National Post (National Edition)

Statements from woman who killed self will be admitted

- The Canadian Press

911 call deemed ‘trustworth­y’ in sex assault case they were asked to go pick up the father’s roommate and Roy, who was a friend.

The group arrived back at the house around 3 a.m. and some stayed up playing pool, it says.

Coyle went to bed almost immediatel­y in a room that had been designated for her and the two other women.

Coyle alleged she was woken up just before 5 a.m. by the realizatio­n that there was someone with her in the bed, and she felt that person try to penetrate her, the document says.

She jumped out of bed, saw Roy and noticed her underwear and pyjama shorts were on the floor, it’s alleged in the document.

She put her shorts on and went to tell the others what had happened, then later called her mother and police, it says. She was interviewe­d on camera and taken to do a rape kit, which found male DNA on her genitalia that was more likely to belong to Roy than to a randomly selected person from the same population, the document says.

Roy told the group he had accidental­ly gone into the wrong room but had not sexually assaulted Coyle, the document says.

Coyle took her own life four months later after months of struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, her family has said.

The family’s lawyer said it’s incredibly rare to have a trial of this nature when the central witness isn’t there to testify.

David Butt said Coyle sought counsellin­g but couldn’t get a timely appointmen­t, though she received acute psychiatri­c care for a few crisis episodes.

Her story “raises another important, broader issue,” he said.

“Here, somebody who self-identified as a sexual assault survivor and desperatel­y needed help was not able to access that help in sufficient time to make a difference.”

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