Day 1: Jury selection, first witness at James Smith Cree Nation inquest

Dozens of people gathered at the Kerry Vickar Centre in Melfort on Monday for the start of a two-week inquest into the deadly stabbing rampage by Myles Sanderson in September of 2022.

The communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon were devastated by the attacks that left 11 people dead and 17 others injured.

RCMP Staff Sergeant Robin Zentner, the first of 31 witnesses expected throughout the inquest, spoke to jury members on Monday afternoon.

He shared that this was the largest homicide investigation in Saskatchewan RCMP history, with 548 employees involved, along with other municipal and federal police and justice agencies.

Zentner says he got the call about the incident around 7 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022 and the number of dead and hurt kept rising as major crimes gathered and went out to Melfort from Saskatoon.

He went on to explain details relating to Myles Sanderson’s criminal history and activities in the days before the stabbings occurred, much of which RCMP had previously outlined in a timeline of events presented in April 2023.

Among the new things explained in the presentation were details about messages Damien was sending back and forth to people and conversations both had with people in the days and hours leading up to the murders beginning.

Zentner showed text and online messages sent between Damien Sanderson and his wife Skye where he said things like “I’m down to die me and my brother” and “I’m not scared to die remember”.

The staff sergeant also relayed a conversation Myles had with Caitlin Sanderson, saying he couldn’t do life anymore and that he was screwed up. Caitlin had said it looked like he was about to cry.

Damien also sent messages to Kelly Shane Burns, things like “your lil bro is lost” and “I’m not ok” and right before the murders began, Damien sent him a message reading “Love ya brotha last time you gonna hear from me”.

The inquest into the killings on the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon is about to begin pic.twitter.com/mbRZUgGaPd

— Lisa Schick (@LMSchickler) January 15, 2024

Saskatchewan’s Chief Coroner Clive Weighill said this is the largest inquest ever held in the province and perhaps in Canada.

“We had to wait for all that investigative information to come in so we could do our disclosure to the people that have standing and then have everything ready for today,” Weighill told reporters early in the day.

The first agenda item was to select jury members who will make recommendations once the inquest is complete.

Eight jurors were chosen, but only six can make recommendations, with two standing as backups. Jurors cannot be related to or have relationship with any of the victims, lawyers or witnesses.

Weighill originally wanted an entirely Indigenous jury for the inquest, but said the leaders of James Smith Cree Nation suggested a 50-50 split of jury members from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous backgrounds.

Over the next two weeks, the jury will hear from the parole board, Corrections Canada and the RCMP. A forensic pathologist will give a detailed account of each cause of death for the 11 victims.

The auditorium at the Kerry Vickar Centre in Melfort where the inquest into the killings on the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon is held. Jan. 15, 2023 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

This inquest will give details related to Myles Sanderson before, during and after the killing spree, but the events surrounding his capture and death in police custody will be examined in a separate inquiry starting Feb. 26 in Saskatoon.

A statement provided by Saskatchewan RCMP on Monday stated that its Criminal Operations Branch will respond in writing to each recommendation resulting from both inquests.

Jury selection finished Monday around noon after narrowing the final selection from more than three dozen candidates. Many people were excused after saying they couldn’t spare the three weeks the inquest could take, while a few others said they knew or were related to some of the victims.

With files from Lisa Schick