Manitoba RCMP arrested this man for public intoxication. Security video shows why he didn't survive the night
5-day inquest revealed what happened to John Ettawakapow the night he died
Jeremy Ettawakapow waited years to learn what happened the night his father died in RCMP custody. Following a five-day inquest last month, he knows the tragedy could have been prevented.
"He could have had another day. He could have another month, could have another year.… That's something that I'm very heartbroken about," he said on June 21, the last day of the inquest.
Jeremy Ettawakapow sat through five days of testimony, during which he learned what happened to his father, John Ettawakapow, in his final moments after he was arrested for public intoxication in the northern Manitoba town of The Pas.
The inquest is where Jeremy first watched security video from Oct. 5, 2019 — the night of John Ettawakapow's arrest — which shows his father dragged into the cell by two RCMP officers and left on the floor with two other inmates, just after 7 p.m.
The video shows about an hour later, another inmate later rolled over and accidentally placed his leg on his father's neck, where it remained for 40 minutes.
John Ettawakapow struggled to remove it himself, the video shows, but no one entered the cell until hours later.
WATCH | Security video from RCMP cell (WARNING: video is disturbing):
CBC obtained a copy of the video through the courts, but with restrictions imposed by provincial court Judge Brian Colli, who presided over the inquest. CBC cannot show the RCMP officers bringing Ettawakapow into the cell, or the paramedics working on him after he was found unresponsive, in order to protect their privacy.
RCMP policy says a person in custody must be physically checked on every 15 minutes — which several RCMP officers admitted at the inquest they didn't know.
The only way to look into Ettawakapow's cell is to physically open the window — something the video shows didn't happen until 1:30 a.m.
That was when the RCMP watch commander opened the cell, finding Ettawakapow unresponsive. He began administering CPR, but too late for Ettawakapow, who was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.
Howard Morton, who served as the director of the Ontario's Special Investigations Unit — the province's police watchdog agency — from 1992 to 1995, watched the video and said it showed how poorly police can treat intoxicated people.
"It's just inhumane. We have to treat all of us better, and particularly if you have a major, major health issue like alcohol addiction," he told CBC.
"We have to be more humane in the way we treat them."
The most egregious error in Ettawakapow's treatment was the lack of checks, Morton said.
"The individual was not physically checked for some five hours and 15 minutes, which is just unconscionable," he said.
Could have 'lived to see another day': counsel
Jeremy Ettawakapow had standing in the inquest, meaning he was able to question witnesses.
That included asking Dr. John Younes, Manitoba's chief medical examiner, the question that's weighed on his mind for five years — if his father had been taken to the hospital instead of a jail cell, would he have lived?
"What I can say is had the leg not been across Mr. Ettawakapow's neck … there is every reason to believe he may have survived this period of time in the cell," Younes replied.
It was heartbreaking to hear, "because that gave me confirmation" of something he always believed, said Jeremy.
Manitoba's police watchdog investigated Ettawakapow's death but ultimately cleared police of any wrongdoing.
Inquests, which are called any time a person dies in police custody, do not find fault or criminal responsibility, but determine the circumstances surrounding the death and whether anything can be done to prevent similar deaths in the future.
After inquest hearings, the inquest counsel and counsel for the federal Department of Justice can make recommendations, which the judge may include in the final report.
Brenna Dixon, counsel for the federal Department of Justice, told the court the RCMP's cell-guarding policy was missed on the day Ettawakapow died.
"Certainly through the evidence we heard in this inquest, it has become evident that RCMP policy was not followed," she said.
Ben Wickstrom, the counsel for the inquest, told the court the purpose of an inquest "isn't to look for someone to blame, but take a long hard look at how we do things."
He said if there was somewhere in The Pas to house intoxicated people other than in police detention, Ettawakapow's life could have been saved.
"Mr. Ettawakapow would have lived to see another day," said Wickstrom.
While the federal government doesn't have the authority to make RCMP policy changes, Dixon said her department's "ears are open" to what the judge ultimately recommends.
Hope for change: son
Jeremy Ettawakapow hopes his father will be remembered as a skilled carpenter who raised his kids by himself, before falling into addiction.
During the inquest, everyone who spoke of John said he was a happy man, who was always smiling and never aggressive — something that gave Jeremy comfort.
"He was very joyful, kind. He wasn't bothersome to anybody," Jeremy said.
He's in his final year of university, where both he and his wife are training to be teachers. When they graduate, they plan to head to Chemawawin Cree Nation, a small community about 125 kilometres southeast of The Pas that is in desperate need of teachers.
He hopes that things change following the inquest, and that more care will be given to anyone housed in a jail cell.
"The answers that were given were what I needed to hear. And then the most important question I've had for the last almost five years was: Would [he] have had a chance?
"And now that I've heard it, it's heartbreaking."
WATCH | Closure for a son:
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