Jury at inquest into Myles Sanderson's death hears RCMP calls, communication from just before arrest

Recently selected jury members at a coroner's inquest into the death of mass killer Myles Sanderson listened Monday to RCMP communications from the hours just before he was captured.

Sanderson, 32, killed 11 people at James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) and the neighbouring village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022.

He was arrested three days later in a ditch off the side of a highway near Rosthern, Sask., but collapsed soon after. Police say he went into medical distress. He was transported to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon and pronounced dead the same day.

The week-long public coroner's inquest that began in Saskatoon on Monday is meant to establish when, where and how Sanderson, a JSCN community member, died in police custody.

A separate inquest into the massacre, held last month, heard how Sanderson was unlawfully at large at the time. In the days before the killings, he and his brother Damien Sanderson caused chaos, selling drugs and assaulting people in the community.

A half-dozen people were sworn in as jurors at a conference hall in the Saskatoon Inn just before 11 a.m. CST Monday. They are scheduled to hear from 13 witnesses including police, health care staff and a pathologist.

So far Monday, jurors have heard from RCMP Supt. Devin Pugh about the team developed to track down Sanderson in the "most intense" manhunt Pugh has been a part of. He was the critical incident commander for much of the manhunt and during the arrest.

Jurors also heard audio recordings of RCMP communications as they responded, including a call with a woman whose house Sanderson broke into near Wakaw, Sask., before fleeing in her vehicle, and the officers who responded from multiple roadways and tried to encircle Sanderson.

Sanderson was arrested just over an hour later and went into medical distress.

"Pretty much just only have one question," said Vanessa Burns, Sanderson's ex-partner, on Friday. 

"How he passed away."

Burns spoke at the previous inquest — which began on Jan. 15 and concluded with jury recommendations on Feb. 1 — about the years she spent as a victim of Sanderson's domestic violence.

Heading into this inquest, she said she wants to learn about what happened when Sanderson died, calling those details the "missing pieces" of the tragedy.

"I feel like it's time for me and my family to start moving on and healing," she said.