B.C.’s police watchdog determined that RCMP officers who took a threat complaint from a Lumby woman who died in suspicious circumstances mere months later are not criminally responsible for what happened.
“The Interim Chief Civilian Director has reviewed the evidence and determined that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence was committed by any officer,” the Independent Investigations Office said in a statement.
“The IIO investigation is now concluded, and a public report will be published following the conclusion of concurrent criminal court proceedings.”
The man closest to Tatjana Stefanski in her final months feels that there’s more to the story and it should have been said now, not later.
“I understand that they can’t hold them personally responsible for what they did not do for us and how they steered us in a different direction,” Stefanski’s partner Jason Gaudreault said upon hearing the report.
“But they had a role in it, absolutely. There will be more investigation into this. She should be here with me.”
Gaudreault said that he expects the RCMP to launch a code of conduct investigation into the RCMP officers who took Stefanki’s report. And from that, he hopes a modicum of justice can be found.
Gaudreault said that it was Dec. 18, 2023, when Stefanski told officers at the Vernon and Lumby detachments a man she knew had contacted her family back in Germany a day earlier and said he was going to harm her.
Her body was found April 14. The IIO was notified of the prior reports and death on April 25, 2024, and commenced an investigation to determine what role, if any, police action or inaction may have played in the death.
In May, the Independent Investigations Office announced their investigation to the public.
While this part of the investigation is over, there are still criminal proceedings at play. Stefanski’s ex-husband Vitali Stefanski has been charged with second-degree murder.
Gaudreault is following the case closely and doing what he can to make sure the woman he loved is remembered and honoured and issues with offenders change.
One of his efforts was a strategically placed bench to mark the last spot she was known to be alive.
“Something good has to come from this,” Gaudreault said last week.
“So I need help from everybody. We’re planning on opening up a foundation, which is going to be basically (a) non-profit foundation. …. So this is all to go towards, like, legal costs and whatever else, to fight these laws and just we got to get things changed.”