April Woodhouse, 50, was found lying outside on the steps of a house in Pinaymootang First Nation—about 240 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg—not far from where she lived.
In the hospital, she said they were told April had signs of internal bleeding. When Stagg went into the hospital room, she noticed something else.
“I was holding her hand, and I noticed her hands were badly beaten,” she said, adding there were marks on her sister’s body.
When Stagg called RCMP, she was told her sister’s death was not being considered a homicide.
When CTV News first reached out to Manitoba RCMP on Tuesday, a spokesperson said April’s death was a “medical incident.”
However, one day later, RCMP responded to CTV News again. This time the police said an investigation is underway.
I understand what you’re saying now, and I of course still agree there are lots more questions to be answered. I might have ranged a little far with my examples, but it’s still largely relevant; being found frozen and close to dead would absolutely be cause for a general physical checkup, inside and out, in trying to figure out what the hell happened and what else you might need treatment for. Where you were found wouldn’t really impact that bit, so I don’t think it’s surprising that they checked for internal injuries and I don’t think it’s surprising that the family would take finding such injuries as a sign of malfeasance. Your point about the injuries on her hands and forearms stands unchallenged, by the way - tissue damage could 100% look like contusions or lacerations. If it turns out she has broken bones in her hands, though…
Broken bones would absolutely turn this into a homicide investigation, IMO.