The Moose Jaw Police Service continues to work with the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Office on its investigation into the death of Joshua Lemay and is aiding the office as best it can.
The police service is gathering as much information as possible and conducting technical analyses of the situation but is leaving the medical side of the investigation to the coroner’s office, Police Chief Rick Bourassa explained during a recent media scrum.
“I just cannot speak to where that process is right now. The investigation is not concluded. I know that,” he said. “In terms of the police service acting as the coroner’s aid, I believe there are still some steps being taken, but much of the medical piece is something we couldn’t speak to on that.”
Lemay, 22, was found unresponsive in an alley near Crescent Park around 8:30 a.m. on March 14. Upon arrival, emergency personnel found that he had been dead for several hours — or even days.
After speaking with the family, Moose Jaw police realized that several of Lemay’s items were not present. These included a red and grey backpack with toiletries, black and white Vans high-top shoes, blue sweatpants and a black winter jacket.
In an exclusive interview with the Moose Jaw Express, Lemay’s mother, Louise, alleged that her son was murdered. She also suggested that the police were moving too slowly in finding suspects.
“Your assumption (is that) there is a suspect and that is always an assumption. But what happens is the investigation will follow the evidence,” Bourassa told the media. “And all avenues will be explored and many have been explored. Sometimes these things do take a bit of time.”
It can be somewhat challenging in moving investigations forward, especially since the police service doesn’t speak publicly about the evidence it finds, he continued. Moreover, it is inappropriate for police to reveal evidence they have found or discuss the direction investigations are going.
“… that will all come out at an inquest down the road — if there is an inquest,” Bourassa remarked, noting people will fill vacuums of silence with their own information whenever the police decline to speak about a situation.
“And we really aren’t in a position to speak to any of it. I know it creates some challenges; that is the way the process works,” he added. “Everything will come out at the right time and (in) the proper venue.”
