State of the Art Recording Device Now at Houston RCMP Detachment

By 250 News

The Officer in charge of the  RCMP’s Houston  Detachment,  Sergeant White, says the police force has acquired a new recording device which will record up to 284 hours in the interview room where Ian Bush was shot dead by Constable Paul Koester in October of 2005.

“I think it’s a good idea to have the equipment turned on when an officer is alone in the detachment"  says Sergeant White.  She did however acknowledge that whether to turn the recording device on is still left at the discretion of the officer.

Constable Paul Koester said he did not turn on the recording equipment the night that Bush was shot in the interview room.

The Bush family’s lawyer, Howard Rubin, asked of the Sergeant, "Wouldn’t it have been better to have an accurate record of how Ian died?  That would have happened if the machine was on. With a flick of the switch we all would not be wondering what really happened on the night of October 29^th, 2005."

Corporal Troy Durand, Second in Charge at the Houston Detachment  told the jury that he gave the , "heads up”, to Constable Paul Koester when he arrived at the detachment about 5 minutes after the shooting.  "I told him that I was not the investigating officer in the matter so he shouldn’t talk to me." 

Howard Rubin told Durand the lawyer representing Koester had already talked to him (Koester) around the time of Durand’s arrival. "I think he only talked to his lawyer about 2 minutes"  Durand said.

Durrand said Bush’s name had surfaced after an incident in which a car was pulled over near the 7-11 store in Houston and the operator of that vehicle, believed to be Bush, jumped out of the car and fled around the back of the building, other than that he said Bush had never shown up on the radar beyond a speeding ticket.

In a statement to the inquest ,Dr. R.I Crawford said he had examined the bruises on Bush’s thigh and concluded that they were definitely not as a result of an in grown hair.

While the testimony of Koester does not agree, Rubin says he believes that Bush’s bruise came about as a result of a kick to the testicles.

Bush’s young friends also appeared at the inquest to give testimony. All said that Bush did not drink extensively that night, because he was suffering from heart burn. He was, according to all of them, singled out from the crowd to be handed an illegal possession ticket. He had been holding a beer while two friends play fought during  the intermission at the hockey game.

James MacInnes told the jury that Ian was like a brother to him. The night in question he said , "Koester looked like a rookie cop who was just out to prove himself. Not one other person but Ian got a ticket for illegal possession."  He added "I have never seen the police hand out a ticket here in all the time I have lived in Houston for drinking in the parking lot between periods. When they come along they just ask you to pour it out and then go on their way. They had Ian singled out for some reason." 

MacInnes was asked by a jury member whether Bush was given a through search before being put in the police car. He said yes, "Koester gave him a very close search."

Earlier testimony was that a long neck bottle of beer had been found in the interview room near where Bush’s body was and no one can explain how it got there.

The story that was painted by Bush’s friends told how they all had grown up in Houston, many of them working at the same mill. They had gone to a friend’s apartment across the street from the arena after buying 6 dozen beers. Upwards of 14 people were in the apartment before they all left to attend the game. Several of them had to pour out their beer when the police came by, including Bush, who then was arrested and placed in the police car.

Friend Scott Stapleton was asked by Counsel for the RCMP, if he would lie about who he was to the police, he said, "Never , this is a small town, they all know me."

The friends were also asked would Bush fight ?  They all replied, yes, if he was provoked.

MacInnes testified "One time I kept at him and after three times he hit me on the arm. I seen him get into one fight, mostly he would step in if people where fighting, he didn’t take over or anything he just would step in."

The testimony is expected to wrap up tomorrow.

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