The investigation into the drowning death of a British Columbian woman has been resumed by the province’s chief coroner nearly a year after her husband’s indictment expired.
A spokeswoman for the chief coroner, Lisa Lapoint, confirmed to CTV News on Thursday that she had ordered the investigation to be reopened.
“The Coroners Act allows the Coroner to resume an investigation if new evidence emerges or if the Coroner deems it to be in the public interest. In this case, the chief coroner has determined that it is in the public interest for another coroner to launch a new investigation to include any new or additional information that may help the public understand Arlene Westervelt’s death, “the spokesman said in an email.
It is not clear what will come out of the reopening of the investigation, but its purpose is to establish the facts surrounding the death, including how and by what means it occurred.
These investigations do not identify guilt or attribute guilt.
Arlene died in June 2016 while on a canoe trip with her husband Burt.
Bert told police that Arlene drowned when the couple’s canoe overturned on Lake Okanagan. He was charged with second-degree murder in the case, but the charge was dropped when new evidence emerged that reduced the likelihood of his conviction, the Crown said earlier.
Burt has always maintained his innocence.
That stay expired last summer, raising concerns among the family that the case may never go to court.
On the fifth anniversary of Arlene’s death, her family called for an investigation. Her sister said at the time that she had “asked” for an autopsy, “but the coroner said there would be no autopsy because it was an accidental drowning.”
A report by forensic doctors published in 2020 said the woman’s body showed signs of possible strangulation, but the cause of death remained unknown. According to her family, her body was embalmed before an autopsy was performed.
The British Columbia Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation into Arlene’s death remained open and none of the allegations had been proven in court.
In a statement on the coroner’s investigation, Arlene’s sister said her family had been informed in a letter from Lapoant that it would be reopened.
Debbie Hennig quoted Lapoant as saying that the purpose of the investigation was “to ensure that the coroner’s service did everything possible to determine the circumstances surrounding your sister’s death.”
Hennig said she was told the coroner was Carolyn Maxwell, a decision she criticized in a statement to the media, as Maxwell is also part of the BC Coroner’s Office. She said she believed that meant the review would not be independent of an investigation years ago. The family requested an independent examination.
“I fear that the internal review is meaningless, as it cannot independently answer questions about various actions and omissions by the BC Coroner’s Office,” she said in an e-mail statement Thursday.
The family suggested that the examination be performed by an anatomical forensic pathologist who works somewhere other than BC
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