A grieving husband found out from a relative _ not justice officials _ that his wife was killed in a crash caused by an off-duty Winnipeg policeman whose pickup truck, according to one witness, smelled like alcohol, a judicial inquiry heard Monday.
Robert Taman was the first witness at an inquiry into a controversial plea bargain for Derek Harvey-Zenk, whose driving killed Crystal Taman, 40, in February 2005.
Right from the start, Taman said it was hard to get details about what happened that clear, sunny morning on a highway a stone's throw from Winnipeg in the rural municipality of East St. Paul.
Taman first heard through his wife's cousin _ a Winnipeg police officer _ that the collision involved a city constable and that alcohol might have been a factor.
"He filled us in on the police officer's activities the night before, and during the night, that it was a 'shifter','' Taman told the inquiry.
When prompted, Taman added: "A shifter's when the officers... get together to wind down and release their inner pressures into a couple hundred beers.''
As soon as he heard a police officer was involved in rear-ending his wife's tiny car, Taman said he was "scared'' about police looking out for one another.
"... My immediately thinking was, we have to watch this, because they are going to protect their own,'' Taman told the inquiry.
Taman said he also heard through a friend that the tow-truck driver who hauled away the officer's pickup said it "just reeked'' of alcohol.
Over the next three years as the case wound its way through the justice system, there was little to ease Taman's suspicions.
"I believe it's all been covered, and it's been covered quite well,'' Taman said Monday.
The East St. Paul police force laid several charges against Harvey-Zenk, including impaired driving and refusing a breathalyzer.
The first major court appearance was scheduled for more than a year after the Feb. 25, 2005 crash, but it was derailed. The 2006 preliminary inquiry _ a hearing to determine whether there's enough evidence to have a full trial _ was delayed while RCMP investigated whether to lay criminal charges against then-chief Harry Bakema, the head of the East. St. Paul police department.
David Paciocco, the inquiry's lead lawyer, said Monday the investigation was prompted after the current police chief was approached by a constable who said around the time of the crash, Bakema told him Harvey-Zenk was "pissed'' on alcohol.
Then the rescheduled preliminary hearing in July 2007 was cancelled when Harvey-Zenk pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, and all the other charges were dropped without explanation.
Manitoba Justice Minister Dave Chomiak called the inquiry last fall after the public reacted with outrage to Harvey-Zenk's sentence _ two years' house arrest.
Harvey-Zenk resigned from the force before the case got to court.
The inquiry is expected to sit periodically through August. The Manitoba government set a deadline of Sept. 30 for the inquiry's final recommendations.
For Taman and his three adult children, it will be the first chance to heal.
"We haven't begun yet. We're 3 1/2 years and we haven't begun grieving yet because we're still dealing with the crime,'' Taman said.
