The family of Richmond RCMP Const. Jasmine Thiara, who died of a bullet wound three weeks ago while pregnant, want an autopsy and an inquest into her death, according to the family’s lawyer.
On the evening of Feb. 21, Thiara, who lived in New Westminster, told her family she was going out for gas and food.
Just a few hours later her body was found on the Moray Bridge with a single bullet wound to the head.
Her car was near the Pacific Gateway Hotel.
At the time, Thiara was in an “undisclosed” relationship with a superior officer at the Richmond RCMP detachment, explained Martin Peters, a lawyer representing the family.
Peters said there are a few questions surrounding the angle of the bullet.
“That question (about the bullet angle) alone would move things forward,” Peters said, adding he’s raised it with the coroner.
In fact, he has asked the chief coroner, Lisa LaPointe, twice whether there would be a post-mortem by a pathologist to determine the cause of death, but he hasn’t heard back from her.
The initial coroner’s report gets sent to the chief coroner, Peters explained, and he’s asked for this report in order to get at least some answers.
“I don’t see why that document wouldn’t be disclosed to the family,” he said.
BC Coroners Service is conducting an investigation and told the Richmond News they will share what information they can with the deceased’s nearest relative.
Peters is looking into whether he can petition the court to ask for an autopsy.
Peters said Thiara’s family didn’t think she was suicidal, and the only complication in her life was the pregnancy.
“This is not a lady that was doing the things that people who commit suicide normally do — she was in the middle of a busy life,” Peters said.
It is still possible it was a suicide, he added, but that is something the family would like to know and is why the family is calling for an autopsy and inquest.
The death is being investigated by the RCMP and the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO), which investigates incidents that result in serious harm or death to police officers.
Peters said he’s been told the RCMP is also looking into the relationship between Thiara and the Richmond officer she was in a relationship with.
Peters wouldn’t disclose the name of the superior officer.
The death has been tough on the family, Peters said, but the questions around it compound the grief.
“It’s one thing to grieve when you know how, why somebody’s died, but when you’re grieving and at the same time going ‘what happened?’ that makes it that much harder,” Peters said.
