Canadian True Crime - 68 The Death of Ezekiel Stephan - Part 2

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

[ Part 2 of 3 ] ALBERTA - In 2012, a toddler would get sick, and the decisions of his parents would inspire much debate in the years to come.Thanks for supporting my sponsors!See the special offer codes hereCredits:Research: Haley Gray and Portia BejannyResearch and writing: Haley Gray and Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True Crime Theme Song: We Talk of Dreams  All credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. Where we left off, Ezekiel Stefan's life support had been switched off, and he sadly passed away. The autopsy report stated that Ezekiel's cause of death was bacterial meningitis, which likely developed after an upper respiratory infection, as well as an empyema or collection of pus on the lower right lung. The report noted that Ezekiel had not been vaccinated to protect against meningitis as recommended by Alberta Health. In February of 2013, David and Colette Stefan were charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Side note for those wondering, yes, it's necessaries in the criminal code, not necessities. In response to the charges, David Stefan issued a statement that included several concerns he had with Alberta Health Services, including the time it took for the ambulance to arrive. He also claimed that there was a closer ambulance available that wasn't sent, and of course the fact that the ambulance that showed up did not have the proper equipment needed to treat the toddler. As you'll recall, Colette Stefan had been performing CPR on Ezekiel for at least 10 minutes before the ambulance arrived, and the paramedics described him as being pale or ashen-coloured when they first took over his care. In the lead-up to the trial, David and Colette filed an application through their lawyer to stay their charges,

meaning discontinue the prosecution. Their reasoning was that they were denied the right to be tried within a reasonable time. A judge denied the application and stated that he found that under the circumstances, reasonable time was given. In a pre-trial interview with the Canadian press, David Stefan said that he believed he and his wife were charged because they didn't vaccinate their children, and in part because his family helped start a nutritional supplements company. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 68. On March 7, 2016, David and Colette Stefan went on trial in Lethbridge. Obviously, they pleaded not guilty. Just a few days after the trial started would be the four-year anniversary of Ezekiel's death.

By this point, the Stefan's had an additional two children, the child Colette was pregnant with when Ezekiel passed away, and another one after that. The family would be regularly photographed together outside the court building. It's important to note that the Stefan's were not on trial for murdering Ezekiel. They were on trial for not seeking medical treatment for him sooner. The aim of the trial was to determine if their conduct was consistent with what reasonably prudent and ordinary parents would have done, or if their actions or inactions was a marked departure from that. In opening statements, the Crown told the court that David and Colette loved their son and were not accused of ignoring him or killing him. But in not taking him to a doctor until it was far too late, they didn't meet the criminal code standard of care.

The jury heard that Ezekiel's official cause of death was meningitis, and the Stefan's knew there was a possibility that Ezekiel had it, and they should have taken him to the doctor on March the 12th after Nurse Terry examined him and recommended a doctor's visit. Instead, they waited until he stopped breathing and they had to call 911. The Crown told the jury that if they had of sought treatment, Ezekiel would still be alive. Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles said, quote, The jury needs to answer this question. At what point should the accused have taken Ezekiel to the doctor? The defense told the jury that the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that medical assistance would have saved Ezekiel's life.

Defense lawyer Sean Buckley told the court that unless the assistance would have made a difference, it could not be considered a necessary of life. In this situation, a necessary would be defined as whatever was needed to avoid putting Ezekiel's life in danger. The court heard from a number of witnesses, including the RCMP officer and the social workers who interviewed the Stefan's at the Alberta Children's Hospital. The court heard from Nurse Terry about her visit to the Stefan house. She told the court that Colette called her, concerned after Ezekiel had fallen asleep in the bathtub, so Terry agreed to go over and take a look. She was there as a friend to give her opinion, not to diagnose Ezekiel, she said. He was asleep as she looked at him and it didn't jump out to her that he was seriously ill. His lungs were clear and he didn't appear to have a fever.

