Hearing dates for Thunder Bay police officers involved in DeBungee investigation set

Disciplinary hearings for three Thunder Bay police officers facing neglect of duty charges over the investigation into the 2015 death of Stacy DeBungee, whose body was found in the McIntyre River, will take place next year.

Two of the officers are facing charges of neglect of duty and discreditable contact, while the third is facing a single count of discreditable conduct.

Police posted the dates of the hearings on their website on Monday. The hearings willtake place over the following dates in 2022:

• May 30to June 3
• June 6 to 10
• June 13to 17
• September 19to 23
• September 26to 29

The location of the hearing is yet to be determined.

The hearings stem from the investigation into DeBungee's death in October 2015. A media release sent out by police less than three hours after the discovery of DeBungee's body stated the initial investigation found no indication the death was suspicious.

The next day, police issued another release saying the death was "non-criminal"; that determination came before a postmortem examination had taken place.

A complaint was filed by DeBungee's familyand his community of Rainy River First Nations, leading to a review by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).

The OIPRD would release its report in 2018. The reportidentified several deficienciesin the initial investigation, stating investigators prematurelycame to the conclusion that DeBungee was intoxicated and rolled into the river, and that they failed to properly follow up on other leads, including a potential deathbed confession of a woman claiming to have pushed DeBungeeinto the water.

The report led to the re-investigation of DeBungee's death, along with several other deaths of Indigenous people in Thunder Bay. Results of the re-investigations have not yet been released.