There was no crime.
There was nothing suspicious about either death.
That was the official word from the RCMP last week. It was a one line press release following up on a May 25 press release that stated two people, a man, 58, and a woman, 51, were found dead in a home in the 100 block of White Sand Drive in Canora the previous afternoon.
“Autopsies conducted on Friday in Saskatoon and police investigation to date have determined BOTH sudden deaths are non-suspicious, non-criminal in nature,” the final release stated.
Most deaths, even sudden ones, do not come to the attention of the news media, except perhaps by way of obituary. Even fewer are the subject of police press releases. But two people, both relatively young, dead in the same house on the same day? That warrants both criminal investigation and public concern.
The initial release was designed specifically to allay the latter. “There is no risk to public safety and police are not seeking any suspects,” it stated.
Because of that, and because the autopsies revealed nothing sinister, there will be no further information made public. For the record, we are left with the what, the when and the where, but that’s two Ws and an H shy of a news story.
As a newspaper reporter, it’s pretty tough to let that go. The police started it, after all, with the first release. They came to us.
Of course, it doesn’t take an investigative genius to figure out the rest and that’s where the internal wrangling starts. How far do you go to tell the story? Is it in the public interest? Is the “because we’re the paper of record” argument compelling enough? What is the public good that will come out of it if you go ahead? What is the damage if you don’t?
These are all legitimate questions.
In this case, we decided to go with the official line. The finer details of the story will remain relatively contained. The family’s privacy will be respected.
But even respecting a family’s wishes is not always or necessarily a good enough reason to kill a story. Sometimes making a private tragedy public can prevent future tragedy. It is a fine line we sometimes tread and undoubtedly cross on both sides once in a while.
In any event, two people have moved on and so must we all, with or without the details.
There was no crime.
That is the final word from the RCMP.
