COCAINE LED TO DEATH

REGINA (SNN) -- Martin Joseph Aubichon died of excited delirium
brought about by acute cocaine intoxication, a pathologist told a
coroner's inquest Tuesday into the death of the 34-year-old Regina
man.

Dr. Dino Grammatico told the jury the autopsy on Aubichon found no
evidence of any internal injuries, but indicated the chronic
intravenous drug user had a high level of cocaine in his blood.

"The drug in question caused him to go into an acute psychotic event
in which he displayed superhuman strength, was aggressive and acted in
a violent way," Grammatico said.

Around 8:35 a.m. on June 19, 2003, a frenzied, knife-wielding Aubichon
broke into a home and stabbed two people before fleeing to another
home, where he threatened another woman and child before a man
disarmed and held him until police arrived.

The combination of the drug-induced psychotic event and the stress and
excitement created by his struggle would have caused his heart to
race, and his body to produce excess amounts of adrenaline, Grammatico
said. This would cause his heartbeat to go into an abnormal rhythm
leading to cardiac arrest, he added.