The evening before 11 people were killed and 17 were injured at James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon, Damien Sanderson told a friend at the Kinistino bar that he and Myles “have a mission to do” and that “people would hear all about it in the next few hours”. That’s part of the preliminary timeline presented by Saskatchewan RCMP today (Thurs) as the investigation into the mass killings continues. Before midnight Damien returned to the Cree Nation.

In the early morning hours of Sunday September 4th, he ended up being the first fatality, although his body wasn’t found until Monday. Superintendent Joshua Graham, Officer in Charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes says before September 4th, Damien and Myles had been involved in assaults and selling drugs, but none of it was reported to police until a caller on Saturday reported a vehicle stolen by Damien. Graham reports that officers checked every location the caller provided and patrolled James Smith Cree Nation for about three hours. A home was checked, and Damien was there at the time, but the picture police had was years old and he wasn’t recognized. Later that night, the brothers separated for a few hours, and that’s when Damien went to the Kinistino bar.

The beginning of the mass killings was around 4:45 in the morning. The brothers forced themselves into a home on the Cree Nation looking for a woman who wasn’t there, so they took off and forced themselves into another home and attacked a man with scissors. Damien stepped in to stop the assault, but police say Myles grabbed a knife from the kitchen and they drove off in the stolen vehicle.

After they left, there was an altercation between the two and Damien got out of the vehicle and fled into the bushes, where he was later found dead. The first call for medical assistance came from the home where the man had been injured came into police at 5:40 a.m. in the morning.

The preliminary timeline includes everything leading up to September 4th through to September 7th when Myles Sanderson was captured outside of Rosthern. He was placed under arrest and a few minutes later began displaying signs of medical distress. Graham reports that he was transported to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon where he was later declared dead. On September 9th, one of the stolen vehicles he had been driving was found in the Crystal Springs area.

Graham says 42 different crime scenes have been processed, over 1,250 investigational tasks, 697 exhibits seized, and multiple Forensic Laboratory Services submissions have been examined. Further DNA analysis is ongoing.  Graham adds that investigators are awaiting reports from experts on bloodstain pattern analysis and from the RCMP’s Behavioral Sciences branch. That branch includes criminal profilers and psychologists who are completing a psychological autopsy on Myles Sanderson to better understand why this happened and why certain people were victims.

Because of two Coroners inquests scheduled for next year and the independent police review, there were details not included in today’s presentation including the specific details about what happened at each location. Saskatchewan RCMP say its Major Crimes Unit worked closely with the Saskatchewan Coroners Service to ensure information included in the presentation will not impact the upcoming inquests scheduled to take place in 2024. Information not included:

-Information surrounding Myles Sanderson being Unlawfully at Large and efforts undertaken to locate and arrest him prior to September 4, 2022;
-Correctional Service of Canada information, Parole Board of Canada information and release decisions;
-The police response to the attacks;
-Specific details about what occurred at each location and inside each residence on September 4, 2022, and information relating to the cause and manner of the victims’ deaths; and
-Information detailing the arrest of Myles Sanderson, his cause and manner of death, and any aspects of the Saskatoon Police Service and Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team’s investigation.

The Saskatchewan RCMP has the complete rundown of the timeline on its website. You can click here to access it.