Dudley inquest to begin in June
Nearly a decade after Lisa Dudley died after being shot in her Mission home, an inquest into her death is finally slated to begin this summer.
The B.C. Coroners Service announced Tuesday the inquest would begin June 11 in Burnaby.
“The inquest was announced initially in 2010. The inquest dates were confirmed only now, so as not to interfere with criminal proceedings, which concluded in 2017,” read a news release on Tuesday.
In September 2008, Dudley, 37, and Guthrie McKay, 33, were shot in their Mission home. The couple had been targeted because they ran a marijuana grow-op. McKay died instantly but Dudley was severely injured and paralyzed.
Neighbours who heard the gunshots that evening called police. Mission RCMP visited the area, looked around and left without getting out of their vehicle. Four days later, a neighbour found the couple; Dudley was paralyzed but miraculously still alive. She was rushed to hospital but did not survive.
In June, presiding coroner Brynne Redford and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses to determine the facts around Dudley’s death. The goal of the inquest is to establish facts and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future; no findings of “legal responsibility” or guilt will be presented.
Four men have been convicted in the murders.
Earlier this year, a judge tossed Dudley’s family’s bid to sue the RCMP officer who did not get out of the car to investigate the “shots fired” call, noting the lawsuit was filed too late.