By Chris Purdy, The Canadian Press
EDMONTON – A 911 operator admits she was dismissive during a call made by a northern Alberta woman who was later stabbed to death by her boyfriend.
Brenda Moreside is shown in a family photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Yen Tran said in an affidavit that she used unprofessional language when she took the call from Brenda Moreside in High Prairie in February 2005.
Tran said she treated the call as if it were a vandalism complaint instead of a domestic violence issue and she wouldn’t make the same mistake today.
“I am a different person and a different operator,” Tran wrote in the document, which was admitted into evidence Monday at an inquiry into Moreside’s death.
Tran was to be a witness at the week-long hearing, but court heard she is eight months pregnant and the stress of testifying might cause her to go into premature labour.
Moreside, 44, called the emergency number asking police for help because her drunken boyfriend was breaking into their home. She was told the man couldn’t be charged with breaking into his own residence and officers didn’t respond to her complaint.
Police didn’t find her body until 12 days later. She had been stabbed seven times.
Mounties later apologized and admitted an error had been made.
No details of the 911 call have been released. An internal RCMP memo about the call was leaked to the media months after Moreside was killed.
The call is expected to be played later at the inquiry.
Read the full story by Chris Purdy from the Canadian Press.
