Lethbridge Courthouse

By Lara Fominoff

Blunt force trauma cause of Kenrick First Rider’s death CAUTION: Story Contains Graphic Details

Sep 23, 2019 | 1:56 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – 45-year-old Kenrick First Rider died of blunt force trauma after receiving “at least” 15 blows to the face and body, according to a former Alberta Medical Examiner.

Dr. Allison Edgecombe testified Monday, Sept. 23 in Court of Queen’s Bench via video link from Halifax, Nova Scotia where she now works. She was qualified as an expert witness in the cause and manner of First Rider’s death by Justice Johnna Kubik.

21-year-old Simon Danny Scout, and 25-year-old Rylan James Twigg are each charged with one count of manslaughter in the 45-year-old’s death at a north Lethbridge home Nov. 27, 2017. Lethbridge Police say a verbal dispute broke out between the men in the home and then escalated into a physical altercation.

Scout was released on bail last week with conditions, while Twigg remains in custody.

Edgecombe told the court that First Rider suffered fractures on his left lower ribs, not consistent with life-saving attempts. On his head, he suffered numerous fractures as well, including his right and left lateral orbits (eye sockets) and both his right and left cheeks. He had other lacerations, bruises and abrasions, and what appeared to the Dr. to be “patterned injuries” on the right side of his face that could have come from a shoe.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: October 28-November 3, 2024

Oct 28, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: October 21-27, 2024

Oct 21, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: October 11, 2024

Oct 11, 2024

There was also some hemorrhaging to the left side of the neck, and she could not exclude possible strangulation.

The back of First Rider’s skull was not fractured. Edgecombe told the court that she wasn’t sure why that was – but possibly because of the floor surface that his head may have been in contact with.

There were several “mechanisms of death” the Dr. testified to, meaning the physiological process that leads to death, as opposed to the cause of death. They included possible profuse bleeding from the blunt force trauma, asphyxiation due to blood in his airway and lungs, and traumatic brain injury. Edgecombe said one or all of those factors could be considered.

First Rider also had a blood alcohol level of .270 (more than three times the legal limit when operating a motor vehicle), along with fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines in his system.

All or some of those in combination with an enlarged heart, could have been significant contributors to his death, potentially disrupting brain stem operation or creating a cardiac arrythmia.

Under cross examination, Twigg’s Defense Lawyer Ingrid Hess asked whether the blunt force trauma could have occurred while First Rider was standing, rather than on the ground and to which she replied it may have.

She also asked whether some of the injuries may have occurred hours prior to the 45-year-old’s death, which she conceded may have been possible.

Monday marked the first day of the trial proper, while a voire dire – or trial within a trial – on statements Twigg made to Lethbridge Police, is expected to continue at a later date. The entire trial is expected to continue until mid-October.