The following are updates throughout the second day of the Myles Sanderson inquest in Saskatoon.
Content Warning: the following contains distressing details.
4:49
The inquest then heard from two RCMP officers who were apart of the arrest of Myles Sanderson.
Brianne Hathaway, who was in an unmarked police vehicle when she located the stolen Chevrolet Avalanche Sanderson was driving in. She would tail him before the high-speed pursuit on Highway 11 began.
The other RCMP officer to testify Tuesday afternoon was Heidi Marshall who performed the “pit maneuver” during the high-speed chase that disabled Sanderson’s vehicle.
Hathaway, who testified at the inquest via video, spoke on how she spotted the Avalanche on the highway and the steps she took to confirm it was the stolen vehicle, which included identifying the license plate. She would tail Sanderson for several kilometres before the high-speed chase would commence.
Hathaway also attended with paramedics to Sanderson transportation to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon where he was pronounced deceased. Hathaway was tasked with taking photographs of Sanderson in the hospital after his death. The inquest jury were shown these photos.
(The inquest would experience a delay as there were some technical difficulties with Hathaway appearing via video.)
The final witness of Tuesday was RCMP Officer Heidi Marshall who detailed the “pit” maneuver that she did to disable the vehicle Myles Sanderson was travelling in during a high-speed pursuit on Highway 11.
Marshall would become emotional at points during her testimony as she talked about approaching Rosthern where the high-speed pursuit with Sanderson would begin.
The video of the pursuit would again be shown to the inquest with Marshall providing her input.
She says due to the speed and the risk to oncoming traffic it was very difficult to perform a “pit” maneuver as Sanderson was travelling southbound in the northbound lane. Marshall says the speeds they were travelling were between 135 and 155 km/hr.
Coroner’s counsel Hawryluk asked Marshall what was going through her mind during the chase and Marshall responded that she has two little kids becoming emotional. “When we were travelling at such high speeds, I was thinking I was going to leave my kids without a mom.” She then said those thoughts quickly left her mind and she focused on the task at hand.
When Sanderson transferred to the southbound lane Marshall says the immobilization maneuver was opened up to her in a safer manner as there was no oncoming traffic. However, she recognized the risk for herself was still there. We have heard evidence from other law enforcement officials who had high praise for Marshall successfully completing the Pit Maneuver.
Hawryluk asked what she relied upon to complete the maneuver. Marshall said she wouldn’t be able to tell you at the time, but mentioned the driving techniques she was taught while training for the RCMP. She also highlighted active shooter training, which she said when an event is leading to an imminent safety risk officers are trained to immediately go and take care of the threat.
She said her objective at this point was to get Sanderson off the road with little to no harm to anyone else.
“I needed to just get him off the road,” she said.
The video then showed the moment Marshall performed a successful immobilization maneuver forcing Sanderson off the road leading to his arrest.
Marshall was then asked about Sanderson’s demeanor when he was taken into custody. She says Sanderson began yelling at officers saying they should have shot him, which could be seen on the video. Marshall then spoke on the moment Sanderson went into medical distress and began to collapse. As well, she spoke on the recovery of the plastic bag that would contain the remnants of the cocaine Sanderson ingested. Marshall, like other officers, would speak on the concerns that the bag contained fentanyl.
The officer than described the moments leading up to Sanderson in medical distress where she testified his mannerisms didn’t look staged and there were some legitimate health issues developing. She also testified Sanderson had blood coming from one of his nostrils and described a brownish foam coming from his mouth, and that his lips were starting to turn grey.
“I felt like he was dying,” she said.
At this point she spoke about the administration of naloxone, which the inquest learned would have had no affect as Sanderson was overdosing on cocaine not fentanyl. Marshall described the life-saving attempts made by other RCMP officers before EMS arrive to take over medical care.
Myles Sanderson’s uncle Ernie Head addressed Marshall and shared in her grieving. He invited her to James Smith Cree Nation to join in the healing that the community is currently undertaking.
The inquest was then adjourned to resume Wednesday morning.
2:16
Following Dr. Shawn Ladham was Dr. Jennifer Billinsky who provided the toxicology report to the inquest.
Dr. Billinsky, who has a Phd. in toxicology, was also declared an expert witness.
