Coroner rules retired police detective committed suicide
Ian Davidson was under investigation
A coroner has confirmed that retired Montreal police detective Ian Davidson committed suicide in a Laval hotel last January as news surfaced that he was under investiga- tion for trying to sell the identities of about 2,000 undercover police informants to the Mafia for $1 million.
Quebec coroner Michel Ferland concluded that the “police investigation placed him in a situation that would have been untenable for him after all those years as a police officer” in a report dated Dec. 2 and made public on Friday.
“So he chose to end his life. There’s nothing more to add.”
Davidson’s body contained traces of antidepressants, the report adds.
Laval police investigators last January said the autopsy performed at that time reinforced their findings that Davidson had slashed himself in the throat.
He was found dead in the hotel room after his name was made public in a news report saying he was trying to sell the identity of the undercover police informants. Montreal police had arrested Davidson in October 2011 at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport before he boarded a flight to Costa Rica. He was not charged because the investigation was ongoing, but his passport was confiscated.
Davidson, who retired as a detective-sergeant in 2011, had worked in the Montreal police department’s intelligence unit. Montreal police said just two or three officers had access to the informant list.
The police also said Davidson had a spotless record over his 33 years of service.
Shortly after he left the force, Montreal police received a tip that someone was trying to peddle a confidential list of informants in return for a large sum of cash.