SIU clears Thunder Bay, Ont., police of wrongdoing in First Nation woman's death

CBC

3 days ago

WARNING: This story contains references to domestic violence and suicide.
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has cleared a Thunder Bay police officer of wrongdoing in the 2023 death of Jenna Ostberg, a member of Bearskin Lake First Nation.
The SIU released its report on Tuesday, about 18 months after Ostberg's body was found in a residence in the northwestern Ontario city.
In the aftermath, her family highlighted that Ostberg was a kind and talented woman who was a victim of domestic abuse, and they were critical of the response of the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) after emergency calls were made.
The SIU investigation zeroed in on the three 911 calls that were made before officers attended the residence.
The first call was at 2:05 a.m. ET on Dec. 30, 2023, with the caller reporting Ostberg was an unwanted person in the home where her partner lived, the report says.
The second call to police was at 2:23 a.m., asking to cancel the initial call for service. The SIU says the caller believed Ostberg had left the home and they no longer needed police to attend.
More than eight hours later, a third call to police, at 10:34 a.m., said Ostberg was found in a bedroom closet. Paramedics responded and following resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead.
According to the Ostberg family — who identified their daughter as the subject of the SIU report — the watchdog told them Ostberg died by suicide. CBC News reached out to the SIU to confirm this and was directed to Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC), which said it cannot publicly provide details about the cause and manner of people's deaths.
She was very much a champion for women's rights. She had faced difficulty, but she also had the bravery and the courage to stand up for what was right.
The expert medical opinion for the case was unable to discern her time of death. However, the SIU report "leaves open the distinct possibility" that Ostberg took her own life some time after 2:42 a.m., her last known cellphone activity.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
"On his assessment of the evidence, SIU director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the woman's death," the report says.
However, the report adds, there is a case to be made that the subject official (SO) — the Thunder Bay police officer — "failed in his duty of care" by not attending the residence even after the call for service was cancelled, given the fact Ostberg's partner was arrested on July 14, 2023, for domestic assault with a weapon.
Her partner was released on an undertaking with the condition that he not contact Ostberg directly or indirectly, meaning Ostberg was not allowed to be at his home the day she died.
"Bearing in mind that there is evidence that it was a busy night in the communications centre and the officer would have been occupied with other matters, and that at least several minutes would have elapsed before officers could attend at the house in any event, I am unable to reasonably conclude in this condensed window of time that any negligence by the SO transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law," Martino's report says.
Complaint made to inspector general of policing
Due to the Ostberg family's concerns about the way the TBPS handled the case, a complaint was made to Ontario's inspector general of policing, Ryan Teschner.
In October, Teschner announced he would evaluate how the TBPS conducts death and missing-person investigations, and its compliance with the province's policing legislation. In his annual report released Tuesday, he said this inspection "is expected to be completed in late 2025."
With the SIU investigation over, the TBPS will begin "its required administrative review in accordance with Section 81 of the Community Safety and Policing Act," the TBPS said in a statement Tuesday.
"The purpose of the administrative investigation is to review member conduct, the policing provided, and procedures all as they relate to the incident. This administrative review will be reported to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board upon completion."
Ostberg's parents say she was admired for her fashion sense, musical talent and Woodlands-style paintings. The spring before her death, she had graduated from a one-year college access program at Confederation College.
"She was very much a champion for women's rights. She had faced difficulty, but she also had the bravery and the courage to stand up for what was right," her father, Vincent Ostberg, told CBC News just days after her death.
CBC News has been in contact with the family since the SIU report was released and was told they are not interested in doing an interview at this time.
'Complexity' of investigation delayed report: SIU
Three investigators were assigned to the SIU case, and six civilian witnesses and three service employee witnesses were interviewed. The police officer in question declined to be interviewed or provide notes for the SIU investigation.
The SIU aims to complete investigations within 120 days. According to its 2023-2024 report, it met this target in 89.3 per cent of cases.
The agency acknowledged the delay in releasing its report on the Ostberg case, saying it "was the result of the complexity of the investigation, and resource pressures among the investigative contingent at the SIU and the director's office."
The SIU said it received a report prepared by the forensic data recovery unit of the Ministry of the Attorney General's compliance branch on June 9.
Evidence collected during the investigation includes screenshots of text messages, an examination of Ostberg's cellphone, a toxicology report — which confirmed she had consumed alcohol — and recordings of the 911 calls and police dispatch reports.
Among other records, Ostberg's post-mortem examination and an expert medical opinion from the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service were also included, the SIU said.
Ostberg left behind her parents, three siblings, grandparents, and many friends and relatives. After her death, her parents told CBC News they wanted their daughter to be remembered as someone who mattered.
"I want them to know that she was a good person and she was very much a human to be treated with dignity," Vincent Ostberg said.