Family seeks answers

Just seconds after RCMP Const. Mitch Perry leaves his police truck unattended, a hand reaches out of the open, right rear window.

An intoxicated, lightly dressed 19-year-old Kyle Lariviere opens the door, jumps out of the vehicle and sprints off into the winter darkness.

This image, recorded by security cameras at the Beauval RCMP detachment and played for a packed Meadow Lake courtroom Monday, contains the last known image of Lariviere before he was found frozen to death more than 30 hours later on Jan. 11, 2009.

The video was one of several gripping elements during the opening day of an inquiry into Lariviere’s death. The inquiry also included testimony from Perry and Lariviere’s father, Eval, as well as several testy exchanges among many of the six lawyers representing various parties.

"I came out and walked to the back door. That’s when I find he’s gone. I couldn’t believe he got out of there," Perry testified.

A central question for the family is why it took Perry and other RCMP members so long to notify them their son was missing and to organize a search themselves. Doreen and Eval Lariviere sat quietly with family members and other supporters in the courtroom gallery Monday as Perry testified about his actions.

"I didn’t think (Lariviere) was a missing person," Perry said. "I thought he was at a buddy’s house."

The words rang hollow to Eval Lariviere.

"This (death) could have been prevented. This is frustrating," Eval Lariviere said Monday outside court.

A search party organized by Kyle Lariviere’s friends and family found his body west of Beauval on a snowmobile trail about 41/2 kilometres outside town.

Eval Lariviere testified he and his wife were unhappy with Kyle when he showed up at their Canoe Lake Cree First Nation home with friends. All were drinking and had beer. Canoe Lake has an alcohol ban in effect, and Lariviere said he had made it clear he doesn’t want alcohol in the home. Kyle was belligerent, arguing with his parents and knocking over the television.

Perry was dispatched to the home. While he was speaking with Eval Lariviere, Kyle Lariviere gave his father his car keys and told his father he’d go with the officer and "sleep it off," Eval Lariviere testified.

Kyle Lariviere voluntarily got into the vehicle and Perry drove away. It would be the final time the Larivieres would see their son alive.

Perry testified Monday he attempted to take Lariviere to an RCMP cell at Canoe Lake, but neither of the two guards on call were available. Perry decided to drive about 30 minutes to Beauval, where he planned to place Lariviere in a cell for the evening. Lariviere grew increasingly agitated as they drove to the RCMP detachment in Beauval, Perry testified.

Perry said he opened the back window several inches after Lariviere began to spit repeatedly in the backseat of the police vehicle. When they arrived at the detachment, Perry left the vehicle and went to unlock the main doors of the building.

When Perry returned to the vehicle about one minute later, Lariviere had reached through the window, opened the door from the outside, and fled. It was about -20 C that morning, and Lariviere was wearing only a ball cap, jacket, jeans and running shoes.

Perry said he conducted a search for 20 minutes by foot then set off in his vehicle, but did not find Lariviere before his shift ended. The next day, when he returned on shift, Perry attended the Lariviere home to ask if Kyle Lariviere had shown up.

He told the Larivieres their son had escaped, but was likely just hanging out or partying with friends in Beauval, Eval Lariviere testified.

"I didn’t know what to say," he testified. Eval Lariviere thought it an unlikely scenario, as his son knew few people in Beauval.

Lariviere and his wife drove to Beauval and asked everyone they saw about their son, but no one had seen him. Growing increasingly worried, they organized a search with family and friends, including a veteran tracker. They went back to the RCMP detachment, and within half an hour discovered Lariviere’s footprints in the snow.

They traced the trail out of town, the tracks weaving across roads and behind trees. Several dozen Beauval residents joined the search and brought coffee for the family, he testified.

Perry and another officer joined the search at that point, but Perry was called back to an urgent matter at Canoe Lake, he testified. Perry said he never considered calling in a police dog, as the nearest animal was several hours away in North Battleford or Prince Albert.

Kyle Lariviere’s body was found by searchers in the woods Sunday morning.

Under questioning, Perry admitted he did not notify all fellow officers or his superior, as was policy.

Silas Halyk, lawyer for the Lariviere family, noted Perry, while on duty Saturday night, stopped at a Beauval party attended by his fellow officers and superior. Lariviere had been missing for more than 16 hours at this point, but Perry said nothing.

This led to an awkward exchange, as Halyk asked Perry how long he stayed at the party. Perry repeatedly denied he could even estimate the time, then blurted he was there for "less than eight hours and more than five minutes."

Halyk then caused at least two of the other lawyers to jump from their chairs and interject instantly when he tried to ask Perry if he ever faced discipline over the incident and where he was now stationed.

A heated debate followed, before coroner Richard Danyliuk had the witness and six-member jury removed. When they returned, Halyk had already agreed not to ask one of the questions, with Danyliuk prohibiting the other.

Canoe Lake Chief Guy Lariviere, Kyle Lariviere’s uncle, said he was "shocked" to hear how Perry and the RCMP treated the case.

"We would’ve found him alive if they’d done something sooner," Guy Lariviere said.

Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations vice-chief Morley Watson, who sat in the gallery Monday, said it’s "important to show support for the family and the community."

He hopes the family gets the answers they crave, but noted that doesn’t always happen in such forums.

Watson said relations between RCMP and First Nations communities in Saskatchewan needs to improve.

"It’s sad to say there is more mistrust than trust," he said. "I don’t think it’s getting better."

Perry is scheduled to continue on the witness stand today.