Former B.C. Mountie involved in high-profile murder case loses negligence claim

A former Vernon RCMP officer involved in a high-profile murder trial won't be paid for damages after he alleged the RCMP mishandled an investigation against him.

Const. Milan Ilic was the first RCMP officer on the scene of the murder of 18-year-old Taylor Van Diest of Armstrong, B.C., on Oct. 31, 2011.

Ilic sued the Attorney General of Canada and B.C.'s Justice Minister for harassment, intimidation, and abuse of authority — claiming the investigation was negligent, causing him post-traumatic stress disorder — after his superiors accused him of drinking the night Van Diest was found.

In her judgment, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth said she was not persuaded that the 20 alleged breaches resulted in the injury Ilic was claiming.

"I have found no liability ... against any of the RCMP officers who were involved in the Code investigation and process," Forth wrote. "As such, there is no finding of any vicarious liability."

In his suit, Ilic alleged the gruesome murder was just the start of a personal nightmare at the hands of his superiors, who accused him of having a drinking problem and of throwing away a liquor bottle at the crime scene.

Ilic says the scene he stumbled upon was so disturbing, he suffered from PTSD.

Van Diest — dressed as a zombie for Halloween — was barely clinging to life after a vicious sexually–motivated attack. She died the next day from traumatic head injuries.

As the investigation into her murder progressed, the lawsuit stated, "a square empty liquor bottle [was] found in the bushes 25 metres from the body two days into the investigation."

On March 24, 2014, Ilic was scheduled to be one of the first witnesses in the trial of Matthew Foerster, then 27, who went on to be convicted of Van Diest's murder. 

Asked if he had thrown a bottle

Ilic's lawsuit stated, "Immediately before [giving] testimony he was approached by defence counsel and asked whether he had thrown a bottle out of his pocket at the scene," something he immediately denied.

But the civil action noted "a witness testified in the trial that she saw a police officer at the scene discard a bottle."

Ilic later told RCMP investigators that the only thing he had thrown away at the scene was a box of pens, as he emptied out his jacket before placing it on Van Diest.

Ilic claimed he was subjected to months of suspicion and investigation — officially suspended from the force in Aug. 2014 and ordered to surrender his RCMP identification card, badge and all RCMP-issued firearms.

In 2019, Ilic received a medical discharge from the RCMP.

Justice Forth wrote that while she found Ilic was being truthful about not drinking on the job the night of the murder, she wasn't convinced his claim of suffering PTSD was due to the investigation.

Ilic's claim was dismissed entirely.