Ian Mulgrew, Houston, B.C. (National Post) – Minutes after he shot and killed a 22-year-old mill worker, an RCMP constable was being comforted by fellow officers and told to get himself a lawyer.
A coroner’s inquest into the slaying inside the local detachment’s interview room heard yesterday that the Mounties took the distraught rookie away from the office.
The coroner’s jury heard that Constable Paul Koester was not asked to provide a statement to investigators until the day after the Oct. 29, 2005, killing.
He provided a two-page statement that contained little detail about how Ian Bush ended up dead after being shot in the back of the head with a 9 mm bullet.
Three weeks after the shooting, Const. Koester provided a typed, 18-page statement to the RCMP that he had prepared with the help of his wife and his lawyer.
Corporal Derek Donovan, the first officer on the scene, said that he found Const. Koester in a fetal position, distraught and overcome with emotion. One of the next officers, Constable Darren Woroshelo, said he found Const. Koester sitting in an office looking “beaten physically, emotionally and mentally.”
“I walked in and he began to cry,” Const. Woroshelo told the inquest. “He said he saw a flash of his wife’s face. He didn’t think he would ever see her again. At that point he explained, he pulled the trigger.”
Const. Woroshelo consoled him: “You had no choice. You were forced into this decision. I said you didn’t know what was going to happen. He was very worried about what was going to happen and how it would be perceived.”
He fell into Const. Woroshelo’s arms and sobbed. Const. Koester was worried he might lose his job or be transferred from Houston.
“I said again you didn’t have a choice,” Const. Woroshelo repeated. “He said, ‘What about what happened to that other officer in Pincher Creek, [Alta.,] another in-custody death?’”
In that case, an RCMP constable shot a 26-year-old man in the stomach, then the head, during a struggle in a cell at the Pincher Creek RCMP detachment on Oct. 3, 1999. The 19-year veteran Mountie had arrested the 26-year-old truck driver for public intoxication and was trying to put him into the cell when he claimed the man tried to grab his police-issue gun.
He was initially charged with second-degree murder, but two juries were unable to reach a verdict. A jury convicted him of manslaughter in September, 2004.
Const. Woroshelo continued: “I told him this was nothing like that but it was probably a good idea to speak with a lawyer.”
He said Const. Koester was incapable of sustained conversation and could only speak in short sentences.
“I left the room to catch my breath,” Const. Woroshelo testified. “I was still in shock.”
Later, the constable was taken to another Mountie’s home.
Mr. Bush was taken into custody after he gave police a false name when they stopped him outside a hockey game in the central B.C. town, 250 kilometres east of Prince Rupert. He was charged with having open liquor in a public place and with obstruction of justice.
Const. Koester said Mr. Bush had initially been co-operative during his arrest but turned violent in the interview room. He claimed at one stage Mr. Bush was behind him and had him in a choke hold.
“Somehow I managed to bring out my service pistol but I don’t remember popping the snaps,” the officer said in his statement. “I was swinging the gun and hitting him on the head with the barrel. It didn’t seem as if I could swing very hard.
“I remember feeling rubbery and weak as I tried to hit him. I thought I was going to be dead in seconds. I knew from training that a carotic choke hold like his could kill me in just minutes. We had been told not to use it unless we feared death or grievous bodily harm. It was getting black while I was swinging. I started to see stars. My vision was becoming dark and there were little bits of light. I stopped swinging. My gun was still up at his head and he kept squeezing my neck.
“I was going unconscious and knew that I had to pull the trigger in order to save my life. I pulled the trigger just before blacking out in order to stop Bush’s attack. I didn’t hear the shot. I did not feel the gun go off. I don’t even recall pulling the trigger but I know I did it.
“Bush’s grip on my neck loosened.”
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