Pubdate: Sat, 17 Feb 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Forum: http://forums.theglobeandmail.com/
Author: Kim Lunman

CORONER, POLICE AND FAMILY REMAIN BAFFLED BY OFFICER'S DEATH

Courtenay, B.C. -- An anti-drug-crusading police officer took heroin and
cocaine from a Vancouver Island RCMP detachment a day before he died of
an overdose that Mounties yesterday called a tragic "death by
misadventure."

Constable Barry Schneider took cocaine and heroin from police exhibits
on Oct. 25 and Nov. 28 -- the day before his daughter found him
collapsed on the family's kitchen floor from what everyone in Courtenay
assumed was a heart attack. It was revealed last month the 43-year-old
drug-awareness officer died of a heroin overdose and had cocaine in his
system.

Police told a news conference Friday there was no forensic evidence
Constable Schneider was a previous or long-term user of illicit drugs.

"Having considered all of the circumstances, this tragic event is likely
'death by misadventure' in the form of an accidental overdose, or the
remote possibility of suicide could also not be eliminated," Corporal
Grant Learned said.

A criminal investigation concluded there was no foul play but the
coroner is investigating and the cause of Constable Schneider's death
last Nov. 29 remains undetermined. It is not yet known how he ingested
the drugs, which were probably consumed within three hours of his
afternoon death.

The case remains an unsettling mystery in the small Comox Valley town
where the handsome family man and 23-year force veteran preached against
the evils of drugs and received a hero's funeral.

News of his drug death dropped like a bombshell on this seaside
community of 20,000, located 200 kilometres north of Victoria. The
coroner initially said Constable Schneider died of a heart attack but
tests found lethal amounts of heroin and cocaine in his system.

Investigators revealed yesterday that cocaine and heroin were found in
Constable Schneider's police vehicle in a carrying case the day after
his death but say there was no evidence of drugs at his home. Further
tests are expected to determine whether the lethal drugs came from the
detachment samples.

Cpl. Learned said records showed Constable Schneider took the drugs from
drug exhibits on Oct. 25 and Nov. 28 without filing the proper forms.

"There was no evidence at the time that Constable Schneider's
administrative omission in accessing the drug exhibits was either
willful or malfeasant," Cpl. Learned said. "He was a police officer of
unquestioned character and integrity, with an exemplary service record."

Staff Sergeant Chuck Doucette, head of the RCMP's drug-awareness program
in British Columbia, said Constable Schneider had access to drug
exhibits for educational seminars.

Constable Schneider drove around town in a police car emblazoned with
the words "Say no to drugs" and lectured educators and addiction
counsellors. Newspaper stories and photographs about the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education program were showcased along with his golf clubs
and fishing gear at his funeral, which was held in Canadian Forces Base
hangar in Comox to accommodate nearly 700 mourners. The program aimed to
prevent young people from taking drugs.

His death has left his colleagues, friends and family baffled.

"There are many unanswered questions that only he knows the answers to,"
Inspector Dave Zack of the Courtenay RCMP detachment said.

Constable Schneider, who was married with two daughters, spent most of
his career in the RCMP drug sections in Burnaby, Vancouver and Bella
Bella before he was transferred several years ago to Vancouver Island's
Comox Valley. He was widely regarded as a role model.

"He was beyond reproach," said Greg Phelps, a friend and spokesman for
Constable Schneider's family. "Talk to anybody in the community. Talk to
anybody that he served with. This was a guy who was dedicated to his
job. That's why we're all so shattered by this. This guy ate, slept and
breathed the DARE program in the time that he was with it."

Courtenay Coroner Glenn Partridge said microscopic tests on body tissue
samples showed no previous long-term illicit drug use by Constable
Schneider. Tests also ruled out the presence of crack cocaine in his
system.

"There was no indication of addiction to illicit drugs," said Mr.
Partridge, who refused to say whether there was any evidence of an
addiction to prescription drugs, citing privacy issues.

There has been speculation about Constable Schneider's health after
reports surfaced that he was taking painkillers.

A coroner's inquest has not been ruled out, Mr. Partridge said.

Mr. Phelps said the family does not want to disclose the officer's
medical history.

"He believed that drugs are dangerous and his death obviously proves
that point," the family said in a written statement released yesterday.
"We remember him as 'a person,' someone who loved and was loved. We ask
that you look to Barry and remember him not as he died but as he lived,
in God's eyes."
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