‘Nobody even shot at me’: Sask. killer’s death confirmed as cocaine overdose

Editor’s note: This article contains details some readers might find disturbing. Read at your own discretion.

“How many bodies did I get?”

Those are the words of mass murderer Myles Sanderson to RCMP who caught up to him three days into a provincewide manhunt, according to testimony at a coroner’s inquest on Tuesday.

Sanderson was spun off the road by Saskatchewan RCMP on Sept. 7, 2022, after he stabbed 11 people to death and tried to kill 17 more on James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby community of Weldon.

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Sanderson had driven a stolen white Chevrolet Avalanche 15 kilometres down the wrong lanes of Highway 11, speeding into oncoming traffic.

After a perfectly executed pit manoeuvre by an officer at nearly 140 kilometres an hour, Sanderson was dragged out of the vehicle and tackled to the ground near Rosthern, according to video footage of the arrest.

Officers demanded he stop resisting.

“How many bodies are on me?” Sanderson asked officers, the scene caught on a police car dashcam.

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Saskatoon Police Service Det. Sgt. Ken Kane testified at a coroner’s inquest into Sanderson’s death, commenting on the full video shown of the arrest.

He said Sanderson repeatedly asked officers how many people he murdered and that he was smiling and laughing.

“Nobody even shot at me, man,” Sanderson was heard telling the officers.

“You guys should have f–king shot me, man.”

He told police officers he was ready to die.

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“I felt anger when he was talking about the body count and how, to me, he was looking for fame. He was looking for some kind of recognition,” said James Smith Cree Nation band member Darryl Burns, who was watching the footage in the inquest.

After Sanderson was searched by police at the scene against the side of a cop car, he started convulsing and blood started dripping out of his nose. Video shows Sanderson started losing his balance, buckling at the knees.

An officer was heard asking Sanderson if he had taken anything.

Kane said Sanderson answered with a word sounding like “meth.”

Officers administered naloxone, typically used for fentanyl and opioid overdoses, and started performing CPR to buy EMS time to race to the scene.

EMS arrived and rushed Sanderson to the hospital, where he died minutes later.

Forensic toxicologist Jennifer Billinsky testified a high level of cocaine was found in Sanderson’s body at the time of the autopsy — 6.5 milligrams per litre — saying it could have been higher at the time of death.

“It’s one of the highest cocaine levels I’ve ever seen in my career,” said Billinsky, who has been in the toxicology field for 10 years.

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She said fatal levels can begin at .1 milligrams per litre.

Cocaine remnants were found on the front seat of the white Avalanche Sanderson was driving according to Kane. A rolled-up $20 bill and a bag of cocaine were also recovered during the arrest.

Billinsky said the amount of cocaine in Sanderson’s body could have taken only 15 to 30 minutes to have toxic or lethal side effects.

Forensic pathologist Shaun Ladham, who performed the autopsy on Sanderson’s body, said the extreme levels of cocaine in the blood is ultimately what killed him.

No traces of methamphetamine or fentanyl were found in the body.

“The way I wanted to see this whole outcome is, you know, face the people,” James Smith Cree Nation Chief Wally Burns said. “Clever way of not facing the people, a cowardly way.”