Chantel Moore's family haunted 'day and night' after viewing her body in B.C.

Four months after Chantel Moore was fatally shot by the Edmundston police, her grieving relatives say one of the reasons they flew her body back to Vancouver Island, where Chantel had spent most of her life, was they had hoped to get a second autopsy.  

While Chantel's mother, Martha Martin, did not provide an interview to CBC last week, three of Chantel's relatives from British Columbia did agree to speak about what they tried to do to get to the truth. 

"Here, the Nuu-chah-nulth-speaking peoples, we will help in whatever way we can," said Joe Martin, Chantel's great uncle, speaking from Tofino.

Chantel's grandmother, Grace Frank, said Chantel was part of a large, extended family of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, and she had only recently moved to New Brunswick to be closer to her daughter, who was living with Martha Martin. 

Then came the shocking news. On June 4, the police reported they had been responding to a request to check on Chantel's well-being around 2:30 a.m., when she confronted an officer with a knife and he discharged his firearm. 

Because the shooting involved a police officer, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes was brought in from Quebec to investigate.

Frank and Joe Martin said the family didn't believe the Edmundston force's initial story of what happened, and the longer they stayed in Edmundston, after flying in for her funeral, the more they felt there was much that had gone unsaid. 

It was 'very disturbing' 

"It was two or three days after we had arrived, we began to learn of things, and like, oh my God, this was very disturbing," said the 66-year-old Martin, the eldest in the family's B.C. delegation.

Martin said he spoke to two of Moore's neighbours who lived so close to her apartment that they had a view of the fire escape and stairs outside her door, where it's believed she was shot. He said he also spoke to "three or four" women who cleaned the apartment and packed Moore's belongings.

"I don't know if I should tell you what they told me," he said.

He also went inside the apartment where he said he saw blood spatter on some interior walls, including one of the bedroom walls. 

"I'm a hunter. I know what blood spatters look like," said Martin, who is also a master canoe carver. 

Martin said family members were further unsettled in Edmundston when some of them noticed that Moore didn't look right at the funeral home. 

"I think one of her legs was broken," said Martin, his voice rising in pain.

"I said, 'What the hell? What the hell happened for God's sakes? What the hell?'"

"It was supposed to be a wellness check … I'm furious."

Something 'off' with her leg

Moore's grandmother, Grace Frank, said Moore's leg became a topic of discussion after two relatives visiting at the funeral home tried to put moccasins on her feet.

"They noticed something was wrong with her left leg when they tried to put her moccasins on. They said something was off," said Frank.

Frank said the family was denied a request to inspect Moore closely. 

By then they were convinced that Chantel had suffered a horrific death, so they discussed bringing the body back to B.C., hoping for another chance to see what they wanted to see. 

"We had a little meeting at my daughter's place in Edmundston," said Frank. "We thought by bringing Chantel's body back to B.C., we'd be able to do that ourselves, and that's exactly what we did."

As Frank recollects, it was a B.C. coroner who rejected the idea of an autopsy because it was too late. 

So family members improvised. 

At a funeral home in Parksville, B.C., Frank said, she and two other female relatives were able to view Chantel more freely. Frank said it was upsetting to everyone in the room.

"We believe that something else happened there," she said.

Family inventories injuries

Moore's relatives have said the family was told she was shot five times, but police have not provided such a detail publicly. The family believes Chantel may have been shot seven times.

In Parksville, Frank said, she observed what she believed to be multiple gunshot wounds, including one in Moore's right arm, two in her right breast and one in her leg.

But Frank is also convinced she saw three more injuries that looked like gunshot wounds, on Moore's back, and she said they didn't line up with any wounds to her front.

"They were not in the same spot as where she got shot in the breast," said Frank.

Frank said a funeral home employee offered to lift Moore's leg after giving them a warning.

"You could see where it was broken," said Frank. "It was broken below the kneecap."

Frank said she took photos and some video.

"It's been very hard, holding this stuff on my phone," said Frank. "But I don't want to delete it before I know we get justice."

'We really can't be reckless'

Fredericton lawyer TJ Burke, who represents Moore's estate, said he's in regular contact with the Quebec response team that's investigating the case, but he could not corroborate the family's reports of blood inside the apartment or the additional injuries.

"We really can't be reckless in that regard until we see an actual autopsy report and pathology report, and again, that's not available yet because the way the BEI [Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes] conducts its investigation is that they look at everything in one big picture, analyze it, and then make their conclusions and that's not for public consumption at this point," Burke said.

Burke said BEI Quebec had recently informed him that they had been waiting on a pathology report that may have been delayed as a result of COVID-19.

"They're taking extra precautions to make sure everybody is safe in the biology lab," said Burke.

"Once the pathology report is concluded, they should be able to finish out the final report."

"And once the final report is finished, the detective will meet with myself and representatives of the estate of Chantel to give their findings and conclusions."

It's been like four months now and we still haven't heard anything, only that she was shot and killed.- Grace Frank, Chantel Moore's grandmother

Burke said he's also waiting to hear what exactly compelled police to find Moore.

He confirmed that they first went to Moore's mother's residence and that she redirected them to the apartment where Moore had only just moved in.

"Traditionally, police officers would go to a person's door for the purposes of conducting an investigation and from what I gather, there was no purpose for the officer to be there, except for his reason of a wellness check.

"And until we see the purpose of the telephone call, the dispatch records, and what they call the CAD [computer-aided dispatch] report, as to why the officer got on scene, we can't discuss the specificity at this point."

Family thinks the call came from Montreal

Moore's great aunt, Nora Martin, said she believes the call to police came from a new boyfriend, someone Moore had recently met, who lived in Montreal.

"Chantel's boyfriend called the RCMP because he was worried somebody was stalking Chantel," said Martin, when asked again last week to describe what she knew about the incident.

"Chantel was quite scared that somebody was close to her place … that they knew where she lived."

Moore's grandmother, Grace Frank, said she used to be able to find the man on Facebook, but said he has since unfriended her.

Joe Martin said he would dearly like to see Moore's phone.

"When Chantel was in trouble that night, she was communicating with someone by texting, maybe with someone in Port Alberni, [B.C.] or Montreal, I don't know," Martin said.

"I'm not sure where. We don't know these things because I don't think we got the cellphone back from the police. That cellphone is a key piece of evidence that we have not received."

Pain across generations

Nora Martin said it feels like the BEI's investigation has been dragging on while Moore's extended family lives with the pain of not having concrete answers.

Grace Frank said she has been so consumed with worry  about Moore's six-year-old daughter Gracie, as well as Moore's mother, Martha Martin, she made another trip to New Brunswick about a month ago.

"It's very, very hard," said Frank over the phone from B.C. "Sitting, waiting ... day and night, day and night."

"It's been like four months now and we still haven't heard anything, only that she was shot and killed and had a knife, but I pray every day for the truth to come out."

"It's hard to see my [great] granddaughter talking about her mummy. She misses her mummy."

"'I want to get angel wings so I can go visit my mummy,' that's what she says.

"She misses her mum's cuddles. She misses drawing with her mum. She misses her mom in every way. It just hurts, it breaks my heart to hear her talking like that."

BEI Quebec would only confirm that Moore's fatal shooting is still under investigation and that, on average, their investigations take about eight to nine months to complete.