Solomon Uyarasuk inquest: First RCMP sergeant testifies

In testimony at the Solomon Uyarasuk inquest this morning in Igloolik, Nunavut, RCMP Sgt. Greg Murphy said it's not RCMP policy to leave a prisoner in a cell with a belt, but he says they couldn’t figure out how to get it off and they knew they were coming back with medical help.

In September 2012, 26-year-old Uyarasuk was found dead in an RCMP cell with a belt around his neck and attached to the door.

Murphy, one of the officers who was part of the incident, testified by video from outside of Toronto that he had been in Igloolik for nine days when he and his partner, Cst. Martin Noel, responded to a call about a noise complaint.

Murphy says Uyarasuk was hospitable and appeared intoxicated when they first arrived, but became angry when Cst. Noel wrote Uyarasuk's birth date down incorrectly, yelling that he wasn’t 12 years old.

Uyarasuk's friend tried to get between him and the officer; that's when Uyarasuk pushed him. And Murphy said they decided he needed to go to the detachment to calm down.

On the way to the detachment, Murphy said Uyarasuk repeatedly banged his head against the Plexiglas shield in the RCMP truck — more than five times and with great force.

He says they stopped once on the way to the detachment to see if they could make him stop. He did before they had to interfere, but then he leaned back and kicked at the shield instead.

Murphy says Uyarasuk was screaming the whole time: "Please don't beat me… Please don't smash my head in. I've been beaten before by police… No one did anything because you're the police.”

When they arrived at the detachment, Murphy says he and Noel noticed a lot of blood on the Plexiglas shield.

Once inside the detachment, Uyarasuk cooperated in the cell and laid on his stomach when asked, but Murphy says he was still screaming that he didn't want to be beaten.

Uyarasuk wasn’t wearing a shirt or shoes when he was taken into custody.

At the detachment, Murphy said they removed the handcuffs and searched Uyarasuk.

That’s when they noticed he was wearing a belt, but neither office was able to undo the fastener.

Murphy says his choices were to either keep Uyarasuk restrained in the cell when he already seemed agitated, or give him some space to settle down.

Murphy says he called the nurse and as he was leaving, Noel said Uyarasuk was naked in the cell.

Murphy picked up the nurse at the health centre.

When he returned, Noel was sitting in the office, and lead the nurse and Murphy to the cell.

That’s when Noel yelled, “he’s hanging,” and the nurse, Shane Collier, immediately lifted Uyarasuk’s head and set about removing the belt from his neck in order to try to revive him.

Murphy says he called Sgt. Gary Edgar to tell him there was a possible fatality.

He left to pick up a stretcher from the health centre and when he returned, Edgar told him Uyarasuk was dead.

Murphy told the inquest that he received no cultural training before going on duty in Igloolik, but he says he was told Nunavut residents can go from compliant to combative without provocation.

Pathologist did not conclude suicide

Yesterday, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Uyarasuk said he was careful not to say he died by suicide, because he says that's up to the coroner's jury to decide.

Dr. Christopher Milroy said the evidence pointed to self-suspension, or hanging, with a running noose.

But Milroy also told the inquest that pathologists encounter people in police cells or serving long prison sentences who suspend themselves with no intention of dying, but rather, in the hope of being rescued.

Milroy says if his examination made him think someone had been murdered, he would have informed the police and the investigation would go from there.  

Photographs from Uyarasuk's autopsy were entered as evidence.

They show bruising on his face, shoulder blade and wrists, as well as a gash on his forehead about 5 centimetres long and ligature marks around his neck.

The Coroner overseeing the inquest, Garth Eggenberger, gave Uyarasuk's family time to look at the photos at the end of the day yesterday.  They were warned that some of the photos were quite graphic.