Homicide victim’s misidentification ‘likely unprecedented’ City police officers detailed victim’s stabbing, burning death for his devastated grandmother… then he rang his dad’s doorbell By: Chris Kitching Posted: 6:07 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023

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This article was published 22/08/2023 (1103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Judy Panchenko’s world fell apart when two Winnipeg police detectives knocked on her door and told her that her grandson had been the victim of a grisly homicide.

Eight days later, while his family was planning a funeral, Peter Panchenko, 35, showed up at his father’s home to let his grieving loved ones know he was very much alive.

“I was stunned. None of it was really real,” Judy told the Free Press.

Panchenko’s family is demanding a full explanation from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as to how he was misidentified as a homicide victim.

“I don’t want any other family to go through this,” his grandmother said. “All I want is an answer from the coroner. What happened? What did they do?”

OCME executive director Kathryn Braun described the misidentification as “likely unprecedented” in Manitoba. She promised to provide the family with answers following an investigation.

Police visited Judy’s St. Boniface home May 18 to tell her and her partner, Cheryl Cook, that Peter had been stabbed and his body set on fire near MacDonald Avenue and Gomez Street in South Point Douglas on April 27.

Judy and Cook hugged and cried while they listened to the harrowing details.

“You’ll never believe how hard that was,” said Judy. “It just stuns you. You don’t know what to think. All of a sudden, your world stops.”

Detectives told the couple Peter’s dental records were compared with the victim during a post-mortem examination to confirm the likely identity.

The officers said it was almost 100 per cent certain, but they wanted to obtain a DNA sample from Peter’s father to be absolutely sure, said Cook.

“There’s definitely a flaw in the system. Something has gone awry that needs to be addressed.”–Cheryl Cook

Peter’s teeth were knocked out when he was hit in the face with a hammer during a robbery in February. A metal plate was installed during a dental procedure afterward.

“They figure the (actual) victim had a similar plate,” said Cook.

On May 5, police said the then-unidentified victim had no upper teeth and would have undergone an operation to his face.

While she was devastated during the May 18 visit, Judy expressed some doubts to police.

She told detectives she received Facebook messages from Peter’s account May 8 — 11 days after the victim was found.

Police spokesman Kelly Dehn said officers took the concerns seriously and sent messages to the account, but they did not receive a response.

An internal bulletin instructed officers to contact the homicide unit if they encountered Peter, who eventually turned up at his dad’s house.

No one was home, but his arrival was recorded by a doorbell camera that sent an alert to his father’s mobile phone.

A friend had urged Peter to contact his family, after seeing Facebook posts about his apparent death.

Judy said Peter is homeless, doesn’t have a mobile phone and has limited internet access. His family sometimes goes months without hearing from him.

“I said I will be following this up. I want an answer to what happened. It needs an explanation.”–Cheryl Cook

For Judy, it wasn’t an easy task telling extended family members her grandson was not dead.

“It’s harder to explain that he’s alive than he’s dead because there’s too many questions you don’t have an answer for,” said Cook. “There’s definitely a flaw in the system. Something has gone awry that needs to be addressed.”

Hoping to find out, Cook spoke to an OCME employee. She said the staff member offered limited details because an investigation is underway.

“I said, ‘Do you have any idea what you put this family through?’ She said, ‘Well, look at the outcome. It’s good news,’” said Cook. “I said I will be following this up. I want an answer to what happened. It needs an explanation.”

Braun said the OCME probe will dictate whether any changes are necessary.

“We are looking into what happened, so that it doesn’t happen (again),” she said. “We do feel for the family, and we are very sorry for the stress and anguish we’ve caused them.”

Braun said dental comparison — usually a solo job — is conducted by an external forensic dentist under contract to the OCME.

The dentist would look at any surgical hardware while attempting to confirm a person’s identity.

Braun indicated it “would have to be” an exact match to draw the type of conclusion in Peter’s misidentification.

She defended the forensic dentist but wouldn’t go into specific details, nor would she comment on the status of their contract.

“It’s really not their fault,” she said.

The Winnipeg Police Service also offered an apology to the family.

“We don’t like to see this happen,” said Dehn. “It’s unfortunate.”

He said the identity of the homicide victim has since been established, and police are working with that person’s family for confirmation.

The victim’s name has not been publicly released.

Police have charged Tyrus Mann, 23, with second-degree murder.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching