A former North Okanagan Mountie who experienced severe emotional distress in the aftermath of a high profile 2011 murder investigation lost his attempt to get compensation from his former employer, though he did win some long awaited recognition of his suffering in a court decision posted online Wednesday.
Former RCMP Const. Milan Ilic sued the B.C. Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada six years ago saying the the process he endured during a review of his conduct after the murder investigation was “rife with violations of and breaches of the RCMP administrative manuals and core values of the RCMP, which caused a serious and foreseeable decline in his mental health.”
Wednesday, when his civil claim finally wrapped up with no damages awarded, BC Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth acknowledged in her decision that Illic was wronged and it’s had reverberations in his life that persist.
Ilic, Forth wrote, “was successful in establishing the two prongs of the negligence test, being a duty of care and a breach …. but was not successful on the issue of causation.
Ilic “has suffered severe consequences of both responding to the murder scene and the Code investigation and process.”
That suffering started during the investigation into the 2011 Halloween night murder of Tayor Van Diest, 18, who was beaten and strangled near railroad tracks in Armstrong, B.C.
- Man charged in surfer deaths told girlfriend he killed ‘3 gringos,’ court hears
- Ontario man on trial for killing his mother takes the stand: ‘I lost it’
- Drone used to smuggle $250,000 worth of contraband into N.B. prison, police say
- Quebec man pleads guilty in hit and run that killed 7-year-old Ukrainian girl
The teen had been missing and when looking for her, Illic met up with Marie Van Diest, Taylor’s mother, and her friends.
“Ilic directed the two friends to go look around and he began walking with Ms. Van Diest along the railroad tracks, which were located behind the old cheese factory. Ilic heard screaming of Taylor’s name. He and Ms. Van Diest ran down the railroad tracks and found Taylor on the side of the tracks unconscious and badly beaten,” Forth wrote.
“Ms. Van Diest immediately laid on top of her daughter, begging for her to survive. The friends were screaming and crying. Ilic assessed Taylor’s condition and then called dispatch for an ambulance and for urgent backup. ”
The scene was chaotic and dark, with no lights, Forth wrote, and Ilic was in and out of the ditch where Taylor lay.
“It was a cold night, and Taylor’s mother and one of the friends had taken their jackets off to cover Taylor. Ilic decided he should do the same.”
During this process, Forth wrote in her decision, Ilic began emptying the pockets of his patrol jacket of personal things he knew he needed.
“He removed two sets of keys, his notebook and Charter card, and placed them inside his police vest. He tossed the box of pens in the ditch away from Taylor. He laid his patrol jacket over Taylor.”
The teen was taken to the hospital and died the next day.
Ilic was deposed, and told fellow officers about the events of the evening.
At the murder trial of Matthew Foerster that followed he testified, however, an allegation surfaced that he had thrown a bottle of liquor out of his pocket at the scene.
It was a claim Ilic denied, though there were allegations that his denial persisted as well as lying while under oath and to senior officers. A police code of conduct investigation was launched and the accusations haunted the police officer. Forth was forthright in her assessment of those accusations.
“I find that Const. Ilic’s sworn testimony at this trial, and in the criminal trial (of Matthew Foerster) was truthful about what happened that night,” Forth wrote.
“He was not drinking on the job, he did not throw any type of bottle, and he threw the box of pens. It is my view that the box of pens was on the ground under the patrol jacket at the crime scene and the bundled jacket and box of pens were scooped up by Const. Catton and placed in the exhibit bag.”
Forth said that the assumptions made by various RCMP officers that the box of pens was always in Const. Ilic’s patrol jacket and fell out while in the exhibit bag was in error.
“Ilic told the truth in his court testimony on March 24, 2014, and to Sgt. Geary and Cpl. Aschenbrenner, and at no time was his conduct disgraceful. He is innocent of the allegations made against him.”
Forth also found that Ilic has been severely impacted by his attendance at the crime scene and hospital, along with the Code investigation and the process associated with it, such as the daily reporting.
Testimony from a doctor, Forth said, clearly laid out that Ilic suffered PTSD and depressive symptoms and that left a severe impact on all levels of his functioning.
“He has struggled to regain his mental health and has had the assistance of a psychologist on a weekly basis,” Forth wrote.
“It is my hope that the plaintiff will now consider other types of interventions to help him regain his mental health, not only for himself and his wife, but also for his four young children. His children deserve to have a father who can be nurturing and can play a constructive role in their schooling and recreational activities.”
She added that she would hope that the parties Ilic sued would not seek compensation for legal costs.
Comments