Testimony at the coroner’s inquest into the death of 19-year-old John Bob Glen Custer has heard his death was ruled a suicide.
His body was found on November 24, 2013 by staff at the Prince Albert Correctional Centre. Custer had been remanded at the facility on a charge of second-degree murder in relation to the death of Heather Ballantyne of Pelican Narrows. An inquest into Custer’s death is currently taking place in Prince Albert.
Sgt. Shawn Stubbs of the Prince Albert Police was the first witness at the inquest. He was the investigating officer into Custer’s death. Sgt. Stubbs says when he arrived at the correctional centre, he found that Custer appeared to have hung himself using his cell blanket. The investigating officer says Custer may have used a plastic knife and an unknown thread to cut and tie together strips of fabric from the blanket. Sgt. Stubbs then testified that Custer used those strips of fabric to tie around the cage for the smoke detector and hang himself.
Corrections Officer, Darcy Perlitz, says he found Custer hanging from the cage during a check shortly before 6:00am. He says he immediately notified his supervisors and cut Custer down with equipment from an emergency kit. Pertlitz testified Custer’s body appeared stiff when he was taken down.
Other correctional officers spoke about the practice of an hourly check on inmates while on night shift. Officer Todd Smith says these checks are completed to ensure there is a “living and breathing body” in the cell. Smith says while guards are not told specific medical details about an inmate they would be notified if an inmate had suicidal tendencies. Inmates with suicidal tendencies are under constant supervision.
Neil Francoer, supervisor on the night shift in which Custer died, spoke on the practice of pre-filled hourly checks. He says this is a practice that is unacceptable and says guards shouldn’t “sign for checks you don’t do.” Francoer says if a guard does pre-fill his log book corrective action is taken.
The inquest will continue on Tuesday. A jury of six people — five women and one man, three of whom are of Aboriginal decent — will continue to hear testimony detailing the circumstances around Custer’s death during the rest of the inquest. The jury will then take all the evidence heard during the inquest to determine how Custer died and to make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Nine witnesses are expected to testify during the inquest.