More than a year after it was announced that RCMP would review the investigation conducted by Regina police into the case of a woman who died after falling down a laundry chute, Regina police have revealed that they will not be making the findings of the investigation public.
Nadine Machiskinic fell 10 stories to the bottom of the laundry chute at the Delta Hotel in Regina in January 2015. Her death wasn’t reported to Regina police until days later.
An autopsy report found that she died of blunt force trauma to the head, neck and trunk, consistent with a fall. The coroner ruled her death accidental, saying there was no evidence of foul play and no evidence of suicidal intent. Blood tests also showed Machiskinic had alcohol and a mix of methadone and three other drugs in her system, as well as high levels of sleeping medication.
Machiskinic’s family have made complaints that police hadn’t taken her death seriously, repeatedly questioning how she fit into the opening of the laundry chute, which was only 53 centimetres wide.
Machiskinic’s aunt, Delores Stevenson said it was presumed that she walked into the laundry room and passed out or overdosed.
Because she was Indigenous, Stevenson said it was assumed her life didn't matter, her possessions could be thrown away and "her case shouldn't be treated as high importance by anybody from the emergency service, the coroner's office, the Regina police, the Delta Hotel.
"I think everybody has a role to play in how this case was handled and the racism and stereotypes that were built upon this investigation," she told CTV News in July of 2017.
The RCMP was tasked with reviewing the case and looking at how police handled the investigation.
Back in October of this year, Regina police met with Machiskinic’s family to discuss the review and go over some recommendations to improve RPS policies going forward.
Now, Regina police Chief Evan Bray says the findings of the review will not be made public, saying he doesn’t want to release information that may impact other cases. At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Bray said the focus of the review was the delays in the case, but he does not believe the delays impacted the outcome of the case.
He went on to say that he understands that the family is unhappy with the results of the investigation, but there is no evidence of criminal activity. Barring any new information, the investigation into the death of Machiskinic is now closed.
