60-hour delay 'most frustrating' part of Machiskinic investigation, police say

In a case riddled with errors and unfortunate events, Regina police Staff Sgt. Kelly Trithart says likely the "most frustrating" thing about the investigation into the death of Nadine Machiskinic was the fact it took 60 hours before police were called in. 

Trithart was one of the witnesses testifying at the coroner's inquest into the death of the Indigenous mother of four on Monday.

• Nadine Machiskinic's aunt hopes coroner's inquest gets answers, sends message

Machiskinic was found fatally injured at the bottom of the Delta Hotel laundry chute the morning of Jan. 10, 2015. She died in hospital later that day. 

EMS workers were called to the scene immediately but police weren't. It took 60 hours before they were notified. 

Trithart said that had a huge negative impact on the investigation. 

"The hotel was really frustrating because with that time frame we weren't able to talk to potential witnesses right there right at the scene," he said. 

As the jury heard, that was just one of a series of problems. 

Jury hears 911 tape 

Early in the morning on Jan. 10, hotel staff called 911 after discovering Machiskinic unconscious in the laundry room. 

The caller indicated she was intoxicated and had a couple of bottles of pills beside her. He indicated to the dispatcher that she had probably overdosed. 

In the background someone can be heard saying "if she fell down the laundry chute, she'd be dead." 

Machiskinic technically could have wandered into the laundry room that night because, unlike most nights, it had been left open so staff could do extra laundry. Usually it was locked.

The ambulance staff rushed Machiskinic to the hospital with some of her personal items, like her jacket and phone. 

But they didn't bring her shoes or her purse. By the time police got to the hotel, the scene was cleaned up. Police believe her personal effects were thrown away. 

Glitchy video cameras

Police weren't only hampered by a late start but by a less-than-complete surveillance video record. 

The camera that directly monitors who goes in and out of the hotel wasn't working that night. 

The cameras that were working were on a motion sensor which meant in some cases it didn't start recording until people were partway through the frame. 

While the scene where Machiskinic was found had been cleaned up by the time police arrived they caught a lucky break on the 10th floor where Machiskinic entered the laundry chute. 

According to hotel records there was only one guest on that floor that night and his room hadn't yet been cleaned up. 

Police seized hair samples from the sink and shower — and the stained sheets — and sent them for testing. But there was no evidence Machiskinic had ever been in that room. 

As the investigation later showed, Machiskinic fell from the 10th floor through the laundry chute.

The room where it was located was normally locked. However, in their investigation, police discovered that there was a problem with the door. While it would appear to shut, it wouldn't actually latch on its own.

That may explain how Machiskinic got into the room that night.

Police error led to testing delays

A few days after Machiskinic died, a forensic pathologist conducted an autopsy and provided samples to police. They were supposed to deliver those samples to the lab for toxicological testing, but due to a mix up the samples sat in storage for six months instead. 

Const. Keith Malcolm was part of the Regina Police Service team that received the samples. He said there was a communications error between him and his colleague.

"He thought I sent the toxicology samples in and I thought he had sent it and at some point down the road we realized the toxicology samples had not been sent," Malcolm said. 

"Nobody's proud of their mistakes," he said. 

Testimony in the coroner's inquest is expected to last all week.