He didn't seem to be that sick, but Terry suggested that Colette look into meningitis, something that was already on her mind. Terry testified that she told Colette, quote, I have no idea what it could be and I think you should take him to a doctor. The court heard from a paramedic who treated Ezekiel on the way to the hospital and testified about meeting the Stefan's on the side of the highway. He said Ezekiel wasn't moving or breathing, his eyes were closed and his face was ashen-colored. An electrocardiogram machine also showed a flat line, which means that his heart wasn't beating. The court heard that despite the ambulance not having the correct equipment to be able to help Ezekiel start breathing, the paramedic did everything according to protocol. The reason why the ambulance wasn't stocked with the proper equipment was because Alberta Health Services had taken over local ambulance services and because of a miscommunication in anticipation of that, much of the equipment was removed. The paramedic testified that he had requested the ambulance be restocked several times before Ezekiel's 911 call.

So health officials did know about the issue, but the request was never filled. The jury heard that a week after Ezekiel's death, the ambulance was suddenly restocked with the necessary equipment. During the trial, David Stefan kept a daily blog on a website called standfortruth.ca. On the day that this paramedic testified, David wrote that the witness, quote, was strongly directed by his employer, Alberta Health Services, not to speak with Defence Council leading up to the preliminary inquiry. In circumstances like this, any prudent employer would advise their employees the same. There was no information publicly available on this, but it's interesting to note that this fact appeared as a slightly amended version in a new post a month later. The headline of this new post by David Stefan was,

Did Alberta Justice try to frame Ezekiel's parents? Why have no charges been laid? And in it, David wrote that the paramedic testified, quote, that he was instructed not to disclose the fact that the ambulance attending Ezekiel had been destocked of life-saving equipment. So it changed from a routine warning not to speak to the Defence to implying that there was some kind of specific cover-up. Again, there's no publicly available information on this other than David's own posts. Back to the trial, the court heard from Dr Ross, a pediatrician at the Alberta Children's Hospital who had reviewed the ambulance log. She said that when Ezekiel was picked up by paramedics, he was dead, quote, there was no heartbeat, no blood pressure, he was clinically dead.

The court also heard from Dr Clark, a doctor who treated Ezekiel Stefan at Cardston Hospital after he arrived via ambulance and before he was taken via helicopter to Alberta Children's Hospital. He said that Ezekiel's heart began beating rapidly after he was given atropine, a medicine used to treat slow heart rates. Dr Clark testified that about seven minutes after Ezekiel arrived at the hospital, he had a heartbeat, blood pressure and his colour had improved. Medical examiner Dr Barmeh Dali Adayakbo testified about his autopsy report and his determination that Ezekiel's cause of death was bacterial meningitis and empyema, the infection of the lungs. He said the symptoms of meningitis can come and go and show more or less severity over the time of the illness. The doctor gave the example of a patient having a fever one day and then it would be gone the next day and it could return again. He added that the symptoms can vary from person to person and some people might even show very few symptoms.

According to appeal documents, Dr Adayakbo's autopsy report did not include the information that Ezekiel had been without oxygen for eight minutes before he even arrived at the hospital. The defence questioned him about this, asking the doctor if it was fair that he didn't take this into consideration in his findings. Dr Adayakbo asked for the ambulance log and then told the court that Ezekiel was practically dead before the ambulance met up with the Stefan car. He said in his opinion, the paramedics attempts to revive Ezekiel for eight minutes after that were not the reason he became brain dead. Dr Adayakbo went on to say that the brain acts differently when it has a lack of oxygen compared to when it's reacting to meningitis. And when he examined Ezekiel's brain, there were no signs that there was a lack of oxygen. Two other doctors from the Alberta Children's Hospital agreed with these findings, including Dr Burkholder, who was asked to describe Ezekiel's condition in one word.

