This much is clear: A RCMP officer was dispatched to a rural road in B.C. on Aug. 13, 2006, after a nearby resident complained of a man camping in the woods.
Shortly after the officer arrived, an emergency call and a request for an ambulance crackled over the police radio.
When backup arrived, Const. Cole Brewer led his fellow officers into the forest where Donald Lewis lay dead, handcuffed to a tree with a gunshot wound to his chest.
- Related: Graphic content: RCMP photo of the scene
Now a coroner's inquest in the logging town of Williams Lake, 600 kilometres north of Vancouver, is attempting to fill in the blanks regarding the shooting in nearby McLeese Lake. A jury is expected to begin deliberations Monday.
On one side is the RCMP officer who said he was acting in self-defence and had exhausted all options of force; on the other, a widow who insists her "sweetheart'' of a husband would never throw a punch at a police officer.
For some, it bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the case of 22-year-old Ian Bush, whose in-custody shooting death at an RCMP detachment in Houston, B.C., in October 2005 sparked a public inquiry that ultimately cleared the officer involved of any wrongdoing.
"I never saw him get angry, he was never hostile with anyone, he was always peaceful and sweet with me,'' Sara Lewis said of her husband outside the inquest Friday. "For me to have to stand there and try to defend my husband after he's been shot to death, it's very difficult.
"Why did this have to happen? Why did my husband have to be killed? He was such a sweetheart.''
Sara Lewis said her husband was camping so he could chop firewood, which he would then sell to make money.
Brewer told the inquest he found Lewis asleep, snoring in a tent, and woke him.
He testified Lewis lied when asked for his name, and was evasive in answering questions about a motorcycle in his possession. The officer said he decided to arrest Lewis for obstruction, and then the man ran into the woods.
The police officer gave chase, and said he was struck on the ear by Lewis after grabbing his shoulder. The two hit the ground and a fight ensued, with Brewer eventually landing several blows with his baton.
As the fight continued, Brewer said Lewis became angry and cursed at him, threatening to kill him. Brewer said he fired his gun into Lewis's chest as the two men struggled for control of the weapon.
He said he handcuffed Lewis to a tree because he continued to resist, even after being shot, and then ran up the slope to get a radio signal to call for help.
It's a story too familiar for Linda Bush, whose son Ian was shot in a police detachment with no witnesses in sight and no surveillance cameras to capture the incident in October 2005.
"It seems that we go through the pretty same motions,'' she said Friday in Williams Lake, where she's been supporting Sara Lewis during the inquest that began last week.
"The incident is slightly different, but it's the same basic story the officer tells. It's the same basic response that their council brings.''
Bush said she had questions about the police response to the shooting, including their handling of the scene and the follow-up investigation.
Supporters of Lewis have questioned why Brewer was sent to investigate the original complaint without backup, but RCMP have said there's no reason why another officer would have gone along.
"There was nothing to indicate that things could happen this way, so yes, it was a low-risk call and. in many of our communities. it's the type of call we would attend ourselves,'' RCMP spokeswoman Const. Annie Linteau said Friday.
Joining Sara Brewer and Linda Bush in the hearing room was Delores Young, whose son Kevin St. Arnaud, 29, was shot in December 2004 while being chased by police in Vanderhoof, about 100 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., and north of Williams Lake.
An investigation into St. Arnaud's death cleared the officer involved. St. Arnaud was not armed.
On Friday, Lewis told the inquiry she's astounded at the events.
"My head is spinning, it's so overwhelming. I don't understand how it could have escalated so quickly.''
Lewis said her American husband was in the process of getting official immigrant status in Canada when he was killed.
"We wanted to be together,'' she testified. "We were in the process of trying to do everything right.''
The inquest continues Monday.
