A coroner乌鸦传媒檚 inquest into the deaths of a Surrey couple killed by police during a hostage-taking in Whalley in 2019 opened April 16 in Burnaby with a written statement from the son of Randy E. Crosson, one of the deceased.
乌鸦传媒淢y dad had a hard life and didn乌鸦传媒檛 have the opportunities to get better and to get clean,乌鸦传媒� he told the inquest. 乌鸦传媒淲hat you are about to hear is about a man on drugs, struggling with life. But this was not my dad. My dad was a loving, caring person who loved all us kids. I乌鸦传媒檓 sorry for what he has done with life, but hopefully today we can learn from this. I love my dad and Nona both the same.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淪o my hope today is for a little understanding, and hopefully today we as a family can get some closure for our future.乌鸦传媒�
The inquest is at Coroners乌鸦传媒� Court, on the 20th floor of Metrotower II, with coroner Margaret Janzen presiding. She and a jury are hearing evidence from witnesses under oath. The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances but not any finding of legal responsibility.
A Surrey-based police watchdog 乌鸦传媒� the Independent Investigations Office 乌鸦传媒� in 2020 found the RCMP乌鸦传媒檚 Emergency Response Team blameless in the shooting deaths of Nona Marnie McEwan, 45, and her boyfriend Crosson, 48, whom authorities say was holding McEwan against her will in her rented home. The standoff saw roughly two dozen police vehicles, as well as an armoured vehicle, surround a home in a cul-de-sac near 132A Street and 100A Avenue.
McEwan was killed when she was struck by two police bullets as ERT officers fired on Crosson, who held a large knife to her throat and had 乌鸦传媒渨hat appeared to be乌鸦传媒� a gun in his hand.
Forensic police later found a 乌鸦传媒渞ealistic-looking乌鸦传媒� replica pistol between the bed and the wall. Crosson was pronounced dead at the scene and McEwan died in hospital.
Brandon McEwan, Nona McEwan乌鸦传媒檚 son, told the coroner and jury 乌鸦传媒渋t乌鸦传媒檚 kind of hard to talk about her,乌鸦传媒� wiping away tears. 乌鸦传媒淪he was awesome.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淪he was a great person, a great friend,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淪he was a great mother.乌鸦传媒�
He phoned 911, telling police Crosson was believed to have a gun and his mom wasn乌鸦传媒檛 safe. 乌鸦传媒淭hey brought a tank, that乌鸦传媒檚 pretty scary.乌鸦传媒�
McEwan was asked if he recalled how things ended. 乌鸦传媒淪hitty,乌鸦传媒� he replied.
乌鸦传媒淭hese guys are supposed to be trained professionals and it didn乌鸦传媒檛 seem that professional in my eyes,乌鸦传媒� he told the jury.
Crosson乌鸦传媒檚 probation officer Rob Ryhorchuk testified he was assigned to his case in 2015 after Crosson was convicted of robbery. Crosson乌鸦传媒檚 criminal history began in 1996, primarily involving break-ins, theft, assault, carrying a weapon and numerous convictions for failing to comply with court orders.
In 2003, he was convicted of assaulting McEwan and released on probation. 乌鸦传媒淗is explanation of the offence to his supervising probation officer at that point was that he threw a sandwich.乌鸦传媒�
He was ordered not to have contact with her or her family for one year. 乌鸦传媒淚 believe Mr. Crosson attended Ms. McEwan乌鸦传媒檚 residence and threatened her father, her mother and herself saying he was going to burn their house down.乌鸦传媒� He was convicted of uttering threats and breach of probation. 乌鸦传媒淚 believe there was another two-year probation order,乌鸦传媒� Ryhorchuk told the inquest.
Ryhorchuk said probation officers typically deal with 55 to 60 clients at any given time. The inquest heard Crosson was diagnosed as bipolar and 乌鸦传媒渉ad a history of non-compliance in terms of taking his medication. He actually had his parole revoked because he failed to attend any mental health services in the community after being directed so by his probation officer. When I met with him he indicated to me that upon his release he was having issues accesssing medication.乌鸦传媒�
The IIO concluded McEwan died because of Crosson乌鸦传媒檚 actions, as he held her against her will in her home, threatened her life 乌鸦传媒渁nd provoked an armed response from the police aimed at saving her.乌鸦传媒� His actions, the IIO乌鸦传媒檚 chief civilian director Ron MacDonald said, 乌鸦传媒渕ade it inevitable that officers would fire on him when they broke into the bedroom, and who held her in front of him as a shield against police bullets.乌鸦传媒�
Accordingly, he found, 乌鸦传媒淚 do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and therefore the matter will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges.乌鸦传媒�
The IIO operates out of Bing Thom乌鸦传媒檚 Central City tower in Whalley and reports to B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 attorney general.
MacDonald noted his report was based, in part, on the statements of 25 乌鸦传媒渃ivilian乌鸦传媒� witnesses, seven paramedics and 38 witness police officers. A toxicology report indicated Crosson had methamphetamine, amphetamine, fentanyl, nor-fentanyl, heroin, ethanol, THC and naloxone in his system.
The inquest continued after Now-Leader press time and is expected to run for two weeks.
