RPS asks for independent review into case of woman's death
- EFN Staff | August 18, 2017
The Chief of the Regina Police Service (RPS) has requested the RCMP to review the Nadine Machiskinic’s case. Machiskinic died January 2015 from a 10-storey fall in a Regina hotel’s laundry chute. Regina Chief Evan Bray reached out to the Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP to request a review of the two-year-old case, not a re-investigation.
According to Elizabeth Popowich of the RPS, the idea to have a review stemmed from Chief Bray in hopes to bring the family some closure.
“Chief Evan Bray made a public commitment to the family of Nadine Machiskinic that the Regina Police Service would welcome an independent review of its investigation,” said Popowich in an email statement. “Chief Bray felt strongly that if an independent review could give the family some comfort and help them move forward, he would help make it happen.”
The aunty of Machiskinic said she is grateful that there will be a review but does not feel assured of the process.
“I’m not very confident in it,” said Delores Stevenson. “Just because the relationship that I’ve had with the authorities in these last two years and the experiences that I’ve been through with them. Like the trust is not there.”
Stevenson hopes the review will look into everything that happened and went wrong in Machiskinic’s case and how the investigation was handled. An inquest into the death of Machiskinic was held at the end of March in Regina in which the jury found Machiskinic’s cause of death as ‘undetermined’.
“Even though there was so much information that was disclosed, I just felt like it was being ignored in a sense,” said Stevenson. “Like that’s it, the inquest happened. That’s the message I’m getting still from the Regina Police Service.”
She hopes this review will provide more answers rather than be left with questions.
“I’m hoping for the best,” she said. “I hope that the RCMP will show some kind of integrity building a relationship with families and so that I can have confidence in their service and know that they’re doing their jobs.”
The RCMP has reached out to Stevenson already to arrange a meeting within the next couple of weeks to discuss the review process.
Although her niece’s death is two years past, Stevenson is determined to find answers to help bring closure for herself and her family. Machiskinic was more than a niece to Stevenson, she took her as her sister.
“My mother raised her since she was a baby so we grew up together,” she said. “We were like sisters...she was a good person. She was a good mother and she loved her children.”