My personal web tribute to Robert Wayne Bagnell

Bob Bagnell died during a Taser-related incident with Vancouver Police at the Continental Hotel in Vancouver, BC, on June 23rd, 2004.

In May 2007, The official Coroner's Inquest into the death of Robert Wayne Bagnell was completed. Although the proceedings of the inquest are completed, there seems to me to be little closure on the issue in concrete terms.

In a May 25, 2007 Vancouver Sun article titled "No recommendations from Taser death inquiry", it said:

The five-man jury concluded Robert Wayne Bagnell died on June 23, 2004 of a "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis.

But that's not the whole story.
Here's two synopses of events from Cameron Ward, the lawyer for the Bagnell family:

"Robert Bagnell, 44, died on June 23, 2004. Two days later, Vancouver police contacted his next of kin to tell them that Robert had died of a probable cocaine overdose. A month later, Mr. Bagnell’s family learned for the first time from media reports that Vancouver police had used a Taser gun on him. Chief Jamie Graham defended the late disclosure, saying that he had waited for toxicology results before going public with new information. (Despite numerous requests, the family still has not received any toxicology reports). Then on August 17, 2004, the Vancouver Police Department held another news conference to announce that their members used the Taser in order to rescue Mr. Bagnell from a fire in his rooming house. (The Bagnell family has since learned that the “fire” was a minor electrical fault on the first floor, and likely not a threat to anyone on the fifth floor, where Mr. Bagnell was)."

"...the VPD acknowledged that [Bagnell] was not a threat to anyone and that he was not involved in the commission of a crime when they sent an ERT (SWAT) team into the washroom Robert was in. The police said Bagnell was shocked with 50,000 volts so they could "rescue" him from a "fire" in his building. Although the family doubts these claims, they have been unable to obtain copies of police or autopsy reports and they have been unable to get an inquest scheduled."

• Why didn't the Vancouver Police tell the Bagnell family that Tasers were involved in Bob's death? Although the VPD did notify the family of Bob's death two days afterwards, the cause given was Why did his mother and sister have to learn that fact through the media 30 days after his death? (Read more...)
• One of the Taser guns used by VPD ERT members in the incident put out over twice as much as it was specified to. The other Taser gun put out of eighty five times it's specified energy. Are there any safety standards in place for Taser guns? (Read more...)
• The jury at the coroner's inquest classified the death as an accident and was "unable to agree on any recommendations".

Who ends up being accountable? Who's going to stand up? Neither the Vancouver Police nor the Taser manufacturer seem to be taking responsibility, at least from what I have seen in the media.

On October 17, 2006, CBC's news program, "The National", aired an excellent documentary about the Bagnell Taser case.

See Other Links for the most recent news and announcements relating to the Bagnell inquest...

I recently learned that Bob Bagnell participated in a music project at the Dr. Peter Centre in Vancouver.

The project was called "The Circle of Song", and the CD created by the group is dedicated to "Bob 'Riff Raff' Bagnell"...

See Other Links for the most recent news and announcements relating to the Bagnell inquest...

This web site is my way of paying some small tribute to a fellow human being whom I watched slowly get healthier and manage to drag himself up out of the darkness and into the light.

First, here's briefly how I met and knew Bob. After that, read more about Bob Bagnell from friends and family.

Bob was an artist. His art says a lot about him, so have a look and learn more about the man.

Get more background on the investigation surrounding his unfortunate death from these links to various media reports.