RCMP Const. Mitch Perry’s eyes welled with tears as he prepared to answer one final question from the witness stand Tuesday.
During the second day of a coroner’s inquest into the death of Kyle Lariviere, 19, Perry was asked by his lawyer Randy Kirkham if he had anything to say to Lariviere’s family or home community.
An apparently intoxicated Lariviere escaped Perry’s custody in the frigid early morning hours of Jan. 10, 2009. The inquest has heard what the coroner called “errors in judgment” made by Perry preceding Lariviere’s freezing death 40 hours later in the bush outside the town of Beauval.
Perry had been deferential and polite while testifying, but showed no visible emotion. Kirkham’s question caused him to pause and look down at his feet for several seconds.
Perry slowly raised his head and looked out at Lariviere’s parents, Eval and Doreen, seated in the front row, as well as the other family members and residents of the Canoe Lake Cree First Nation seated in the gallery.
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“I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened. If I could change it, I would. I’m sorry,” he said with a quivering voice.
It was the first time Perry had addressed the Lariviere family directly, in private or public.
Perry was removed from his assignment at the Canoe Lake detachment the day after Lariviere’s death.
Eval Lariviere said he saw Perry earlier Tuesday at a Meadow Lake hotel restaurant. They greeted each other, but Perry was still under oath and forbidden from speaking about the case.
It’s unclear if Perry plans to contact the family directly in the future, as he and Kirkham quickly left court Tuesday following his testimony and declined an interview request.
Eval Lariviere said it was “good that he apologized,” but said the family still has “mixed emotions” over the officer’s conduct.
On Tuesday, coroner Richard Danyliuk said the inquest has made it “abundantly clear to the jury that the witness (Perry) made errors in judgment.” Lariviere escaped that morning by opening the rear door of Perry’s police truck. Perry had left the window open while he went to unlock the detachment doors. Lariviere opened the door and sprinted off into the -20 C darkness.
Perry searched on foot and in his truck but did not find Lariviere. He then admitted to going home to nearby Canoe Lake and sleeping, as his shift had ended.
Lariviere family lawyer Eleanore Sunchild and Canoe Lake lawyer Silas Halyk grilled Perry about numerous aspects of the case. They asked why Perry did not notify his superiors or fellow officers, as per RCMP policy.
They said Perry should have called other officers immediately, or at least when he saw the other officers at a party about 15 hours later, but remained silent. He only notified others after the Lariviere family discovered tracks in the snow more than 24 hours after Kyle disappeared.
“You had a radio right there. All you had to do was push a button?” Halyk said, motioning to indicate a shoulder-mounted police radio.
“Yes,” Perry said.
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