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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Man fights to prove mother's 2004 death a homicide
The son of a Winnipeg woman who died after a fall down a set of stairs in 2004 is doing what he says police won’t: find justice.
Jim Garwood has waged a one-man court fight for about five years not only getting the original police files of their investigation, but hiring an independent consultant and launching a wrongful death claim against the person he alleges is responsible for 87-year-old Jessie Garwood’s death.
In Depth
Edmonton forensic consultant Joseph Slemko prepared two reports on the 2004 death of Jessie Garwood, 87, in her Windsor Park home.
Slemko based his findings -- that someone else was in was in the house when she suffered a fatal fall -- on photos and other evidence gathered by Winnipeg police.
Read Slemko's reports:
Report 1 (PDF, 887 KB)
Report 2 (PDF, 690 KB)
WARNING: The reports contain police images and other content that some readers may find disturbing.
Winnipeg police maintain they have found no evidence of foul play.
"I want a sense of justice," Garwood said Tuesday. "Just because it’s an old death doesn’t mean it’s any less important. I mean, do we pick our cases to solve?"
Garwood said his mother, who had suffered from macular degeneration since 1997, died -- according to police -- after tripping and falling down the basement stairs of her Windsor Park home.
But a pathology report says she suffered 13 injuries to her head, injuries Garwood claims are more consistent with an assault.
"If you trip and fall, do you hit your head 13 times?" Garwood said. "I don’t think so."
No new evidence supports re-opening case: police
Police say they’re confident their investigation in 2004 was thorough and no signs of foul play were found.
"At the request of James Garwood, the son of the deceased Jessie Garwood, the Winnipeg Police Service reviewed the investigation, including opinions advanced by a forensic consultant retained by James Garwood," police spokeswoman Monica Stothers said in an email.
"The Winnipeg Police Service also requested an outside police agency to conduct an independent review of the Winnipeg Police Service investigation.
"The independent review supported the original findings of the Winnipeg Police Service investigation.
"The Winnipeg Police Service is sympathetic to Mr. Garwood regarding the death of Jessie Garwood. However, there is no new evidence that supports re-opening this investigation. Mr. Garwood has been notified of the Winnipeg Police Service's position."
'Not just your average accidental death'
Garwood, a retired federal worker, said based on the circumstances of his mom’s death, and the recommendation of Edmonton forensic consultant Joseph Slemko, he still wants the case re-opened.
Slemko said in a report, after reviewing police photographs of the death scene, that Garwood, "suffered numerous blunt force impacts at locations that were not at the base of the (basement) telepost and that could not be caused by her own actions."
- Read Slemko's reports: Report 1 (PDF, 887 KB), Report 2 (PDF, 690 KB)
WARNING: The reports contain police images and other content that some readers may find disturbing.
Slemko said he also believes blood splatters and stains at the scene were made by the actions of someone other than Garwood.
"This was not just your average accidental death," Garwood added. "The police have I believe made serious errors in the whole sequence of events.
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