Fifteen witnesses scheduled for four-day Arkell inquiry

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on June 14, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

A man seen pulling a dead body around his rural property was shot dead by a police sniper while driving away moments later, a fatality inquest heard Monday in Medicine Hat Provincial Court.
That effectively ended a standoff with Christopher Arkell after about 45 minutes, but the property was locked down well into the night and questions about the shooting and the homicide of a local used car dealer have lingered for more than eight years.
Medicine Hat Police Constable Marshall Armstrong was the initial officer to make contact with the Cypress County man on March 22, 2014, court heard.
Cruising the area near Range Road 60 and South Boundary Road after lunch, following up on a missing persons report he took the previous day.
A nearby cellphone tower was the last known broadcasting location of Chester Hunchak’s phone.
The patrol officer noticed a black Cadillac Escalade in a driveway – a vehicle type the well-known Hat business man had entered the night before – so, he turned around to enter the driveway.
By that point, said Armstrong, a man was pointing a rifle at his car and yelling from a window, so he retreated to the road, blocked the drive and took cover behind his car.
“It escalated very quickly, and there was a gun involved, so I thought it was important to contain him,” said Armstrong.
More local police had arrived, the tactical unit was being arranged and a sniper set up across the road.
Within an hour the culprit was demanding by phone that police leave, saying he’d killed two people and police would be next. He started the black Cadillac, backed up to a outbuilding, where Armstrong, now further down the road saw him lift a limp arm, then struggle with a body. Abandoning it, he got back in the truck and drove to the road.
Police radio recordings played for the court describe for less than a minute before the gruesome discovery and permission by senior officers to fatally shoot the driver. The engine revved high, but the vehicle stopped moving as the man slumped in the seat.
“(Seeing the body) proved he’d done what he’d said he’d done,” said Armstrong. “That leads you to believe he’ll do what he says he was going to do.”
“And that was?” asked MHPS lawyer Randy Pick.
“He said he would kill two police officers,” Armstrong replied.
On Monday the inquiry heard from five witnesses, including two women who were hold up in a residence across the road, a man who left the property as police arrived and two officers who were first on the seen.
A total of 15 witnesses are scheduled for the four-day inquiry conducted by Justice Kristen Ailsby. Melissa Burkett is the inquiry’s attorney, on behalf of Alberta Justice, and Sydney McHugh is representing the RCMP, an interested party.
It is the first official glimpse into the goings-on at the acreage just south of city limits, that has become the focus of much speculation.
However, the inquiry may only delve into the motivation for the homicide as a tangent to its two-fold purpose: the prescription of lethal force to stop Arkell, and to evaluate the interjurisdictional response.
Fatality inquiries do not provide legal rulings or find fault, but will produce a full report and detail any recommendations to prevent such deaths in the future.
The basics of the case – why Hunchack was there, what was the motive – have largely been left unanswered by authorities.
Since the RCMP have jurisdiction in the county, where the shooting took place, they have had carriage of the case and for several years kept it open stating it may have been an ongoing investigation. Charges cannot be laid against a deceased person, leaving no court documents, and RCMP would not release more details.
Armstrong said at the time there was simply no time to consider which service had the proper jurisdiction and MHPS policy is to deal immediately with emergency situations.
The RCMP was informed in the early afternoon, and local units contained traffic, but the RCMP’s response team didn’t arrive from Calgary until the evening. They took carriage of the case and swept the property for explosives before evacuated neighbours were allowed back to the area.
Medicine Hat police essentially held the scene after confirming Arkell was deceased by hitting the SUV with flash-bangs and gas canisters in the mid-afternoon – leading to a series of bangs that residents may have thought were gunfire.
A neighbour, Shelley Belau, told court she heard up to nine such bangs while stationed in her basement across the road for safety with her daughter. The pair called 9-1-1 feeling Armstrong was pinned down, but were told more officers were on the way. She said the event took an emotional toll on her, and she still feels uneasy.
Testimony was also heard from Ernest Lovely, an acquaintance of Arkell for several years, who was at the property that day to collect partial payment for two other vehicles he had sold to Arkell.
When he arrived, the two men talked and then Arkell showed him a black Escalade and the two men got inside.
“He said he’d just got it… I wasn’t interested in buying it, but I wanted to know about the features,” said Lovely.
“Then he said ‘if you see a cop take your truck and get the hell our of here’ – he didn’t say hell, but another word. I didn’t ask why but I did and the next thing I know there a shot gun in front of me and shot gun behind.”
Lovely – who was detained by police – said he didn’t think there was anything unusual about Arkell’s demeanour.
The inquiry continues today with more MHPS and RCMP officers expected to testify.

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