MONTREAL – The death of a 27-year-old Montreal man in late December was an accident, a provincial coroner has ruled.
The body of Matthew Besner was found Dec. 21 on the shore of the Lachine Canal near the Bonaventure Expressway. He had disappeared just before 3 a.m. on Dec. 19, when he stepped out during a gathering with friends at L’Orignal, a restaurant in Old Montreal.
In a report issued Friday, coroner Paul Dionne states that Besner died of hypothermia, and that the body bore no marks of violence.
Besner’s blood alcohol level came in at .26 per cent, over three times the legal limit of 0.08 per cent to operate a vehicle. There were no drugs in his system, the report said.
He was not wearing a hat or gloves when found.
Dionne’s ruling of accidental death supports what police had said since the beginning of their investigation: Besner apparently fell into the canal and probably froze to death as a result.
But the young man’s family has said they believe there is more the story.
Relatives said they viewed security camera footage of Besner, taken in the hours after he vanished, which raises doubts about how he died.
The security video, reportedly taken from several locations in and around Old Montreal in the hours after Besner’s disappearance, shows him staggering, confused and asking for help.
Joshua Chinks, the brother of Besner’s girlfriend, told The Gazette in December that it wasn’t in Besner’s character to wander off, "even if he had been drinking."
Besner had nearly $200 in cash on him when his body was found, Chinks added.
"He could have taken a taxi if he wanted to get somewhere," Chinks said. "Why would he go over a six-foot concrete ledge to cross the canal?"
More details to come.
Comments