Murray Wood: It's getting better all the time
Even if it seems - as the rejoinder in the Beatles' song observed - 'it couldn't get much worse,' Murray Wood suggests w...
The Saskatchewan RCMP is clearing the late Damien Sanderson of committing any of the murders during the mass stabbings on the September long weekend.
“Evidence collected and analyzed by investigators to date have determined Damien was involved in the initial planning and preparation for the attacks on Sept. 4,” Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, told reporters during a media conference in Regina on Thursday.
But Blackmore also said investigators have determined Damien did not commit any of the murders, and that he was killed by his brother, Myles.
“After completing 250 interviews, processing over 670 exhibits (and) reviewing and following up on over 100 9-1-1 calls for service, investigators have determined that Damien Sanderson was a victim of homicide by Myles Sanderson,” Blackmore said. “Myles Sanderson committed all of the homicides alone.”
Ten people — nine on the James Smith Cree Nation and one in Weldon — died in the attacks, which also injured 18 people.
Damien Sanderson was found dead on the James Smith Cree Nation on Sept. 5. Given Blackmore’s comments Thursday, Damien is now considered the 11th murder victim.
Myles Sanderson was the subject of a provincewide manhunt after the murders.
He was captured by RCMP officers south of Rosthern on Sept. 7, but went into medical distress shortly after his arrest. He was transported to a Saskatoon hospital, where he died.
“All charges related to this investigation have been withdrawn by the Crown following the deaths of Damien and Myles Sanderson,” Blackmore said.
The assistant commissioner said the Sandersons were actively selling drugs in the community Sept. 3 and were involved in at least three violent altercations before the murders, which weren’t reported to police at the time.
Sen. Denise Batters has raised questions about the RCMP’s actions before the attacks, and has called on the federal government to demand answers from the Mounties.
During Thursday’s media conference, Blackmore laid out a partial timeline — including that Damien had stolen a car on the James Smith Cree Nation on Sept. 3 and had provided police with a false identity when he was initially located in a house with six other people.
Blackmore said RCMP officers could only refer to a photo of Damien from 2014 when they were searching for him that night and his appearance had changed significantly, so they weren’t able to recognize him.
Though the Mounties had apparently been close to finding Damien just before the attacks happened, Blackmore said whether officers could have prevented the mass stabbings is just speculation.
“We had no indication that there had been violence committed,” she said. “The assaults that had occurred were not reported to police prior to the mass casualty events that occurred on the Fourth of September and we had no reason to believe that they were going to commit those events. We had no information or intelligence leading us to believe that.”
The RCMP is still trying to complete a timeline of what happened, so Blackmore couldn’t answer questions as to when Damien was killed, whether he was involved in hurting any of the victims who survived, or whether either of the brothers was ever really in Regina as had been suggested.
“We understand the significant interest in this investigation and know there are still many questions left unanswered. Many of these answers will be released during the coroner’s inquest scheduled to take place in 2023,” said Blackmore.
The same goes for a motive for the rampage.
“This will take time to complete,” Blackmore said of the investigation, “and the reality is we may never really know exactly why (it happened).”
Blackmore also didn’t answer questions about Myles’ death in police custody, saying it would be up to the independent investigation being done by the Saskatoon Police Service to release any information on that.
Saskatchewan’s chief coroner, in announcing inquests would be held, had indicated that no more information would be released to the public. But Blackmore said the RCMP believed this an important enough situation to depart from that.
“We felt today it was important to let the public know and let the family of the victims know the extent of Damien’s involvement in the actual homicides,” she said. “That’s a very important piece to them when it comes to their processing of the incident and their healing.”
