Const. Nicole Chan's boyfriend gives heartbreaking testimony on her final hours
Warning: This story contains details about a woman's suicide. A list of resources for people struggling with suicidal thoughts or other mental health challenges can be found at the end.
Vancouver police Const. Nicole Chan left behind a note the morning she took her own life, asking that her dog Ollie be given to her sister and saying that she was “so sorry,” and that “there’s nothing anyone could have done.”
Those details were part of heartbreaking testimony given Wednesday at the coroner’s inquest into her death.
Her boyfriend Jamie Gifford recounted Chan’s final hours, telling the jury she was very upset, and that he saw her with a makeshift noose, knives and scissors the night before she died.
He was concerned enough that he called police, and Chan was taken to Vancouver General Hospital. She was later released.
The next morning, Gifford returned home and found her body.
“When I entered the apartment it was very quiet and I called for Nicole, and there was no answer,” he told the jury.
“That’s when I noticed something tied to the door handle. It was very concerning to me. She had described this to me many times, and I told (my friend) Brandon just to wait at the door, and I opened the bedroom door and found her body,” he said.
Asked what happened next, Gifford took a long pause to compose himself and said: “I was a bit frantic and I told Brandon she was dead.”
Earlier Wednesday, a psychologist asked to do an assessment of Chan’s well-being by WorkSafeBC told the inquest about the officer’s troubled relationship with two senior officers, in particular Sgt. Dave Van Patten, who Chan felt tried to coerce her into having sex.
“She stated that if the investigation of Sgt. Van Patten’s conduct had a negative outcome for her, she might kill herself as a message to the VPD,” testified Dr. Susanne Schibler.
Chan took her own life the morning of Jan. 27, 2019.
Her family has launched a civil suit, alleging Chan had been sexually harassed and assaulted.
Testimony in the coroner’s inquest is expected to wrap up next week. That’s when the jury will be asked to make recommendations to prevent a death like hers from happening again.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, these are some resources that are available:
- Canada Suicide Prevention Helpline (1-833-456-4566)
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1-800 463-2338)
- Crisis Services Canada (1-833-456-4566 or text 45645)
- Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.