RCMP report finds officers neglected duties after man tied up, beaten on rural property near Melfort, Sask.
Investigation finds officers didn't use appropriate diligence when they charged the man who was beaten
When an RCMP officer found Chris Hawkins bound with zip ties, beaten and bloody on a Saskatchewan farmyard, he didn't investigate the alleged assault, according to an RCMP report. Instead, the officer arrested Hawkins for break and enter.
It wasn't until Hawkins' sister spent months asking questions and investigating the attack herself — even obtaining video from the scene and leading police to it — that charges were laid against the alleged assailants.
"Part of my healing process in this grief was making sure his voice was heard and finding out the truth," Shanda Tansowny, a nurse living in Calgary, said.
An RCMP analysis of the investigation found two men "viciously and unnecessarily" assaulted Hawkins, 45, after they saw him entering their rural property — owned by one of the alleged assailants — near Melfort, Sask., on Aug. 21, 2022.
It also found faults with the first responding officer's investigation, including not corroborating the property owners' claims and not calling an ambulance for the seriously injured Hawkins, instead putting him in his police cruiser.
Hawkins was taken to Melfort Hospital and then airlifted to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. He was treated and released on Sept. 16, but then readmitted to Melfort Hospital a few days later, according to his sister. He died on Sept. 26.
The Saskatchewan Coroners Service says there is no evidence trauma contributed to his death.
After Hawkins' death, Tansowny set out to find the truth — whether it was learning that her brother had done something wrong or if he was wronged.
When Tansowny sought answers from the Melfort RCMP about her brother's attack, she was told the men accused of beating her sibling couldn't be charged because her brother had since died — she was devastated, but would later learn it wasn't true.
What she was hearing from officers didn't add up and, unsatisfied with their investigation, she spent weeks looking deeper and later filed a complaint with the Civilian Review Complaints Commission.
The CRCC is an independent agency that handles complaints about RCMP members' conduct.
Tansowny searches for answers
For three months, she spent nearly every day making calls, speaking with people in the community and RCMP, she said.
"I went to the next step and I asked for the next person involved until I got answers that made sense," she said.
People in the community told Tansowny about a video of the incident. She followed the thread until finally someone in the community called to let her know where she could get the video, making it possible for her to guide police to it in November.
Tansowny declined to share the video of the assault with CBC, because she fears that would affect an ongoing court case or put the people who shared it at risk.
What I really wanted was change: I want something like this not to happen to a family again. I want somebody who's marginalized like my brother, I want them to have a voice- Shanda Tansowny
Police arrested Peter and Adam Mclean on Feb. 23, six months after the alleged assault.
Peter, 59, is facing charges of forcible confinement, aggravated assault and uttering threats. Adam, 35, has been charged with aggravated assault, forcible confinement and assault with a weapon. The charges have not been tested in court yet.
Neither accused, Adam or Peter Mclean, have responded to multiple requests for comment, including through their lawyers. Adam's lawyer, Sharon Fox, declined to comment without seeing the full RCMP report. Police said the two men were related but would not confirm how they were related.
Both are expected in court on Aug. 14.
LISTEN | How did Shanda Tansowny's investigating lead to finding faults in an RCMP investigation?
In response to Tansowny's CRCC complaint, RCMP Staff Sgt. Conrad Logan wrote that without the video evidence Tansowny provided, "the vicious assault on your brother may not have been discovered and criminal charges would most likely not have been laid."
Tansowny hopes the RCMP's findings will prompt a change in policing but she's upset she had to spend days looking into the assault herself.
"I don't think that a loved one who is dealing with a loss of somebody important to them should have to not just advocate, but do the investigative work — that's not my job. My job was to grieve the loss of my brother," Tansowny said.
Tansowny finally got official answers when she received the RCMP's response to the complaint she filed.
What happened at the farmyard?
Hawkins had told his sister he was struggling financially and searching for work when he entered the Mclean farmyard. He had been door-knocking farms, hoping to help with harvest.
She believes it would have been difficult for him to communicate in a stressful situation because he lived with schizophrenia.
The RCMP document — which includes analysis of information from the two responding officers at the scene and the investigator's analysis of the police cruiser's tape — provides a stark description of what happened on Aug. 21, 2022.
It says police officers found Hawkins there after they were called to a trespassing complaint. Const. Alphonse Noey was the first of two responding officers. He arrived at the farmyard around noon and was at the farmyard for a little more than 10 minutes before he left with Hawkins to the Melfort Hospital.
Noey saw two men standing over Hawkins, who was bleeding from his nose while his hands were zip-tied behind his back.
I can't imagine how he felt in that moment that he needed help and he needed support and they weren't there for him.- Shanda Tansowny
Noey documented that the men said they found Hawkins breaking into the property and that he threatened to harm them. The men told the second responding officer that Hawkins had reached for a knife during the altercation.
