Editor's note: The following story contains strong language and graphic descriptions heard during the inquest that may not be suitable for all readers.
The inquest into the death of a Sudbury-area man who died by suicide in 2018 heard voice recordings Tuesday of the man saying he could not believe he had shot at his wife and could not believe the extent of his actions.
He also expressed the idea that he would have to die for his actions, either by killing himself or by forcing the police to kill him.
Much of the testimony on Day 2 of the inquest was focused on the procedures used by police crisis negotiators when confronted by a person who has barricaded themselves in what was described as a “stronghold position.”
Testimony was heard from Staff Sgt. Derick Rose of the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS), who spoke about the process and procedures involved when a negotiator speaks with the person in crisis.
The inquest is examining the death of Steven Thornton, 63, who was found dead in his home at 44 Sunny St. in Garson on Sept. 13, 2018.
Previous to Thornton's death, he had shot and wounded his wife after an argument in their home on Sept. 12 that led to a standoff with police.
A team from the Barrie Police Service had also been called in as backup for Sudbury police and to provide relief.
Thornton had been drinking alcohol during the argument. It was during the supper hour that day his wife became aware her husband was loading a shotgun.
She ran from the house. Her husband fired at her from the driveway. She was wounded in the back, legs and wrist. Two shots were fired. The wife fell down after being hit, but quickly got up and ran to a neighbour's home while Thornton went back into the couple’s home.
Thornton's death occurred after he had been barricaded in his home overnight. According to an agreed statement of facts, he had been in telephone communications with police negotiators for several hours before those communications ended and Thornton could no longer be reached the next morning.
It was a few hours later, after the period of no communications, that police officers entered the home and found Thornton dead. A 20-gauge shotgun was found close to his body, the inquest was told Monday.
The inquest is taking place in a virtual online format with Toronto lawyer Bonnie Goldberg as the presiding officer, assisted by inquest counsel, Sudbury lawyer and assistant Crown attorney Grace Alcaide Janicas. She is assisted by student-at-law Mackenzie Chan, also of Sudbury.
Day 2 of the inquest began with coroner's counsel Alcaide Janicas questioning Rose on the role of crisis negotiators who are called on during extreme situations such as dealing with an armed and barricaded individual.
During his testimony, Rose described how he was just ending his day shift when he was called to the scene as a patrol officer to help set up an inner perimeter in that part of Garson. Neighbours had called 911 to report a woman had been shot.
As police were setting up a perimeter in the area, officers encountered a family member — a son-in-law — who revealed he was speaking to Thornton on a cellphone. Police used that cellphone to establish communications with Thornton inside his home.
During the course of Rose's testimony, he explained that GSPS had a procedure for crisis situations where specially trained officers would be dispatched to communicate with people in crisis.
As a minimum at least two, and ideally three, trained crisis officers would respond to any scene, Rose testified. This was to ensure continuity of the conversation and to allow the chief negotiator to stay in touch while the secondary negotiator could act as a runner to bring vital information to the incident commander and others involved.
This would include information such as the fact that Thornton had three long guns with him, including a 30-06 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 20-gauge shotgun. This information was relayed to police in case Thornton tried to leave his residence, Rose said.
Rose also described that his training had taught him to maintain positive communications with the person-in-crisis. Rose said part of the process was to recognize “hooks and triggers” in the conservation; a process of recognizing positive hooks in the conversation to engage the person in a positive way. The other thing involved recognizing triggers that could create a negative reaction.
Rose gave the example of steering the conversations away from any negative comments. He said the situation was made more challenging because Thornton kept drinking throughout the evening. The inquest heard from several voice recordings involving Thornton and crisis negotiator Rose.
At one point, the inquest jury heard Thornton make the comment, “Life sucks.”
Rose assured Thornton that life was good by mentioning how much Thornton liked to spend time with his grandchildren, go for walks in the forest and to play his guitar.
At another point in the recorded conversations, Thornton told Rose that his actions and the situation he was in that day, amounted to “a f**k-up” .
Not so, said Rose. It’s just a mistake, he told Thornton.
Rose assured Thornton that mistakes happen for everyone and they can be resolved.
At another point, Thornton said his actions meant that this was the end for him.
“Steve, you know the way this is going to end is you're going to walk out and you and I are going to talk and meet face to face,” Rose told the man.
Thornton sounded what might be regarded as despondent at another point as he discussed the argument he had with his wife.
“What the f**k is wrong with that picture? Does that mean that it's over? I just shot at my wife. What the f**k am I doing? I don't f**king do that. That's not f**king normal. I'm just so f**king wound up,” Thornton said at another point in the conversation.
Later, Thornton said he couldn’t think of a way out of his situation.
“The way out is to walk out the door and meet me,” Rose responded.
At another point, Thornton said that at his age he did not want to face spending the rest of his life behind bars, adding that he didn’t think he could handle it.
Rose assured Thornton that his grandchildren needed him in their lives to teach them the importance of their actions.
It was several hours later that Thornton would stop talking with police and some time after that, police entered the home to find him deceased.
The inquest continues today with more testimony that is expected to shed light on the circumstances that contributed to Thornton’s death.
The role of an inquest is to determine how a deceased person came to his death, when the death occurred, where it occurred, how (medical cause of death) and by what means (natural causes, accident, homicide, suicide or undetermined).
An inquest jury cannot assign blame nor can it make any legal conclusions. A jury may make recommendations to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.
