Public inquest for Kelowna in-custody death scheduled

A public inquest into the in-custody death of a Kelowna, B.C., man has been scheduled for next month.

The death of Edward James Waddell, 40, was reported to the BC Coroners Service on April 1, 2017. The inquest will be held in Kelowna June 12.

While the coroner’s office released little information Friday on the circumstances surrounding Waddell’s death, on April 2, 2017, the RCMP issued a press release indicating it had passed details of an in-custody death over to the Independent Investigations Office. On the police watchdog’s website, the case is now listed as closed with no public report.

That press release from five years ago said that on March 31, 2017, Kelowna RCMP were called to a single-vehicle off-road crash into a tree on McCulloch Road.

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“Upon attendance, police initiated a criminal investigation and transported the 40-year-old driver to Kelowna detachment,” RCMP said. “The man was subsequently transported to (the) local hospital after complaining of pain.”

The unidentified man was cleared by hospital staff but was later found in a Kelowna cell unresponsive, and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

A coroner’s inquest is, among other things, a public inquiry that determines the facts related to a death, including the identity of the deceased and how, when, where and by what means they came to their death, as well as a classification for the death.

Margaret Janzen, presiding coroner, and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses under oath to determine the facts surrounding this death.

The jury will then have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances.