Coroners inquest set for Lisa Dudley murder

A B.C. Coroners Service public inquest into the 2008 death of Lisa Dudley will begin June 11 in Burnaby.

Mark Surakka, Dudley's father, said he only found out about the date when media outlets started phoning him Tuesday morning although a representative from the B.C. Coroner Service said counsel representing Lisa Dudley had been notified earlier.

"I don't feel happiness," said Mark Surakka. "They should have done this a long time ago when there were memories and paperwork and everything was fresh."

Dudley was shot twice in her Mission, B.C., home in 2008 in a targeted hit which left her paralyzed and unable to move. Her boyfriend, Guthrie McKay, was killed in the shooting. 

Dudley's neighbour called police reporting he'd heard several gunshots and a crash coming from the home.

Const. Mike White, the responding officer, arrived at the property but never got out of his patrol car and did not talk to the man who had made the 911 call. 

White left the scene a few minutes later, reporting he'd found nothing suspicious.

Four days later, another neighbour peered through a window and saw McKay's body. Paramedics were called and found Dudley still alive, but she died before reaching the hospital.

White was later found guilty of disgraceful conduct and docked one day's pay.

Dudley's mother, Rosemarie Surakka, tried to sue the government of Canada which is responsible for the RCMP, but a B.C. judge dismissed the claim, saying she had launched the action too late under the statute of limitations. 

The Surakkas are still in the midst of a Charter challenge, arguing against the rule that one must be alive to assert Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of the person. 

"If you have a child who dies, and the government causes it through direct action or omission, the government says too bad you're dead," said Sakkura. "Lisa was denied her life and her security. That's what we're arguing."

A ruling in that case is expected later this year.

Meanwhile, the coroners inquest into Dudley's murder will not have jurisdiction to find fault.

Presiding coroner Brynne Redford and a jury will only make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances, leading Surakka to question the ultimate value of the process. 

"We can recommend until we're blue in the face ... but there's nothing to enforce those recommendations," he said.

The inquest was originally announced in 2010, but the coroners service said it had to wait until all criminal proceedings around the case had been concluded to schedule a date.

Last year, Thomas Holden was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder.

Holden and Dudley had been partners in an illegal marijuana grow ring, but after their personal and business relationship soured, Holden hired a hit man to kill her.

Earlier, three men pleaded guilty to murder or manslaughter in the Dudley and McKay killings. 

Sakurra says he and his family will attend the coroners inquest and that he hopes to testify.