VANCOUVER -- The body of a B.C. woman who drowned in 2016 showed signs of possible strangulation, a coroner's report says, but her cause of death remains undetermined more than four years later.
Arlene Westervelt died in Lake Okanagan in June of that year. It was initially thought to be an accident, but at one point, her husband was charged with second-degree murder.
That charge was later stayed, and Bert Westervelt has always maintained his innocence.
A just-released coroner's report on the 56-year-old woman described her death as sudden and in water, "after falling out of a canoe."
The report outlines some of the findings of what was reported as happening the evening of June 26, including an account from witnesses who'd seen the canoe that Arlene and her husband were in flip over, called 911 and dove in to help find the woman.
Her body was not found until the next morning, and was then brought to hospital where a coroner examined her remains. There were no signs of injury or trauma noted in that examination, the coroner's report said.
According to the coroner's notes on the investigation, her husband, Bert Westervelt, told police that it was their first canoe trip of the year, and that they usually wore lifejackets but didn't have them on at the time.
He and his wife were both able to swim, he reportedly told police.
Mounties were told the canoe tipped when Arlene slipped while turning around.
An investigation turned up no history of domestic violence or disturbances. Individuals later came forward to report she had recently sought legal advice about a separation.
The coroner directed that an autopsy be conducted, and the RCMP began a criminal investigation that led to Bert Westervelt being charged with second-degree murder.
According to the coroner's report, the autopsy showed hemorrhages along the neck, and scleral hemorrhages on the eyes.
"While these hemorrhages can be associated with physical compression of the neck, there were no marks on the skin of the neck, no injury to the hyoid bone, and no petechiae in or around the eyes," the report said.
"Given that death occurred in the setting of water, drowning could not be confirmed or ruled out… Subsequent information and autopsy findings raised the possibility of inflicted injury but were not determinative."
The report says she also had an undiagnosed cardiac condition which could have resulted in a fatal arrhythmia.
Coroner Lori Moen wrote that there was not enough evidence to support one possible cause of death over the others, so the cause remains undetermined.
Last year, the prosecution said there was new evidence that reduced the likelihood of conviction, and the murder charge against her husband was stayed in July 2020.
In January, a W5 investigation looked into what that evidence might be. The investigation revealed issues with the autopsy, and possible misuse by the RCMP of technology that can unlock phones.
Questions were also raised about what role a senior Mountie, who was also a family friend, may have played in the investigation.
The case remains under investigation, and a lawyer for Arlene's sisters has called for an independent investigation into the case.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Jon Woodward
