Coroner’s inquest called into death of B.C. RCMP officer in Taser case

VICTORIA – A coroner's inquest will be held into the suicide of an RCMP officer who was in charge of media relations in British Columbia when Robert Dziekanski was fatally stunned with a Taser at Vancouver's airport.

Pierre Lemaitre was 55 years old and a sergeant with the Mounties when he died by suicide at his home in Abbotsford in July 2013.

At the time, Lemaitre was posted to the RCMP's traffic services division but he was the officer in charge of RCMP media relations when Dziekanski was shot with a Taser in October 2007.

Lemaitre's initial accounts described Dziekanski as being distraught and behaving irrationally, adding that RCMP officers used two bursts of the Taser to immobilize him.

Video later surfaced that appeared to contradict those accounts and an inquiry into Dziekanski's death was also told that Lemaitre had watched portions of the video before issuing the first news release about the incident.

The provincial coroner's service says the inquest into Lemaitre's death will begin Nov. 19 in Burnaby.