JAIL CELL DEATH INQUEST OPENS

Although he used drugs, there was nothing unusual about the behaviour
of Steven Allan Voss on the morning of Nov. 14, 2003, shortly before
he was found in his Thunder Bay District Jail cell with bed sheets
tied around his neck, a correctional officer told a coroner's inquest
that opened Monday into the death.

An inquest is mandatory when a person dies while in custody. Voss, 33,
was arrested Nov. 11 and was being held pending court appearances on
charges of robbing the Ridgeway Clinic pharmacy 10 days earlier.

Voss was taken to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where he
was put on life support. He was taken off life support after the
hospital consulted with his family.

Correctional officer Debora Weller told coroner's counsel Dan Mitchell
that nothing appeared out of the ordinary about Voss on the morning of
Nov. 14 between the time he had a video remand and lunch.

Weller, who discovered Voss in his cell, worked the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
shift that day.

She told Mitchell that Voss expressed no complaints about his physical
health.

"Was there anything that gave you any warning of what was going to
happen?" Mitchell asked.

"No," Weller said.

"And you've dealt with Voss since 1998?" he inquired.

"Yes," Weller said.

The Ontario chief coroner's office expects the jury of three men and
two women to hear evidence about the assessment of incoming inmates
who may have been using opiate drugs prior to incarceration and the
"management of anticipated drug withdrawal while in custody."

The first of 25 witnesses, Thunder Bay Police Const. Chris Rasmussen,
described sketches he took of the cell block Voss was in as well as
photos of his cell.

Rasmussen said he and a detective were sent to the District Jail on
Nov. 14 and were told by an official there that Voss had attempted
suicide.

Rasmussen, a member of the photo identification team, said he took
photos of a section of the cell door to which Voss had attached the
sheets.

The inquest at the Superior Court of Justice on Camelot Street
continues today and is expected to last until the end of the week.