Noey put Hawkins in handcuffs and took him to the police car, then cut off the zip-ties and threw them away.
According to the RCMP report, the in-car audio/video shows Hawkins pleading with Noey and asking Noey why he didn't charge the two men, saying they "both tag teamed me and beat the crap out of me" and "you saw me laying in a puddle of blood."
According to the report, there is no documentation to suggest Noey investigated those allegations.
The in-car audio/video also showed Hawkins telling Noey he only wanted to take pictures of combines and that he didn't break and enter anywhere.
At the hospital, Noey charged and ticketed Hawkins before releasing him. He said Hawkins declined to sign his release document or provide him with an audio statement to proceed with charges against the men.
Tansowny said her brother was flown from Melfort to Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital by STARS because of the severity of his injuries, including internal bleeding.
STARS confirmed in an email that a patient in critical condition was transported from Melfort Hospital to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon on Aug. 21.
An autopsy report for Hawkins shows he died because of an upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage which ultimately led to his death as a result of pre-existing health issues and says there is no evidence trauma played a role in his death. Tansowny believes her brother's death was connected to the assault.
She said the coroner hasn't finished his final report.
On the day of his arrest, Hawkins was charged with uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Those charges were stayed after he died.
RCMP document says officers neglected duties
In his reply to Tansowny's complaint, Staff Sgt. Conrad Logan summarized the investigator's findings. Logan wrote that Noey's notes lacked important details and he noted several issues with the arrest:
- Noey rushed to arrest Hawkins without gathering enough evidence.
- He arrested Hawkins for uttering threats, trespassing and break and enter but only had the authority to arrest him for trespassing.
- He did not ask what Hawkins was breaking into or how he threatened the men.
- There was minimal documentation in Noey's report and no notes about what he was told or Hawkins' condition before he arrested Hawkins.
- He did not work to obtain video surveillance of the farm to corroborate the alleged offences.
- He said he was not aware the incident was caught on video until after he was on medical leave three weeks after the incident, though one of the men had told him about the video camera.
- He discarded evidence of potential forcible confinement when he tossed away the zip ties that restrained Hawkins.
Logan also wrote that after watching a video and audio recording of the incident, the RCMP investigator, Sgt. Rob Nicholas, found Hawkins was "viciously and unnecessarily assaulted."
"They both clearly lied to police regarding the actions and behaviour of your brother and downplayed what they had done to your brother."
Logan wrote that Noey will be given training to improve his investigative tactics when he returns from leave. The RCMP say the leave is not a suspension.
In the report, Logan also addressed Tansowny's complaint that a senior officer, now-retired Staff Sgt. Darren Simons, gave her inaccurate information about whether police could charge the men.
"When I look at the totality of circumstances, Staff Sergeant Simons did provide you with information that was not true," Logan wrote.
Logan wrote that while it can be more difficult to prosecute a crime after the death of a victim, "following a more thorough investigation," there was enough evidence to lay charges.
Because Simons is retired, he is outside the purview of the RCMP.
Neither Noey nor Simons have responded to multiple requests for comment.
'What I really wanted was change'
Tansowny said she is relieved and appreciates that the report found officers had neglected their duties in their handling of the case and the RCMP had given a written apology. But she said she is disappointed with the police response, fearing it won't change how future calls deal with people who could have mental health issues.
"In my mind [the RCMP] should have the highest standards to protect the public and I felt that they didn't do that," Tansowny said.
She said it was difficult to know they arrested her brother despite him being visibly bloodied from the altercation.
"I can't imagine how he felt in that moment that he needed help and he needed support and they weren't there for him," she said.
The Saskatchewan RCMP said it forwarded the report to the CRCC.
"If the Saskatchewan RCMP becomes the subject of a CRCC report, we are committed to reviewing it in its entirety and will conduct a detailed analysis of the report and the investigation," the RCMP said.
RCMP said both Logan and Nicholas received CBC's request for comment and declined an interview as the case is going through the court process.
The union which represents RCMP officers, called the National Police Federation, declined to comment on the document pending the release of a full CRCC report.
Tansowny prefers to see improvements in policing rather than punitive measures, including training to better address situations involving people with mental health issues and enter situations with more compassion for people who could have mental health issues.
Hawkins' death has deeply affected his family, but Tansowny does not want that to be the centerpiece of his memory.
"What I really wanted was change: I want something like this not to happen to a family again. I want somebody who's marginalized like my brother, I want them to have a voice," she said.
"I would always want an RCMP [officer] to treat someone like it was their own mother or father, brother or sister when they come into a situation like this and not just a nobody laying on the ground."
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