After hearing evidence for over four hours, a Coroner’s Jury returned an open verdict in the inquest into the death of Dion Roderick Ebanks, 26.
Late last Wednesday evening, the foreman told Queen’s Coroner Nova Hall that jurors could not come up with anything other than an open verdict, based on the evidence or lack thereof. He said the verdict was unanimous.
Mr. Ebanks’ body was found hanged in a beachside cabana along the Queen’s Highway in North Side shortly before 6am on Saturday, 6 May 2006.
The courtroom gallery was almost full for the hearing. After court adjourned, the foreman could be heard speaking to spectators. ‘There was no police evidence,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe there was no police.’
The coroner had called six witnesses and read statements from five others. Jurors were also given photographs taken at the scene by a police officer.
From that evidence questions arose that were not answered.
Dr. Richard Elder said he called 911 after he observed the cabana while walking his dogs. He told the court he saw two cars near the scene, a black one and a grey one. The black one was later identified as the one driven by Mr. Ebanks. There was no further mention of the grey one.
There was a bottle of beer and a larger bottle of liquor on the railing of the cabana. A close-up photograph showed them looking clean. There was no mention of whether they were dusted for fingerprints.
Mr. Ebanks’ wife told the court she and her husband exchanged numerous text messages the night before his body was found. The cell phone with those messages was given to police, she said. The jury never heard or saw the contents of those messages.
Government pathologist Dr. John Heidingsfelder told the court that Mr. Ebanks died of asphyxia – lack of oxygen – caused by hanging. He found no evidence of assault. The only external injuries were a superficial cut on the left wrist and a scrape just above and below the left knee.
Dr. John took blood and urine samples, which were sent for analysis. They tested negative for drugs. The blood/alcohol reading was .103. The limit under the Traffic Law is .100.
The coroner explained possible verdicts. Suicide, she said, is the intentional taking of one’s own life by one’s own actions. If jurors found death was by suicide, they would be obliged to comment on Mr. Ebanks’ state of mind.
An alternative was misadventure, meaning that something untoward happened to Mr. Ebanks, that some force other than himself put him in that position. Later she told jurors they could disregard the other possible verdict, natural causes.
The coroner and jurors asked questions of all witnesses.
Patricia Lydia Ebanks told the court she and Dion had been together 10 years, married seven years. She said he was always loving and caring, but held things inside. They sometimes argued about his staying out late.
Some time in 2003 he told her he had gone to the doctor and the doctor said he was going to die because of some disease in the bones. Mrs. Ebanks said he told her not to tell anyone, but he told his sister-in-law.
One juror asked if she was ever in fear that he could jeopardize his own life. She said there was one time when she moved back with her parents and Dion told her he couldn’t live without her. They were back living together in West Bay at the time of the incident.
Asked to describe her husband, she said he was loving, kind, respectful and ‘He’d give you the shirt off his back.’
Later when the pathologist gave his evidence, jurors asked if saw any sign of a bone disease. Dr. John said he did not see any evidence in the way of deformities or fractures in the pelvis, spine or ribs. It would not have been part of a routine autopsy to examine joints. ‘He appeared to be a young, healthy male with no natural disease process,’ Dr. John summarised.
The second witness called was Ms Indira McLaughlin who told the court she met Dion at work in 2003 and they became friends.
Asked if she had any evidence to support her view that Dion did not kill himself, she recalled that earlier in 2006 someone they knew had hanged himself. Dion had said to her ‘Hang myself? That’s one thing I would never do.’ She said he wore his shirts open because he didn’t like things around his neck.
On Friday, 5 May, he told her of his plans to go diving the next day and then attend a social function at work in the evening.
The coroner read a statement from Dion’s father, Mr. Lindsay Ebanks. He said Dion picked him up after work that Friday and drove him home to Old Man Bay. Dion changed clothes and helped with some work.
Later he called Dion, who said he was at the Driftwood Bar in North Side. Mr. Ebanks said he told his son to sleep in Old Man Bay that night.
Mr. Aaron Chisholm said he met Dion at Driftwood that Friday night. He said Dion received a number of calls while they were playing pool, but he did not answer some of them.
Mr. Chisholm said Dion told him he’d be sleeping that night at his mother’s house in Old Man Bay because it was too late to get up early for fishing.
Mr. Frank McCoy, general manager of Driftwood Bar, said Dion was a good friend. That night, he had two mixed drinks and then played pool. He asked if he could borrow a spear gun, but Mr. McCoy said he didn’t have one. Dion was planning to treat his windscreen on Sunday, Mr. McCoy added.
He then told the court: ‘For the record, I don’t think Dion did this because he wasn’t that kind of person. If Dion ever needed anything he would come to me or one of his friends. He was a respectable young man – very – and everybody in the community knew him that way.’
The last statement read was from a high school student related to Mr. Ebanks by marriage. The young person said he went to bed early that Friday night at the family home in West Bay. When he awoke at some point, Mr. Ebanks was sitting in his car playing music. When he awoke again he checked the time and it was 2.59am; Mr. Ebanks was still in his car playing music.
In summing up the evidence, the coroner noted there was no evidence of Mr. Ebanks being under a doctor’s care or being unstable. His quietness and being a private person need not have been depression. ‘It’s unfortunate we have so many missing pieces,’ she commented.
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