Merchant Law group spoke out against the Regina Police Service following the release of the RCMP’s review into the investigation of Nadine Machiskinic.
“I was shocked at the lack of quality that was shown in the investigation into the death of Nadine Machiskinic,” said Karolee Zawislak, Lawyer with the Merchant Law Group. “It's very concerning not only on this investigation but also that it may speak to other investigations that their processes do not seem to be properly established.”
The law group is representing the family of Nadine Machiskinic and said after reading the RCMP’s review of the case, it wonders if the public should be concerned about all other death investigations conducted by RPS. It went on to say, if that’s not the case, why did this death investigation not meet investigative standards in RCMP’s opinion?
"Race is a concern in this case,” said Zawislak. “Because of the effort and the organization, the follow up, the timeliness, the investigation and coordination, it just doesn't seem to have been there and there didn’t seem to be much of a wide spread concern."
RCMP said for death investigations, there are nine major case management principles to follow. The review RCMP conducted on the RPS investigation said police missed the mark on several of these, including not having a team lead who oversees the entire investigation. The review also outlined a lack of structure which might have led to missed investigative opportunities.
RCMP has also made 14 recommendations for RPS in its review.
"If this is an indication of the way that murder investigations are treated it’s a concern for the Regina city police generally,” said Zawislak. “I think you want justice to be done and justice to be seen to be done and in this case I don’t think that it was."
Merchant Law Group has filed a law suit on behalf of the family against the Delta Hotel for negligence.
“Concerns with the Delta Hotel include the fact that Nadine ended up in a room that should have been locked, in a laundry chute that should have been locked and ended up in a basement laundry room that should have been secure,” said Zawislak. “They disposed of all of her belongings, they didn’t notify the police, they were not assisting with investigation and there are concerns with the way that the Delta assisted police. That didn’t contribute to Nadine’s death at all but there are concerns that the RCMP report raises that are related to the Delta Hotel.”
Regina police’s investigation ruled Machiskinic’s death as accidental, and then an inquest into Machiskinic’s death was held where the jury found her death to be undetermined. After the jury’s verdict Regina Police Chief Evan Bray requested RCMP conduct an independent review of the case.
The Regina Police Service is expected to comment next week, along with Machiskinic’s family.
