ManitobaSeparate inquests have been called into the deaths of six adults in Manitoba, including an inmate stabbed with improvised weapons during a prison riot and a man shot by an RCMP officer.Probes launched to determine what, if anything, can be done to prevent similar deaths: Chief medical officerCBC News · Posted: Nov 27, 2025 5:46 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Conor Rae, 18, was fatally shot by an RCMP officer on May 24, 2023. An inquest into his death has been called. (Obituary/The Graphic Leader)Separate inquests have been called into the deaths of six adults in Manitoba, including a young man shot in his apartment by an RCMP officer and an inmate stabbed with improvised weapons during a prison riot.The office of Dr. John Younes, Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, issued six news releases Thursday about inquests into the deaths of Conor Rae, 18, Colton Patchinose, 33, Sean Connors, 41, Talia Kent, 34, Janine Walker, 23, and Mariusz Antoniewicz, 45. Rae, 18, was shot by a Mountie in Portage la Prairie, Man., after RCMP received a call about a domestic dispute between him and his girlfriend.His death is the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit by his family.Rae died shortly after 1 a.m. on May 24, 2023, at an apartment he’d recently moved into in the small city about 80 kilometres west of Winnipeg. His girlfriend had banged on the door of a neighbour, saying her boyfriend was trying to kill her, police said after his death.Officers found her safe in that unit, but when they went to the apartment she shared with Rae, they “were confronted with a weapon,” police said at the time. Two officers “unsuccessfully” deployed their stun guns around 1:07 a.m., while one officer shot his gun, Manitoba’s police watchdog said.Paramedics tried to resuscitate Rae, but he died from gunshot wounds in the chest and abdomen.The family allege police “dangerously and recklessly” escalated an encounter with Rae and excessive use of force and negligence resulted in his death, their lawsuit claims.A file picture shows Stony Mountain Institution. Manitoba’s chief medical examiner has called an inquest into the death of an inmate after he was stabbed during a riot at the federal institution in 2023. (CBC)Patchinose, 33, was stabbed to death in the Stony Mountain Institution yard during a riot.Patchinose, who had been incarcerated since 2011 for a number of violent charges — including three convictions for first-degree murder — was involved in an altercation during a riot on July 17, 2023, at the federal penitentiary about 25 km north of Winnipeg.Police at the time said the riot at the prison, just north of Winnipeg, involved approximately 50 inmates, and two correctional services officers used guns to disrupt the fighting. Officers seized approximately 50 homemade weapons. Patchinose was stabbed multiple times with improvised weapons and died, the news release from Younes said. Connors, 41, who was also an inmate, died of methamphetamine toxicity on Aug. 20, 2023.He was arrested the day before and was placed at the Headingley Correctional Centre, the news release announcing the inquest said.Connors had a teleconference about his upcoming charges before he went back to his cell, acting normally, the release said.Connors was assessed twice and then said he had taken meth. His state quickly declined and he was taken to hospital, but efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.Dr. John Younes, Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, seen in a file photo, has called six inquests into deaths of adults in Manitoba that happened during late 2022 and 2023. (Trevor Brine/CBC)Inquests were also called into the deaths related to drug intoxication of three other adults. Kent, 34, was admitted to the emergency room at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre for apparent drug use and suicide ideation.She was later found in the ER bathroom, unresponsive. After an evaluation, she was admitted to the psychiatry ward on Dec. 1, 2022.A nurse went into Kent’s room and found her lying face down, with shallow breathing. Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful, and she died from fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity on Dec. 2, 2022.Janine Walker is described by her father as a loving mother, who was friendly and always smiling and loved her community. (Janine Walker/Facebook)Walker, 23, died after she was detained by the RCMP.She was found unresponsive in her cell at the Chemawawin detachment, roughly 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. It took a civilian guard almost an hour to realize Walker, who had stopped moving, needed help, an Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba report said.Emergency services were called, but she died on March 23, 2023. Walker was reportedly assaulted two or three days before the arrest but didn’t seek medical attention.She died from cocaine toxicity, the news release said Thursday. The IIU ultimately cleared police of any wrongdoing.Antoniewicz, 45, was found in a stolen vehicle. He became combative and agitated when he was approached by police, who deployed their stun guns twice, the chief medical examiner’s news release said. Antoniewicz became unresponsive and CPR was initiated by police while he was taken to St. Boniface Hospital, but efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. He died on July 5, 2023. An autopsy determined his cause of death was acute cocaine and methamphetamine intoxication and it was ruled accidental.Younes said the inquests were called in hopes to determine what, if anything, can be done to prevent similar fatalities. Information about the date, time and location of the inquests will be determined at a later date by the chief judge of the provincial court.
RCMP shooting victim, 2 inmates among subjects of 6 new inquests called in Manitoba
