Nadine Machiskinic's aunt hopes coroner's inquest gets answers, sends message

Delores Stevenson says she hopes the coroner's inquest into the death of her niece Nadine Machiskinic helps uncover why she died. But she also hopes it shines a light on what she has called "a shitty investigation."

In January 2015, Machiskinic was found severely injured at the bottom of a laundry chute in Regina's Delta Hotel. The Indigenous mother of four died in hospital hours later.

Duelling autopsy reports raised more questions for Machiskinic's family.

Saskatchewan's chief coroner issued a final report calling the 29-year-old's death accidental and police closed the case. But an autopsy report concluded she was severely intoxicated due to a cocktail of drugs in her system, which "would make it unlikely that she would have been able to climb into a laundry chute on her own."

"Everyone deserves a fair investigation whether they're white, First Nation — whatever race they are," said Stevenson.

"Everyone deserves a fair investigation and to be treated fairly and with dignity, and I just don't feel that that was Nadine's situation."

The week-long coroner's inquest, which will be held at Evraz Place in Regina, begins Monday.

Many questions about investigation

The inquest was initially called in June.

Prior to that, CBC News had published a series of stories raising questions about the investigation.

Those questions prompted forensic pathologist Dr. John Butt to say, "There's definitely so many questions in this case, I would have thought that it would have been a perfect case for [whomever] makes these recommendations to have an inquest."

• Inquest needed into death of Indigenous woman who fell down laundry chute, forensic pathologist says

The same day those comments were published, the minister of justice announced that the coroner would be calling an inquest.

The coroner's inquest is a public hearing to establish who died, when and where that person died, and the medical cause and manner of death. "The coroner's jury can also make recommendations to prevent further deaths," a government news release said.

Stevenson hopes the jury will examine what some have called errors and delays in the investigation, many of which were first reported by CBC's iTeam.

• The coroner's office didn't call police in to investigate until 60 hours after Machiskinic's death.
• Police received toxicological samples of Machiskinic's body from the autopsy but forgot to send them to the lab for examination. That led to a six-month delay.
• Police didn't try to track down two men who got on an elevator with Machiskinic hours before she died, until one year after the incident.
• The coroner's office concluded Machiskinic's death was an accident, though a pathologist found that Machiskinic was too intoxicated to put herself down the laundry chute.

Stevenson hopes this review will make authorities more diligent in the future "so that other families don't have to go through this torture that we went through with investigators and coroners."