EDMONTON – Charges won’t be laid against the employer of a Camrose caregiver apparently strangled by a mentally ill client, Alberta Justice says.
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety led the investigation into the death of Valerie Wolski, 41.
She was found dead Feb. 13, 2011, by a colleague in Terrance Saddleback’s Camrose home.
The investigation files were forwarded to Alberta Justice, which was responsible for determining whether charges would be laid in the case, Human Services spokeswoman Kathy Telfer said Thursday.
The decision not to pursue charges was made after a review of the file by the Crown, Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio.
The Crown considered the evidence that Occupational Health and Safety provided, “as well as any criminal evidence, and has decided not to recommend charges under either,” Davio said. “All I can say is that the evidence didn’t satisfy the guidelines that the prosecution service uses when deciding to proceed with charges.”
The province had two years from the offence date to file charges, Davio said, making the deadline Feb. 11.
“The clock was ticking,” she said.
Wolski was a caregiver with the Canadian Mental Health Association.
A risk assessment carried out by the province’s Persons with Developmental Disabilities program found Saddleback posed an “extreme” and “catastrophic” risk with the potential for aggressive behaviour, particularly against women. The report stated he should never be left alone, especially with women.
A report by Occupational Health and Safety in June 2011 showed that when Saddleback was released from the Alberta Hospital Ponoka and placed in a Camrose home operated by Wolski’s employer, the province didn’t warn the association about Saddleback’s violent tendencies.
Saddleback, a severely disabled man who was 25 at the time of the killing, was charged in February 2011 with manslaughter in Wolski’s death, but was later found unfit to stand trial.
A fatality inquiry into Wolski’s death was ordered in August 2011 by then-justice minister Verlyn Olson. With the investigative file now closed, that inquiry can proceed, Davio said.
More to come…
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