Billinsky confirmed a very high level of cocaine in Sanderson’s bloodstream. She said it was the highest cocaine level she has seen in her career. She says Sanderson’s blood was tested for fentanyl and it did not contain any levels of that drug.
Billinsky and Hawryluk also looked at overdoses across the province in 2022. Billinsky says of over 1000 toxicology reports she did nearly 500 could be contributed to an overdose.
Billinsky says there is no antidote for cocaine overdose like Naloxone would be for an opioid overdose.
The inquest then looked at a report from a federal lab that examined the sample collected by the Saskatoon Police Service and the sample was again determined to be cocaine. The cocaine was also deemed to be of higher purity, which she says would make it more potent.
Billinsky believes a high level of cocaine in Sanderson’s system could have contributed to his antics after his arrest.
1:52
The inquest continued Tuesday afternoon with testimony from Dr. Shawn Ladham, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Sanderson.
Dr. Ladham was qualified as an expert witness. He has performed over 5000 autopsies in his career.
Ladham would go through his autopsy report of Sanderson with the inquest. Ladham found that there was a lethal level of cocaine toxicity in Sanderson at the time of the autopsy. Dr. Ladham confirmed there were no external injuries on Sanderson and says other findings withing the autopsy showed his death was consistent with a drug overdose.
The brain was also saved to do a further neurological testing. Ladham says there was nothing of note to come from this testing.
Ladham then read out his opinion that the cause of death was cocaine toxicity. He called it an acute cocaine overdose. Ladham says cannabis was also in the system, but says that didn’t contribute to his death.
He says a significant narrowing of arteries in the heart were consistent with a coccaine overdose. He explained to the inquest why that would be the case. He says typically cocaine will breakdown in a system after someone’s death, so with there still being a large level of cocaine in his system Ladham called the presence of cocaine a “very high level.”
While Ladham says the cocaine itself was enough to kill Sanderson, he also says previous heart issues Myles Sanderson had also contributed to the overdose death.
Ladham says because it was a cocaine overdose and not an opioid overdose, the naloxone doses that the RCMP administered would have had no affect.
12:19
Video is played of the arrest of Sanderson and the immediate aftermath.
The video shows officers yelling at Sanderson to exit the vehicle with their guns drawn. Officers would tackle Sanderson to the ground where he was placed in handcuffs and officers would inform him, he is under arrest.
There is video of Sanderson moving his hands to his face multiple times before his arrest. Kane concludes that he was ingesting cocaine before he was pulled out of the vehicle. A clear plastic bag with white powder would be recovered as evidence.
After his arrest Sanderson makes several disturbing comments to officers including “you should have shot me you F—ing pig.” Sanderson also asked officers “How many bodies did I get?” and says “I’m ready to die.”
The video shows Sanderson’s breathing start to change and you hear him start breathing heavier and heavier. He also appears to start stumbling. At this point Sanderson begins to collapse. Officers ask if he has injuries or if he took anything. Sanderson tells the officer he took meth. The officers then call for EMS.
Naloxone was administered to Sanderson by RCMP officers and life-saving attempts were made. Paramedics then arrive on scene to take over the life-saving attempts.
At this point, RCMP officers locate the plastic bag with white powder and a rolled up $20 bill.
The video will then show paramedics place Sanderson on a back board where he re-located out of the video into the back of an ambulance. Sanderson would be transported to RUH in Saskatoon where a presiding physician would pronounce him dead.
Detective Kane would then return to his report with Hawryluk. He spoke on how RCMP was able to determine the type of drugs used by Sanderson prior to his death. He says they suspected it was fentanyl, but were unable to determine exactly what it was in the immediate aftermath of Sanderson’s death.
However, he says a follow up test came back with a positive result of cocaine.
Kane then went through the SPS involvement relating to Myles Sanderson and the warrants for his arrest before the tragedy. He would go through what the SPS had done to administer the warrant and arrest Sanderson.
He says the SPS does not have a dedicated warrant team to seek out and arrest people on outstanding warrants as the RCMP has. Kane says there is an “appetite” within the SPS to have a similar unit.
A lawyer representing the Saskatchewan RCMP had Kane read out a conclusion on the collision between Sanderson and the Avalanche he was driving and the RCMP officer.