She said, dead. Media outlets reported that Colette Steffen broke down at this point. The other doctor, Dr Gamble, agreed with this assessment, adding that when Ezekiel started showing signs of involuntary movements, like pulling on his diaper, David and Colette should have taken him to the hospital. Dr Gamble described Ezekiel's symptoms as textbook meningitis. He said that by the time Ezekiel started arching his back, his life was at risk. And when Ezekiel couldn't be put in his car seat, this should have been considered a medical emergency. As you'll recall, earlier in the night that Ezekiel stopped breathing, he was observed to be in a restful sleep,

which is why Colette felt she could slip out to a church meeting. Dr Gamble testified that this wasn't a restful sleep. Ezekiel was likely in a comatose state. The defense called five witnesses, including David and Colette Steffen. As David arrived at the courthouse that morning, he told CBC News, We hope to show that we're not guilty by explaining what took place. On the stand, David told his side of the story, describing Ezekiel's illness and progression. He was described in a Calgary Herald News report as exuding confidence with a calm demeanor.

He testified that his wife, Colette, only mentioned the possibility of meningitis the night after Nurse Terry came to look Ezekiel over, which is, of course, the night before he stopped breathing and was rushed to hospital. David said that he knew very little about meningitis, but from what his wife told him, the symptoms were much more severe than symptoms from a viral infection, like croup or the flu. He added he understood that within 24 to 48 hours, whoever contracts bacterial meningitis will end up experiencing a medical crisis. When asked why he and Colette didn't seek medical attention earlier, David described the illness he observed Ezekiel to be experiencing as nothing more than a cold or the flu, saying that there was nothing alarming, nothing severe about it.

As you'll recall, around 24 hours after Ezekiel first arrived at Alberta Children's Hospital, David and Colette spoke to an RCMP officer in the early hours of the morning. When the officer testified earlier in the trial, excerpts of the audio recording of the interview were played for the jury. On the recording, which you heard last episode, Colette spoke about how she knew that one of the symptoms of meningitis was arching of the back due to stiffness, and she described performing two physical tests on Ezekiel, both of which came up positive for meningitis, whether it be viral or bacterial. And then she described Ezekiel's condition when they went to travel to Lethbridge to sign the papers,

the same trip where she also visited the naturopathic doctor. This was the day before Ezekiel stopped breathing. Here's the clip again. And so then that's when we started everything and he started improving immediately. And so, sorry, back to Tuesday having to go into Lethbridge because he was so stiff still. We could not get him in his car seat to be able to buckle him up. And we had folded the seats down in our blazer and put in his mattress, and I had laid beside him so that we could get these papers quickly signed as the lawyers.

Now in David's testimony, he said that this wasn't the case. He said that Ezekiel was never too stiff to be placed into his car seat. He testified that his son had in fact been put into his car seat fine, but just looked uncomfortable, although he wasn't crying or indicating to them that he was in pain. David added that considering they had an hour-long drive, they decided to fold down the seat and put him on his mattress for the ride. David testified that they weren't the kind of parents who would abuse a child and described his surprise when he was told there was an investigation underway.

On cross-examination, the Crown questioned David about his belief in modern medicine, suggesting that he didn't believe in it because of his family's history and lack of trust in prescription drugs. David replied, quote, While natural remedies may assist certain health issues, when it came to infectious disease, there was nothing more powerful than antibiotics. The Crown asked David why Ezekiel wasn't taken to at least see a naturopathic doctor. As you'll recall, Colette contacted the naturopath to pick up the echinacea mixture, but no one actually examined Ezekiel.

David responded to the question by saying that his symptoms were not concerning enough. David suggested that he hadn't even considered that people would find issues with their treatment decisions. In fact, his initial worry was actually that the authorities were going to take their other son Ezra away from them, but for a different reason. Quote, You know what my main concern was at that point? It was the idea that they might think we were negligent parents if they found out that we didn't put Ezekiel in a car seat. The Crown then began a line of questioning that suggested David was delusional about the seriousness of Ezekiel's illness.

