Witnesses testifying before Monday’s trial say they saw Austin Maniogen jump from a moving vehicle the day he died.
An investigation into Maniogen’s death began in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, this week. The 22-year-old Maniogena died of a head injury while in the custody of the RCMP community in September 2018. He was arrested by a Kugluktuk official for allegedly driving an ATV while intoxicated.
In her testimony, Andrea Kudloak said that she was walking her son to school on September 19, 2018, when she saw the vehicle with a bylaw moving on the road near the office of the community village. She said her son started screaming, saying a dog had jumped out of the back of the vehicle.
Cudlock said she looked up to see the car stop. She approached and realized that he was actually human. She said she knew Maniogen’s jacket, walked over to him and asked if he knew who she was.
She said that Maniogena nodded and asked her to call his mother. She agreed.
When she was returning from bringing her son to school, she saw Maniogen being placed in the back of an RCMP vehicle by an RCMP officer.
Another witness, Crystal Miyok, told the investigation that she was in one of the RCMP cells when officers brought Maniogen to the squad. She said she heard officers say he jumped out of the car by law.
The Kugluktuk RCMP Squad. (Randall Mackenzie / CBC)
She said police were “really rude” to Maniogen when they put him in the cell opposite her.
She remembered that he was barely moving, but she started screaming that it hurt.
“He said, ‘Oh, my head hurts,'” Miok told investigators.
Miyok said she shouted at the guards that Maniogen should go to the health center. She said the guard then went to her cell and told her “just keep quiet and watch your work”.
A judicial investigation is mandatory for all deaths in RCMP custody. It is led by Sheldon Toner, a lawyer for Nunavut’s chief coroner. Lawyers for the RCMP, the Nunavut government and the government of the Northwest Territories are also present and may question witnesses.
The six-member jury is expected to hear 17 witnesses in three days. Witnesses included RCMP staff, doctors and a head injury specialist. The jurors will then be tasked with coming up with a series of recommendations on how to prevent such deaths in the future.
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