The report confirmed that the collision did not cause any injury to Myles Sanderson. The report also spoke on Kane being impressed with the “pit maneuver” that disabled the vehicle Sanderson was in leading to his arrest.
Kane was then asked about pit maneuver training, which he says is only provided at under 80 km/hr because it is difficult to predict what would happen at greater speeds. The pit maneuver performed by the RCMP officer to push Sanderson into the ditch was done at speeds around 140 km/hr.
SPS Detective Ken Kane would finish his testimony as the inquest adjourned for a lunch break. The inquest will return Tuesday afternoon with testimony from forensic pathologist Dr. Shawn Ladham.
10:32
Saskatoon Police Service Detective Ken Kane with the Major Crimes unit, who led the investigation into the death of Myles Sanderson was the first testimony on Tuesday.
Coroner’s Counsel Tim Hawryluk spoke with Kane about his history in law enforcements, which comes with over two decades of experience.
Kane says SPS became involved in the matter after Sanderson’s death. Kane was appointed to lead the investigation in the circumstances around the death of Sanderson in the custody of the RCMP. The SPS Detective says he was looking at any acts or omissions from the RCMP that could have led to Sanderson’s death.
Kane spoke on how an investigation like this is undertaken, speaking on the designation of roles and responsibilities.
Kane says the investigation team interviewed all of the RCMP officers who were involved in the arrest of Sanderson saying a total of 15 officers were interviewed. The detective says he did not interview every officer who responded to the call, only the officers involved in the arrest. The investigation was also given access to all of the evidence gathered by the RCMP that could be necessary to investigating Sanderson’s death. He says this information was “readily” given over.
His report provides a conclusion that based on the evidence, there is no indication that the RCMP officers contributed or caused the death of Myles Sanderson.
Kane also spoke on the pathology report done on Sanderson and says the preliminary result showed no external injuries to Sanderson, which means neither the RCMP or the maneuver that forced Sanderson into the ditch caused his death.
The SPS detective also spoke on the damage which was dealt to the Chevrolet Avalanche, which Sanderson was driving. He says the damage was minimal. The damage was limited to a broken lens cover and some minor denting. The damage on the RCMP vehicle was also considered minor as well. The vehicle was still operable after the collision and Kane described the damage as “cosmetic.”
Kane called the degree of contact between the RCMP vehicle and Avalanche appropriate, saying he was “impressed” by the control which the pit maneuver was executed, saying it could have been a far worse collision.
“To say that she perfectly executed this is not an over-Statement,” said Kane.
While he says some RCMP officers should be trained in this type of technique – he says the cost and time of the training may not be necessary given the rarity of these types of situations. He also says given the speed of the chase he says training isn’t provided for that level of speed. Kane says it was right decision for the RCMP to call for the “pit maneuver” to disable Sanderson’s vehicle.
Kane then detailed many things Sanderson said to the arresting officers before he went into medical distress.
According to Kane, Sanderson told arresting officers they should have shot him. At one point Sanderson says he is “ready to die.” He also asked officers “how many bodies did I get?”
At this point Sanderson begins to convulse. An officer asks if he takes anything and the officer reports Sanderson told him meth. Two naloxone kits are administered to Sanderson. A bag with white powder is recovered. Life Saving methods are then undertaken. Paramedics arrive and Sanderson is placed in an ambulance and taken to hospital where he is eventually pronounced deceased.
The inquest then adjourned for 15 minutes before a video was to be played of the aftermath of Sanderson’s arrest.
6:00
The inquest into the manhunt, apprehension and eventual death of Myles Sanderson continues Tuesday.
Sanderson killed 11 people in a a mass stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation and the community of Weldon in September 2022.
A full recap of Day 1 of the inquest can be found here.
Monday’s testimony saw an intense video of RCMP dash cam footage of the final moments of the police pursuit of Sanderson.
Sanderson would lead officers on a high-speed chase on the wrong side of Highway 11 before police would eventually disable his vehicle leading to his arrest.
On Tuesday, the inquest will see the remainder of the video, which will show the aftermath of Sanderson’s arrest.
The video will be played during the testimony of a Saskatoon Police Service detective who investigated Sanderson’s in-custody death.
A forensic pathologist, a toxicologist, and two RCMP officers are also scheduled to testify.
(Photo: a display at last month’s inquest in Melfort. Photo by Michael Joel Hansen.)