Identity of mysterious men, missing kids explored in Machiskinic inquest
The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Nadine Machiskinic said her injuries indicate she went down a Regina hotel laundry chute one of two ways – either feet first or head first while on her back.
The lawyer representing Machskinic's family, Noah Evanchuk, said the two options Ladham presented raise serious questions.
On January 10, 2015 the 29-year-old mother of four somehow ended up in a very narrow laundry chute, approximately 45 centimetres high and wide, and plunged to her death.
On the second day of the coroner's inquest into her death, Dr. Shaun Ladham testified about the nature of her injuries and how she may have fallen at Regina's Delta Hotel.
"The two ways that I think are coming clear are one option is feet first despite the fact there are no injuries to the feet or lower body at all," said Evanchuk.
He said the second option, in which Machiskinic would have gone in head first on her back "would imply someone, Ms. Machiskinic was put there by somebody."
Evanchuk argued it would be too difficult for someone to throw themselves down the chute.
"You would have to turn the handle, pull it out and hold it out all at the same time the physics of that seem to beggar belief that that would be one person doing that and going in headfirst. That's my take on it," he said.
That's just one of many unresolved issues for the jury to ponder this week, which also includes whether the victim's level of intoxication would have precluded her voluntarily entering the chute.
"There were a lot of procedural problems that occurred in the case in particular dealing with Ms. Machiskinic being written off. The initial response was that she lived a high-risk lifestyle," Evanchuk said.
"I would like to think as a citizen that my fellow citizens would get due protection of all these institutions and the system failed Ms. Machiskinic plain and simple."
Who were the children?
Police have only tracked down one person who saw Machiskinic on the 10th floor the morning of January 10, 2015.
William Creeden was staying at the Delta Hotel that night. He had come to town from his home in Kansas City for a gathering of union officials.
Creeden's interview with police was played for the jury, in which explained that he was awoken early that morning by an alarm and a woman banging on his door.
He said he peeked out the door and saw a frantic woman with dark hair yelling that the hotel was on fire.
Besides her dark hair, the other thing that stood out to Creeden was the two children "peering out from behind her."
He said they were not teenagers and not toddlers but somewhere in between in age.
In the inquest, police testified that they attempted to find out who these children were but have so far been unsuccessful.
And that's not the only pair police have failed to track down.
Men on the elevator yet to be ID'd
The jury heard that one year after Machiskinic's death, Sgt. Troy Davis and his partner were assigned to have a new look with fresh eyes at the evidence.
One of the first tasks Davis set for himself was to get a list of all the guests who stayed in the hotel the night Machiskinic died.
"That became very important for us," he said because surveillance video appeared to show Machiskinic getting on the elevator with two men shortly before she plunged to her death.
Davis soon discovered that the previous investigators failed to get a copy of that list.
When he first approached the hotel to get it "they didn't want to turn it over."
He told the jury that months later he was provided a copy of the list but it was incomplete.
"What we got was a purged document," Davis said, which had some guests but not others.
"If you're not a regular Delta person that stays there after a few months you would be purged off," he added.
Davis explained that he and his partner went to great lengths to track those men down but in the end they were unsuccessful.
