OVERDOSE BLAMED IN DEATH

Sonia Fay Courtorielle spent the last few waking hours of her life in
her private cell, writing a letter.

Courtorielle, just 29, died at the Burnaby Correctional Centre for
Women in October last year. The cause has been attributed to a
methadone overdose.

Two-and-a-half years earlier, Courtorielle overdosed on heroin while
at the same facility, but survived.

The B.C. Coroners Service released the findings earlier this week of
an inquiry into the woman's death.

Courtorielle was found dead in her cell at 5:40 a.m. Oct. 24. She had
reportedly been checked by a corrections officer just 25 minutes
earlier and appeared fine. Emergency personnel were called to
resuscitate her, but weren't successful.

The coroner's report states that Courtorielle was locked in her
private cell at 11 p.m. Oct. 23. Until 1:30 or 2 a.m., she was seen
writing a letter. The contents have not been revealed. At 5:15 a.m.,
she appeared to be sleeping normally. Half an hour later, she was dead.

A toxicology exam has revealed methadone in her blood exceeding the
minimum lethal level, as well as an antidepressant at a therapeutic
level.

The report also notes that Courtorielle had a history of alcohol and
heroin abuse.

"In April 2001 she suffered a heroin overdose while at BCCW," the
coroner's report states.

"She had been on the methadone program while in custody but was
removed from it as of February 13, 2003."

The report also states that Courtorielle did not have a documented
history of suicide attempts. "She had sustained self-inflicted
injuries in the past, but the incidents were attributed to anger. They
were not considered attempts to end her life."

The coroner classified her death as accidental and made no
recommendations.

Wayne Willows, B.C. Corrections spokesperson, said Corrections doesn't
know how Courtorielle obtained the drugs. He said a program is in
place to prevent the importing of drugs into the jail, but it's not
always successful.

"It's something we try to stop, but there are people who, on occasion,
do undermine that."

Willows said people have brought drugs in on their bodies, sometimes
by swallowing them.

"There's not much we can do if we don't have the intelligence this has
happened," he said.

He said the facility's efforts to combat drug use include searches,
detector dogs and ion scanners to detect trace elements of illegal
drugs, as well as the sharing of information with police.

A 'critical incident review' was carried out by the correctional
centre after the young woman's death.

"The only thing that's outstanding here - not that there was anything
wrong to begin with - we always look at these issues to see if there
is anything to learn," Willows said.

"Since there was no evidence where the methadone came from, we wanted
to see if the (methadone) program was managed effectively," he
continued, noting that the facility wanted to make sure one inmate
wasn't giving the drug to another.

"We don't know that's how she got it, but if there is some potential
for that, we want to make sure it doesn't happen. The program has
checks and balances - we will look at them to see if they're as tight
as they can be."

Courtorielle was serving a life sentence with no eligibility for
parole for 12 years following the killing of a Kamloops cab driver in
December 1997.