, which were added following a mass casualty event in Eastern Canada almost a decade ago. Rowley says he had that weapon with him when he responded to the call of the Sanderson sighting.
Rowley then spoke on his perspective of the high-speed chase on Highway 11 south of Rosthern. Rowley says himself and the officer he was with were travelling on the southbound lane, the opposite lane of the several RCMP officers following Sanderson on the other lane. He says they did this to provide a bigger vantage point of what was coming up for the pursuit. Rowley says during the chase he got up to speeds of 167 km/hr.
When the call came in to disable Sanderson’s vehicle, Rowley says that is not something officers typically hear, but he understood it was important to stop the vehicle for public safety. Rowley’s thoughts were that Sanderson was never going to stop for police.
Rowley testified that when Sanderson crossed the median into the southbound lane his speed would be reduced. Rowley then described his vantage point of the “pit” maneuver that disabled Sanderson’s vehicle.
The RCMP officer then spoke on approaching the vehicle for the arrest where he says he expected a knife to be present and possibly a firearm. Rowley was the officer who opened the door of the vehicle, but says he could only see Sanderson’s legs because the airbags had been deployed. He says he wanted to be able to see Sanderson’s hands. At that point, officers instructed Sanderson to show his hands and Rowley testified there was no communication from Sanderson to these orders.
Rowley says he didn’t expect the arrest to go down the way it did saying he was expecting a shootout. Rowley described it as Sanderson having “unfinished business.” Rowley also spoke on the one plus one rule that RCMP officers employ, which is an expectation that if a suspect has one weapon there is a distinct possibility, they will have another one.
Rowley described the actions of Sanderson reaching to the passenger seat beside him and moving his hands back to his mouth. He says he did this three times. The inquest learned this was Sanderson ingesting cocaine, which he overdosed on moments later.
The RCMP officer described Sanderson as resisting arrest when officers tried to put him in to custody. He says officers then forced Sanderson to the ground where handcuffs were successfully placed on him.
Rowley says he was surprised Sanderson was as clean as he was, given he had been on the run for the previous three days. The officer also described Sanderson’s demeanor as “smug” and “arrogant.” He says Sanderson said RCMP should have shot him and asked officers how many “bodies” he got. Sanderson saying these things could be heard on the RCMP dashcam video of the arrest played throughout the inquest.
Rowley then spoke on his perspective on when Sanderson begins to go into medical distress. He says at this point he was supporting Sanderson’s body weight as he began to collapse. Rowley became emotional at this point, pausing before continuing.
“I could feel his body tense up and start to shake,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t good.”
Rowley says he would lay Sanderson on the ground and officers would begin providing medical assistance. Rowley says Sanderson’s eyes began to roll into the back of his head. It was Rowley’s opinion at this time that Sanderson was dying. The RCMP officer says he figured Sanderson was dying of an overdose, but admits it was an assumption at that time.
Rowley then spoke of an RCMP officer who was formerly trained as a paramedic who took over the medical care of Sanderson. This officer would administer two doses of Naloxone before paramedics would arrive. Sanderson would be taken into the ambulance and transported to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon where a presiding doctor pronounced him dead.
6:00
The inquest into the manhunt, apprehension, and death of Myles Sanderson continues on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the inquest is expecting to hear from several more RCMP officers who were involved in arresting Sanderson along with paramedics who attended to the scene.
The inquest is scheduled to run until Friday.