And he was so partial towards the true hope nutritional products he sold and treated Ezekiel with that he refused to acknowledge the progression of his son's illness because that might mean that the products didn't work in the way he believed. Essentially, it would be bad for business. David replied, No, I don't put on blinders. Next, Collette Steffen took the stand. She became emotional, breaking down in tears when she described the terror of giving her toddler CPR in the back of a car

that her husband was driving to the hospital. Quote, His face just kept getting bluer and bluer. She told the court that she'd spent the previous four years second guessing herself and she was depressed, suffered panic attacks and had nightmares about her children being stolen. Quote, If I could turn back time and do something different so he would still be here, I definitely would. She said that no one would want a different outcome more than she and David.

Quote, Do I wish I had taken him to a doctor? Absolutely. She told the court her version of events leading up to Ezekiel's death. On the stand, she testified that the worst day of his illness was actually the first day when he had the wheezy breathing. From there, she described how his symptoms came and went and in the later stages, he seemed to be in recovery before taking ill again.

She described being frustrated that as soon as Ezekiel seemed to get better, he would get sick again. So that's why she called Nurse Terry to come and see him the day before the day he got rushed to hospital. In the audio recordings played earlier in the trial, Collette told the RCMP officer that to Nurse Terry's experience, Quote, She said he does look like he's showing signs of meningitis. But in court,

Collette testified that Nurse Terry never posed the question that it could be meningitis. According to Collette, she only mentioned that she had a patient at the hospital a few weeks earlier and that they could look into it as a possibility. She testified that at this point, she wasn't concerned about Ezekiel because Nurse Terry didn't notice any severe symptoms. Collette also disputed Nurse Terry's testimony about advising Collette to take Ezekiel to the doctor. She added that she trusted Terry and said if the nurse had have told her to go to the doctor,

she would have. She also disputed Terry's testimony that Collette told her that Ezekiel had fallen asleep in the bathtub. Collette said that this wasn't correct. What she actually said was that Ezekiel just looked tired and wasn't splashing around as he usually did. She then tried to offer an explanation for Terry's testimony, stating that Terry felt blamed for what happened to Ezekiel and therefore some of her testimony was quote,

actually inaccurate. Collette testified that she couldn't recall performing those two tests for meningitis as she described on the audio recording, but acknowledged that she could have. She also told the court that Ezekiel's grandfather Anthony, also the co-founder of True Hope Nutritional, came over that night to look over the toddler and he never suggested that Ezekiel should be taken to the doctor.

Collette added that when looking back on Ezekiel's illness, aside from his initial breathing sounds and the fact that his symptoms seem to last longer than usual, nothing stood out to her as significant when compared to his prior bouts of cold and flu. When she was cross-examined by the crown, she was asked to clarify the statement she made in the audio recordings with the RCMP officer against her new testimony. In the audio recordings,

Collette used stronger and more severe language to describe Ezekiel's symptoms in the lead-up to his hospitalization. This language was also reflected in the physician's report, a report completed by a doctor at Alberta Children's Hospital after Ezekiel's first brain death assessment. The report was basically an account of Ezekiel's illness from where it started and how it progressed. Obviously, the only account of his illness before his hospitalization came from his parents.

Terms they used were recorded in the physician's report, unusual lethargy, wheezing, Ezekiel being so stiff that his back was arched, as well as a description of his involuntary movements. It also detailed how his issues with eating and drinking caused them to fear that he was experiencing the effects of starvation. But in Collette's testimony at trial, she had described Ezekiel's illness in markedly less severe terms,

often focusing on how he seemed normal and was happy playing with his toys. When asked why she used more severe descriptive language when she spoke with medical professionals, social workers and the RCMP while in hospital, Collette said that she couldn't really remember what she said. Quote, I know my state of mind. I was in a traumatic state. I was sleep deprived.

When pressed on the issue, Collette replied they have some confused information of what they put down. Collette said that she disagreed with the physician's report. She claimed that Ezekiel's health problems weren't as severe as described in the document. The crown suggested that the reason why Collette changed her version of events was that she came to the conclusion that the original version of events is much more damaging to her. No, she replied.

