Inquests called into deaths of 7 Manitoba inmates

Inquests have been called into the deaths of seven Manitoba inmates who died behind bars between March 2020 and November 2021.

According to the provincial medical examiner’s office, five of them were found hanging in their cells. Patrick Eaglestick, Curt Harper, Melvis Owen, Farron Rowan, and Adrian Young all lived at Stony Mountain Institution. The string of deaths took place between March and December of 2020.

“The fact that I think five men died by suicide in one year in Manitoba jails is shocking and outrageous and needs to be addressed,” said Corey Shefman, legal counsel for the Ahmo family.

“Unfortunately, delays with inquests have been a long-time problem in Manitoba.”

Nearly a year later, Jesse Thomas was also found unconscious at the federal prison. The medical examiner ruled the death was from drug toxicity.

William Ahmo, meanwhile, suffered cardiac arrest after an altercation with prison guards at Headingley Correctional Institution. Of the officers, Robert Morden was acquitted of all charges this past September.

“One officer was acquitted. There were lots of officers who were involved in holding William down. Before William died, he told those officers over a dozen times, I can’t breathe and they continued to hold him down. There are important policies that need to be changed in Manitoba jails to protect the people in there who have no ability to protect themselves,” said Shefman.

Shefman and Ahmo’s family thought those changes would come sooner. He says they were told the inquest had been called several years ago and was on hold until Morden’s trial ended.

“So to be called some nine months after the proceedings were over, it’s actually quite upsetting for the family because there’s really no explanation that we can think of for that delay.”

He says the wait has been harmful on several fronts.

“The usefulness of the inquest becomes more reduced as time goes on, both because people don’t remember things as well, but also because the main purpose of the inquest is to make recommendations to prevent future similar deaths,” Shefman explained.

The chief medical examiner’s office says the delay stems from the pandemic and wholesale personnel changes. They also attributed it to the ungrouping of the inquests, which they say previously were scheduled to run as a single case.

They say after talking to families and lawyers, they’ve decided to examine each one separately.

“With this direction, there are no concerns regarding the volume of inquests called affecting any of the outcomes as they will each be given their due process in the provincial court,” said the chief medical examiner’s office in a statement.

No dates have yet been set for any of the inquests – but Shefman says he and the Ahmo family are eager to see it move quickly.