OTTAWA - The officer who was in charge of military police investigators in Western Canada insists Cpl. Stuart Langridge's suicide note was kept from his family for 14 months because it was evidence.
But Maj. Dan Dandurand was unable to tell a public inquiry what relevance the note had to an investigation that was already closed.
Langridge hanged himself in barracks at the Edmonton garrison in March 2008 and left a suicide note that asked his family for a small, private service, although his mother and stepfather consented to a military funeral.
The family wasn't aware of the note until a board of inquiry was convened to investigate the Afghan veteran's death.
Evidence put before the Military Police Complaints Commission shows investigators were reluctant to release the note to both army board and the family because it was material to the case.
Sheila and Shaun Fynes, Langridge's parents, were provided with a photocopy of the note and military policy required them to file a formal access to information request in order to get the original.
