Quebec police watchdog closes case on Inukjuak man’s 2018 death
Billy Nutaraq, 44, was found dead one day after Kativik police handled a domestic abuse complaint
No criminal charges will be laid against Kativik Regional Police Force officers in connection with the death of a 44-year-old Inukjuak man in March 2018. But Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, said the KRPF did not fulfill all of its obligations under the rules of the BEI. These would have seen the police officers who found Billy Nutaraq’s body immediately remove themselves from the scene. (File photo)
Quebec’s independent police watchdog has closed its file on the death of an Inukjuak man.
Billy Nutaraq, 44, was found dead one day after the Kativik Regional Police Force handled a domestic abuse complaint from the deceased man’s partner.
The bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, which investigates deaths and injuries that take place in connection with police operations, said last week that Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions had decided not to recommend any charges against the police in connection with Nutaraq’s death.
However, BEI investigators say that the police officers and their chief of police did not “respect their obligations” under the BEI rules in connection with this incident.
These would have seen the KRPF officers involved immediately taken off the case as soon as they found Nutaraq’s body.
The BEI called the incident “an exceptional situation.”
The BEI said there were only four police officers in the community of about 1,700. This meant they had to respond to calls and guard Nutaraq’s body, although their captain had told them about the BEI directives.
The captain couldn’t make it to Inukjuak due to the weather conditions or bring in other officers, the BEI said.
Six investigators, with a forensic identification technician from the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force, arrived a day after police found Nutaraq dead inside his home on March 16, 2018.
On the previous evening, Thursday, March 15, the KRPF police officers had responded to a complaint of domestic violence there, the BEI said in March 2018.
Nutaraq’s partner had taken refuge in a residence other than her own.
When the KRPF officers arrived, they noticed she had a swollen eye, a bloody mouth and was “very intoxicated.”
Because she spoke neither English nor French, it was impossible for the KRPF officers to take a statement from her, the BEI said, so they brought her to the local health centre.
The KRPF officers went to the couple’s home, where they found Nutaraq lying with his head and torso on a piece of furniture. Police tried unsuccessfully to wake him up and then left.
On March 16, the police obtained a statement from his partner.
Also on March 16, a KRPF officer returned to the couple’s home where they found Nutaraq had died in the same position they had found him in on the previous day.
The BEI team arrived at the scene about 6 p.m. on March 17 and completed their on-site examination at about 10:45 p.m., the BEI said.
They heard testimony from two civilian witnesses, including a doctor, and examined the reports from the two police officers involved.
An investigator also kept in touch with the Nutaraq’s family throughout the investigation and informed them of its progress and conclusion.
In three years, only two Quebec police officers have been charged after BEI investigations: one is Timothy Sangoya of the KRPF.
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