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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Hearing to decide who can participate at inquest

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 01/3/2013 10:04 AM

A Jan. 11 hearing date has been set by the provincial government to determine who can participate at an inquest into the death of Frank Alexander, 87, of Winnipeg.

On March 24, 2011, Alexander was found on the floor at Parkview Place in Winnipeg bleeding from the ear. Nursing staff from Parkview Place attended to him until an ambulance took him to the Health Sciences Centre. Alexander was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and after consultation with his family he was moved to Riverview Health Centre where he died on March 28, 2011.

An investigation determined that Alexander's death was a homicide, the result of blunt head trauma. A police investigation determined that another resident with Alzheimer's disease had pushed Alexander, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head.

Under the Fatality Inquiries Act, an inquest was called to explore the circumstances and events leading to the death to determine what, if anything, could be done to help prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future.

Before the inquest can begin, a judge will decide who can question and call witnesses by having standing at the inquest. That hearing is set for 9 a.m. Jan. 11 at Winnipeg’s Law Courts, room 405.

Dates for the actual inquest will be set following the hearing.