The inquest into the mass stabbing deaths at James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon is being held at the Kerry Vickar Centre in Melfort. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

James Smith inquest

‘I’m down to die’: Chilling texts, interviews describe days before James Smith killings

Jan 15, 2024 | 7:48 PM

The jury at the Coroner’s Inquest on the deaths on the James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) and Weldon being held in Melfort heard some increasingly ominous messaging leading up to the stabbings.

Staff Sergeant Robin Zentner was the first witness called at the inquest. Zentner is with Major Crimes Saskatoon, and was called to the scene the morning of Sept. 4, 2022.

Zentner used a PowerPoint presentation to outline the events leading up to, and during the incident. Monday’s presentation wrapped up just before the mass killings began.

The presentation revealed that Damien Sanderson seemed to become increasingly disturbed in the hours before the incident, according to texts to his wife Skye and others that were read aloud at the inquest on Monday.

Damien’s final messages to Skye read ‘I love you so much Skye my last message’ and ‘we going out’, referring to he and his brother Myles, who was responsible for the deaths.

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Kara Head told police that both Damien and Myles, who returned to her house, were ‘guzzling booze’ and ‘pumping themselves up for something’ just hours before the killings. Head said that Myles, who was dressed in a black track suit, asked her for a knife and she refused.

Shortly after that incident, Damien texted Kelly Shane Burns ‘[l]ove ya brotha last time you gonna hear from me.’ Just over an hour later, Kelly texted back ‘I love you bro’. The two had been in contact earlier that morning, with Damien telling him ‘everything is not good right now’, ‘your lil bro is lost’ ‘I’m not OK’ and ‘lost soul right now’.

The lead up to the mass killing began in late August of 2022, when Myles Sanderson went from Saskatoon to James Smith Cree Nation to sell cocaine, and his common-law wife Vanessa Burns told police Myles used her to drive.

On Sept. 1, Myles, Vanessa and their four kids returned to JSCN in Vanessa’s vehicle, and the two dropped off the kids and travelled around the community selling cocaine.

The following day, Myles and Vanessa got into an argument while in the vehicle about Vanessa’s relationships while Myles was in jail. Vanessa said Myles hit her in the head with a scale and tried to strangle her, further assaulting her on the ground. Their children witnessed the assault.

Myles then drove toward Vanessa and another woman, threatening to run them over. Damien tried to calm Miles down, and both men took Skye’s SUV to Melfort. They picked up another person and didn’t return to James Smith until early on the morning of Sept. 3, 2022.

Myles and Damien went to a house and assaulted Tristan Paul, claiming that Paul was boasting about being a member of a local gang. He was not seriously injured, and the assault was not reported to the RCMP.

Skye phoned the RCMP shortly after four that morning to report that Damien took her vehicle without permission. She told police that Damien had an outstanding warrant for spousal abuse and that he may be impaired.

Two RCMP officers found the vehicle on JSCN soon after, and unbeknownst to police, Skye and Damien had been texting while the RCMP were looking for the vehicle, and after a short conversation Damien told her ‘I’m down to die, me and my brother’ and ‘so wish me luck’. When Skye asked Damien where her vehicle was, he told her they ditched it and added ‘charge me more, Skye’ and ‘I’m not scared to die, remember’.

When this text chain was revealed in the power point, Zentner was asked if they found it unusual that Damien seemed prepared to die, despite the situation being fairly minor in nature. Zentner said that it seemed unusual for Damien to say that he wasn’t scared to die, and that it seemed about more than the vehicle.

RCMP did have a chance to apprehend Damien at the home where the SUV was found, as he was in the basement. But police didn’t realize it was him, as the photo they had regarding his assault arrest was from 2014. He also provided a fake name and didn’t show any suspicious behaviour. RCMP later learned Myles Sanderson ran into the bushes when they showed up to find the SUV.

Zentner testified that, as of this point, at no time was Myles Sanderson’s name mentioned, nor were they informed of any threats or assaults that he may have committed.

Skye and Damien kept texting throughout the early morning of Sept. 3. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., Skye eventually texted Damien that she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Damien responded ‘[w]e ain’t going down alive’, in reference to he and his brother, Myles. He later added ‘watch us!’ and ‘mark my words’.

Zentner said looking back at the texts, it was clear that the brothers planned not to be arrested. He added that Damien and Myles had something in the forefront that others didn’t seem to know about.

The texts between Damien and Skye continued that afternoon. Shortly after 2 o’clock, Damien messaged Skye ‘loved you and missed you.’ After Skye responded again that she didn’t want to talk to him, he texted ‘[y]up, watch us go out’, again believed to be about he and his brother Myles.

Skye answered back that she heard from some people that Damien ‘didn’t look all there’ and he texted back ‘no, I’m done ready to die’.

At about 5 p.m. Sept. 3, Myles and Damien Sanderson showed up to another man’s house and Myles assaulted him, accusing him of being in the Terror Squad gang. He was not seriously injured and soon returned home, and Zentner said the assault was once again not reported.

Early in Zentner’s testimony, he outlined the extensive nature of the police investigation into the mass killings. There were 42 separate crime scenes, buildings, vehicles, and autopsies, with over 1000 items processed. Police interviewed 257 witnesses, and there were over 121,000 pages of material that resulted from the investigation. He described it as the largest homicide investigation in the province’s hstory.

Zentner also detailed Myles Sanderson’s lengthy record, dating back to 2004. Myles had 78 convictions, with 10 for assault, 2 for assaulting a police officer, and 35 for failure to appear in court or comply with court orders and release documents.

Zentner’s testimony will resume on Tuesday, with the focus to begin on the events during the mass stabbing. The inquest is expected to last from 12 to 15 days. It is described as the largest inquest ever run in Saskatchewan.