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Inquest called into man's death in police custody

By: Staff Writer

20/11/2009 2:26 PM | Comments: 10

Wilfred Asham is seen in an undated family photo.

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Wilfred Asham is seen in an undated family photo. (FAMILY PHOTO / CBC)

WINNIPEG - An inquest has been called by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner into the Sept. 2, 2007 death of 19-year-old man in a city police holding room at the downtown Public Safety Building.

Chief medical examiner Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra said in a statement Friday the circumstances leading up the death of Wilfred Lesley Asham will be examined during the hearing to see what, if anything, can be done to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.

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Because Asham died in police custody, an inquest is mandatory under Manitoba’s Fatality Inquiries Act.

In autopsy determined Asham’s cause of death was "probable cardiac arrhythmia." The same report said the manner of death was undetermined.

Asham had been taken into custody at around 1 a.m. for the alleged theft of a minivan. Police had spotted the vehicle a short time earlier going through a red light.  Police followed it — it was not a high-speed pursuit — to where it had crashed into a chain link fence near Elgin Avenue and Jordan Street.

Asham and another man tried to flee, but were soon arrested and handcuffed. Both were then to the Public Safety Building.

Asham was placed in an interview room, where he collapsed. Paramedics were called and a police officer started CPR. Asham was rushed to the Health Sciences Centre, but attempts to resuscitate him failed. He was pronounced dead at 2:06 a.m.

Family members have said say the autopsy report found no traces of hard drugs in his system.

The toxicology report did find trace amounts of marijuana, said Asham’s stepfather, Louis Vosters, and a blood alcohol level of 0.118. The legal limit in Manitoba is 0.08.

The family has also said Asham did not have a heart problem.

An inquest date has not been set.

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10 Commentscomment icon

Wilfred did indeed steal cars but that's minor compared to what some others do. He was still a person that didn't deserve to die. Especially at such a young age.
I knew him and he wasn't a bad ass like some would like to think. He was a normal teenager trying to find himself. And the odd time he'd find himself in trouble with the law. It's just the way it is in today's society when it comes to young adults. It's not easy for some of them. They just take longer to find themselves because of their life circumstances. No one should point fingers, especially at his mom. She's a good woman!!! She loves and misses him dearly. Put all else aside and put yourself if her shoes. You wouldn't be so quick to judge if it happened to you.

Did you really just say stealing a vehicle is a benign incident? In my line of work, I've seen innocent people die from stolen cars and from drunk drivers. No, it doesn't seem fair he died in this way, but stealing a car and drunk driving are absolutely not benign.

Coachman - please notice your contradiction. You note that "Every person has the capability to do bad things. Everybody." This is also true for the WPS, and self-proclaimed good people like yourself who feel both obligated and entitled to preach to the rest of society. Understand that if this was your child, who made a mistake, as "every person has the capability to do", you would also advocate on behalf of the more pleasant memories. However, as an outsider and a stranger it is easy to judge, even at times like this when you should not.

I must admit, this comment is not a condemnation of WPS, only a condemnation of those of us in society - *cough Coachman, Joe cough*- who through their lack of understanding jump to conclusions and degrade the reputations of those incapable of defending themselves. Money for the family may not be warranted, but the family has all the right in the world to remember their child as being a good boy. Coachman, your comments are premature, empty, and nothing short of purely derogatory. As much as these misled individuals are to blame, so is society - and its lack of support and provisions for these most at risk youth - and hollow comments are not going to help solve this situation. And as society is to blame, as a result we all are... myself, WPS, and especially yourself included.

Stealing a vehicle is an benign incident, preaching your hate-fueled beliefs throughout society is malignant. Please judge yourselves next time before judging others.

@Coachman...Please help me out by identifying in what situation /circumstances you know of where the WPS punished their own bad cops...
And please do not include desk duties in your response(s) example(s)...In other words...Fired one of their own for wrong doing(s)...and if you can provide me with such...Then please explain to me why we as taxpayers paid (are paying for) that former WPS officer's benefits/pension after he or she was fired?...
I will always know and understand that there is two sides to every argument/coin...Without passing judgement...I cannot wait to see/hear/read about what one side has to say...The WPS...Why?...A dead man/woman or child can no longer speak to any of us anymore...Don't really care what he/she did and or didn't do...Died while in Police custody...Mandatory inquest/inquiry...Which is "our protection" for all us who are supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty" "in our democracy" "in Canada"...The WPS have nothing to worry about if they did nothing wrong...It is all part of the job we as taxpayers pay them to do...Be accountable to us the tax payer and their employer...GGF

Since the 1970's, there has been a trend away from "parental responsibility" - in actually parenting ones own children, teaching children good morals and values, and creating a positive connection with children and their community leaders.

There have been affiliated groups of people since the 1970's that have encouraged parents to rely on the state to do all the guidance necessary to create responsible adults, and this group have done at terrible job of everything, except staying in the shadows.

With crime and inner decay to the souls of people rising, it's in the best interests of these groups to claim that problems are no worse than they used to be, we're just more aware of them - and pay them to try and fix all these new problems we never used to have.

Parents need to wake up, shake the nonsense out of their heads that their parents put into them, and bring up your own children. Demand children who are living in homes with drug/alcohol/vice problems or who aren't fed a decent breakfast be seized.

And teach your children that parents are first and foremost responsible for their own children - not their grandparents, not the day care orphanages, and not the government with its web of useless agencies we've created over the past several decades.

Assuption is the mother of all mess ups. Let us all allow a degree of compassion to enter our judgement before we decide. Anyway Coachman police allegedly don't punish other police who break the law, 9 times out of 10 they let them go before lawyers get their hands on them.

Karma, my good friends. KARMA.

Too bad someone died, but here we go again. Someone is going to want $$$ because their "innocent" child died while in custody. I'm sorry, but I for one am tired of hearing that every person who stole/broke into a car, was impared driving, attacking a cop with a screwdriver,fork,knife,gun,baseball bat,etc. was such a good boy that they would not do that and the police are all lying to cover their butts. Every person has the capability to do bad things. Everybody. Maybe sometimes the police are not at fault when someone dies in their custody, but the circumstances that got them in jail in the first place are responsible. W.P.S.has done a pretty fair job of punnishing any cops found guilty of breaking the laws they are supposed to up-hold.

The police may have done everything right. The problem in this province is the wait of over 30 months just to call for the hearing. Now we have to wait for a court date and I suggest it will be up to a year away.

This is the pattern in all such cases. It is not fair to the police, certainly not fair to the family and the public deserves better from our judicial system.

A death at the hands of the police or while in custody should be reviewed by a court within 12 months. That would be fair to everyone.

So here is another individual thinks it is cool to steal a vehicle, be over the legal limit of intoxication, and consume "trace amounts" of marijauna.
How do we know that he didn't have a heart problem, or any underlying condition? That will be up to the medical examiner's report to decide.
If he was at home, with that blood content, and "trace amount" of marijauna, would the same thing have happened?
I can't wait for the police brutality claims to come out.

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