Deadly force: 10 years after fatal encounter with Yukon police, man's family still wants justice
Recent CBC analysis looked at number of people who died in police incidents between 2000 and 2017
This story is part of Deadly Force, a CBC News investigation into police-involved fatalities in Canada.
Relatives of Grant Edwin McLeod, who died in Whitehorse in 2008 after a police encounter, still feel like they haven't seen justice for his death.
He is one of two men who died in Yukon since 2000 while under arrest after violent police altercations. McLeod and Clark Whitehouse, who died in 2003, are now part of a national database compiled by CBC of 461 people who have died in police encounters in Canada since 2000.
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Most Canadians killed in police encounters since 2000 had mental health or substance abuse issues
- How CBC analyzed details of hundreds of fatal encounters between Canadians, police
In 70 per cent of those cases, the deceased had either mental health issues or substance abuse problems, or both.
Further analysis shows that 42 per cent of those who died were mentally distressed, while 45 per cent were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Both McLeod's and Whitehouse's deaths were ruled by coroner's inquests to be accidental due to cocaine overdoses.
No recommendations from Whitehouse inquest
On Sept. 28, 2003, Whitehouse, 34, was driving away from Whitehorse after seeing his father, Jack Whitehouse, according to CBC reports at the time. The father told a coroner's inquest in 2005 that his son had looked "dishevelled and was gasping for breath."
Whitehouse ended up in a police chase down the highway before it ended on foot, 25 kilometres from the city. RCMP Const. Paul Thalhofer told the inquest he had attempted to pull Whitehouse over for not wearing a seatbelt.
After the foot chase, Thalhofer used a Taser to fire two shots and demanded Whitehouse put his hands behind his back. Thalhofer later testified that he saw Whitehouse eat a chunk of cocaine while he was on the ground, and Thalhofer again shot him with the Taser before Whitehouse put his hands behind his back.
Shortly after being handcuffed and escorted into the back of the police car, Whitehouse became unconscious and started drooling. Thalhofer performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Whitehouse was pronounced dead at Whitehorse General Hospital a short while later.
Thalhofer admitted to the inquest that he had little experience dealing with people on drugs but had dealt with people using alcohol almost daily. At the time, Thalhofer was a 16-year veteran of the force.
Vancouver-based toxicologist Dr. Stuart Huckin told the inquest that Whitehouse had 41 milligrams of cocaine per litre of blood in his system, more than four times the lethal amount.
The toxicologist did not comment in the inquest on the effects of the Taser on a person using cocaine.
However, the inquest did focus on Whitehouse's cocaine addiction and mentioned he had been hospitalized before for overdoses.
There were no recommendations made by the six-person jury.
Jack Whitehouse later told local media that he was disappointed no recommendations were made, and that he hoped RCMP would conduct an internal review.
In an email to CBC, Yukon RCMP said they "have not located any internal RCMP review" in relation to the case.
Whitehouse's family declined to be interviewed but a family spokesperson sent a statement on its behalf.
"Our family has come to peace and terms with the outcome of this tragedy," the statement reads. "We wish to express our heartfelt sympathies to individuals and families with similar struggles and loss."
'He ... needed to be cared for, not killed'
In the case of Grant Edwin McLeod, 39, only one recommendation was made by an inquest jury — to install security cameras in the Chilkoot Trail Inn in Whitehorse, where the police altercation took place.
The morning McLeod died, on Aug. 30, 2008, RCMP were called to investigate a complaint that he was wandering around the motel with a syringe. When officers arrived at the hotel, they attempted to arrest McLeod under Yukon's Mental Health Act because he was displaying what was described as "abnormal, erratic behaviour" and because they thought he had a needle and could be a danger to himself or others, according to two lawsuits filed by McLeod's daughter, Elycia Carlick.
"There is a lot of doubt and hurt about how the RCMP treated this man that we loved,"- Susan Carlick
"He was a person who needed to be cared for, not killed," said Susan Carlick, a former partner of McLeod's, and Elycia Carlick's mother.
Elycia Carlick filed a wrongful death claim and a misfeasance in public office claim against seven members of the Whitehorse RCMP in the death of her father. The cases were ultimately thrown out on technicalities.
"There is a lot of doubt and hurt about how the RCMP treated this man that we loved," said Susan Carlick. She sat through the weeklong coroner's inquest into McLeod's death.
During his arrest, RCMP officers ended up in a violent struggle with McLeod. It eventually took six officers to handcuff him. Officers searched for the reported syringe, but Susan Carlick said one was never found. Neither of the claims mention if one was ever found.
Shortly after being handcuffed, McLeod went into medical distress and an ambulance was called. He was pronounced dead at Whitehorse General Hospital soon after.
Carlick says she and her daughter knew McLeod had been suffering from a cocaine addiction.
McLeod had 2.3 milligrams of cocaine per litre of blood in his system when he died, forensic toxicologist Walter Martz told an inquest in 2009.
Also at the inquest, forensic pathologist Charles Lee said that such high levels of the drug could explain McLeod's behaviour. He also said the violent struggle with police could have contributed to McLeod's death because of underlying medical conditions.
However, the inquest found the main cause of death to be high levels of cocaine in McLeod's system.
The claims Elycia Carlick later filed referred to an expert report by forensic pathologist John C. Butt, who was hired by the Carlicks. The report was based off of notes from the inquest, according to Carlick, and it questioned the findings of the inquest.
"When we launched the wrongful death claim, my hope was that the RCMP would learn from it and admit what they have done and change how they operated," said Susan Carlick.
"That was our number one goal, was what happened to Grant would never happen to another person who needed help and care."
Was anything changed?
According to Yukon RCMP, a review of McLeod's death was conducted by a senior RCMP officer from outside the territory.
The review concluded that the officers involved "acted in accordance with their training and approved procedures and tactics that were in place at the time."
The review did make internal recommendations related to internal employee support and first aid procedures. It also recommended officers involved in high-profile incidents not be directly involved in follow-up investigations into those incidents.
Out of the 461 fatal police encounters in Canada since 2000, CBC identified 18 cases that resulted in criminal charges laid against an officer. There have been two convictions, and some are still before the court.
No charges were ever laid against RCMP officers in the deaths of McLeod or Whitehouse.
"It's gotta change," said Susan Carlick. "They [the RCMP] have to admit where the problems are and make the changes that are needed."