Mystery remains in laundry chute death but police say case closed
Investigation plagued by mistakes and missed opportunity: victim's family
Despite the fact that Saskatchewan's Chief Coroner released his autopsy report last week, the last 40 minutes of Nadine Machiskinic's life remain a mystery.
The family of the 29-year-old woman who plunged 10 stories to her death down a laundry chute in Regina's Delta Hotel says that is due in part to a lacklustre, error-filled investigation.
The first thing you would do — even if you've only ever watched television — is look at the [surveillance] tapes. You don't have to go to a police school to be taught that- Tony Merchant, family's lawyer
"It's a shitty investigation in my opinion. I'm sorry for the words," said Machiskinic's aunt Delores Stevenson, who runs a church with her husband in North Central Regina.
The Regina Police Service acknowledges a whole year went by before it attempted to track down two men who got on an elevator with Machiskinic just a few minutes before she went down the laundry chute on Jan. 10, 2015.
Tony Merchant, who is representing the family in a civil suit against the hotel, said the year-long delay is stunning and inexcusable.
Regina police spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich confirmed that officers didn't begin looking for the two men until this past January. In May, police released a photo of them, emphasizing the men weren't suspects; police just wanted to talk to them.
Popowich said she doesn't know why officers waited a year before trying to find the men but pointed out that police "don't have the ability to establish a moratorium on all other crime in the city. So there's a limit to the resources you can put on it, right?"
Machiskinic's aunt said this revelation further confirms to her that "Nadine never got a fair chance at an investigation."
Mysterious men still a mystery
Just last week, Saskatchewan's Chief Coroner released his long-delayed autopsy report which concluded Machiskinic's death was accidental. After the report was released, police confirmed their investigation is now over.
The fact is, no one can say for certain … what happened in those last few minutes.- Elizabeth Popowich, Regina Police Service
Despite that, both police and the coroner acknowledge there remain unanswered questions.
For example, police never did track down those two men who got on the elevator with Machiskinic.
"The fact is no one can say for certain what those last few minutes, what happened in those last few minutes," Popowich said. "We only have the evidence and the evidence doesn't indicate foul play."
Two mysterious 'kids' may have been with Machiskinic
The coroner's report highlights another issue that raises questions about the last few minutes of Machiskinic's life and about two mysterious 'kids.'
According to a review of the police investigation by the Public Complaints Commission, there was only one person staying on the floor that night.
He reportedly told police that an Aboriginal female, who matched the description of Machiskinic, "had been yelling in the hallway of the 10th floor and was banging on doors, including his."
He said she appeared intoxicated and was yelling about a fire. Someone had also pulled the fire alarm on the floor.
The coroner's report adds a puzzling detail to this narrative, indicating the witness "saw two 'kids' behind her."
Police don't know either.
"I don't think we have been able to successfully identify who they were or if they were there at that hour and in the confusion whether they even were there," said Popowich.
She acknowledges it's even possible that the frantic woman wasn't Machiskinic at all.
Police failed to send toxicology samples for 6 months
The coroner said it typically takes four to six months to complete an autopsy report but in Machiskinic's case it took 18 months, which he called an unusual and unfortunate delay.
"It's unfortunate that those specimens were never sent to the lab," said Stewart.
He said he only realized the mistake when he started asking about the status of the analysis last July.
Popowich admits that was an oversight and she said police have apologized to the family.
"We regret the anxiety that it's caused them and that it obviously left them for a longer time without answers and a conclusion to the case," said Popowich. "But we can't undo it so we've apologized for the error."
However Stevenson said she has not received an apology. In fact she told CBC's iTeam that the first she heard of the error by police is when CBC told her about it.
Investigation delayed from the very start
When Machiskinic arrived at the hospital on the morning of Jan. 10, 2015, she was unconscious and had several broken ribs.
Stewart said the coroner who was working that morning didn't report the death to police because she wasn't made aware of "the circumstances surrounding what brought [Machiskinic] to hospital."
He said ordinarily those details would be passed on by police, but they didn't attend.
"I would have anticipated with a 911 call aside from the ambulance showing up — my understanding is that generally police show up at the same time too," said Stewart. "I don't think that that happened in this particular circumstance."
Everything seems to indicate that this was a slow walk; uninterested investigation.- Tony Merchant, family's lawyer
It wasn't until Monday, 60 hours after Machickinic died, that the coroner's office was reviewing the facts and realized police should be called.
Popowich said police didn't come to the hotel or the hospital that morning because they weren't called, which, in hindsight, is unfortunate.
"It would probably be an easier conversation because then we could say we were there right from the very first moment if we had been called," said Popowich. "But we weren't."
Merchant said he's shocked that police have ended their investigation, which he believes has been lacklustre from the start.
"Everything seems to indicate that this was a slow walk; uninterested investigation," said Merchant.
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