CONTENT WARNING: The following story contains graphic depictions of self-harm and suicide.
When Elaine Behm died in her cell in Pine Grove just weeks after being incarcerated, she should have been in the forensic psychiatric facility in North Battleford, a coroner’s inquest heard on Monday.
Behm, 50, tried to commit suicide days before she was jailed for the first-degree murder of her husband Darren.
However, it seems as if none of the staff who were part of her case management were aware of that or that a judge had ordered on Sept. 10 that she go to North Battleford for assessment.
Multiple guards and nurses who met Behm described her as quiet, meek, scared and paranoid.
“She would speak about people being after her and she was scared,” Lynette Napady, a correctional officer at Pine Grove testified.
Napady was the officer who found Behm hanging from a vent in her cell. Pine Grove has since changed the style of the vents to prevent them from being a ligature point, she said.
Behm was convinced that the judge on the bench for her previous hearing was friends with her husband and thought the staff at Pine Grove were trying to poison her food.
“I knew she was paranoid. She had signs of paranoia,” said Melanie Hadon, also a CO and one of several staff who attempted CPR on Behm.
Behm had very high anxiety and “was paranoid to the point she believed things might happen that weren’t going to happen,” she said.
Other than those episodes, she spent most of her time in her cell, even when she had scheduled out time.
It is not uncommon for first-time prisoners to act oddly and want to have staff around them in the early days of incarceration.
Behm was charged after her husband was found dead in a Lloydminster home on August 25, 2020.
Behm herself was found deceased in her Pine Grove cell on Oct. 1, 2020.
Two staff nurses at Pine Grove had talked to her, with one initially ordering 30-minute checks on her just after she was jailed because she was distraught.
The nurse did a suicide screening but testified that Behm said she had no thoughts or plans of killing herself and the screening did not ring any alarm bells.
“That last time I saw her, I didn’t see this coming,” she stated.
Nursing staff at the facility is drastically short with four of what should be nine full-time positions filled now.
“We have a bit of a crisis right now,” said the nurse, adding that it is across the board.
Pine Grove also has an inmate capacity of 166 people but houses well over 200, including some inmates on remand.
Coroner Robert Kennedy and the six-person jury also heard that while remanded inmates used to be able to participate in prison programs, the direction has since changed to a focus on sentenced inmates and not those awaiting trial.
According to the assistant director of operations, she did not think much more could be done to prevent all suicides from happening.
“I don’t know how much more we could do to prevent it,” said Lisa Bonik. “It comes down to staff.”
Bonik also said that inmate medical records are not always shared because of confidentiality concerns.
“Why is there confidentiality attached to something that is done in open court?” responded Robin Ritter, the legal counsel for the Coroner’s Service.
The inquest continues Tuesday at the Coronet Hotel and could wrap up as soon as Wednesday.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of self-harm or experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact:
Canada Suicide Prevention Service (1-833-456-4566), Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service (306-933-6200), Prince Albert Mobile Crisis Unit (306-764-1011), Regina Mobile Crisis Services (306-525-5333) or the Hope for Wellness Help Line, which provides culturally competent crisis intervention counselling support for Indigenous peoples at (1-855-242-3310).
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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com
