James Smith inquest: RCMP officer refutes allegations that police overlooked 911 calls

An inquest into Canada’s worst mass stabbing called an RCMP officer back to the stand to address allegations that police overlooked key evidence.

In the first days of the coroner's inquest into the September 2022 mass stabbings in James Smith Cree Nation and on Weldon, witnesses from the RCMP said they received no reports that Myles Sanderson was in the First Nation before the massacre on Sept. 4, 2022 — the day when Sanderson killed 11 people and injured 13 others

Last week, the wife of Damien Sanderson — Myles' Sanderson’s brother and first victim — testified she repeatedly called 911 to report the brothers and their assaults in the early morning before the killings began.

"I was reporting them, everywhere that they went … They just seemed annoyed with my calls," Skye Sanderson said.

Skye testified she made these calls using a friend’s phone.

Her testimony contradicted the RCMP’s narrative that Skye made one call to 911 on Sept. 3 to report Damien had stolen her vehicle and had warrants out for his arrest.

On Monday, Staff Sergeant Robin Zentner with the RCMP Major Crimes Unit said they investigated Skye’s allegations over the weekend.

Zentner said Skye provided her friend’s phone number to police on Saturday morning, but the number was not linked to any police file.

“No one has provided that phone number to police in any capacity in the past,” he said.

Zentner said when looking back on previous interviews he confirmed her friend did not have a working phone when Skye allegedly called police.

He said officers looked into calls made to the Melfort RCMP between midnight of Sept. 3, 2022 and the first reported attack.

Zentner said out of the 22 complaints made, only one was made by Skye, when she reported the stolen vehicle.

The inquest expects to hear testimony from a forensic pathologist, the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada this week.

--With files from Rory McLean