Quote, I had clear recollection of those things that took place that I misrepresented back then. My memory and my state now isn't under as much duress and fear, anxiety and trauma as it was four years ago. She said that she might have exaggerated what she told the doctors that night. At one point, Collette suggested that the autopsy report itself might have been falsified.

The next witness for the defense was Doral Libbet, a fire chief and registered emergency medical responder with a local ambulance service in Glenwood, close to where the Stephens lived. There were two elements to his testimony. Firstly, he told the court that he saw the family at church and Ezekiel was playing and running around. But he couldn't remember if it was the Sunday two days before the 911 call

or the Sunday before that, which was nine days before the call. He felt that it was most likely two days before. He testified that Ezekiel appeared fine. As you'll recall, one of David Stephens' complaints to Alberta Health Services was the fact that there appeared to be a closer ambulance available to the Stephens house that they didn't send.

In Doral Libbet's testimony, he spoke about his volunteer role as fire chief and emergency responder out of the Glenwood Centre. This was the ambulance that David Stephens was talking about. In his testimony, Doral said that he was surprised that his centre didn't get the 911 dispatch, given they were just minutes away from where the Stephens lived. Instead, an ambulance was called from Cardston, some 40 kilometres away.

He also added that the ambulance from his centre was fully stocked with the equipment needed to treat Ezekiel. As you'll remember, Alberta Health Services had taken over local ambulance service and there were some miscommunications which also led to the ambulance that arrived to be destocked. Next up was testimony from Anthony Stephan, Ezekiel's grandfather and the co-founder of True Hope Nutritional.

He testified that he was at David and Collette's house the night before the 911 call was made. Quote, I put my hands on his head. It didn't feel hot. His colouring in his face was not inflamed. He looked normal, just low energy. Because Anthony had 10 children,

the defence asked him to explain his experience with childhood illnesses in an effort to validate his testimony. But the crown objected, saying that the question was inappropriate. He wasn't qualified to speak as an expert witness because there was no such thing as an expert prudent parent. In what would be a pivotal moment in the trial, the defence then called their own medical witness,

Dr Annie Savageau, Chief Medical Examiner for Alberta at the time of Ezekiel's death. She was also responsible for hiring Dr Ardeagbo, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. She held the chief position until two years after Ezekiel's tragedy. Dr Savageau testified that she didn't conduct Ezekiel's autopsy herself, and the way she arrived at her findings was reading through Dr Ardeagbo's report, looking at the scans and other reports,

and listening to the 911 calls where David put his phone to Ezekiel's mouth so the operator could hear his breathing. Dr Savageau's opinion of Ezekiel's cause of death differed from the official autopsy report. She did not believe that Ezekiel died from bacterial meningitis. It was her finding that he died from lack of oxygen. In fact, she disagreed that Ezekiel had bacterial meningitis and said it was more likely viral meningitis.

She told the court she believed it was a viral infection in his throat that obstructed his airways, and that's what caused him to stop breathing. Dr Savageau suggested Ezekiel died because the paramedics couldn't establish an airway quickly, and it was most likely that he would have survived if the ambulance was properly equipped to treat a child of his age with breathing difficulties.

She referred to it as a medical misadventure. There were some hiccups with her testimony. The trial judge qualified Dr Savageau as an expert witness in forensic pathology and asphyxia, or oxygen deprivation, but she was not allowed to give any opinions on the diagnosis of chronic illness, an issue that came up several times. So essentially, she was only allowed to testify about her findings after Ezekiel passed away.

This would prove to be an issue for the Stephens. On cross-examination, the crown pressed Dr Savageau on a few items, particularly on why she was no longer the chief medical examiner for Alberta. The court heard that her contract was not renewed. A CBC report specified that her stated reason for this was because she stood up to political pressure to adopt processes that she didn't agree with. The court also heard that she currently has a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Department of Justice and Solicitor-General.

The crown inferred that this may be why she was prepared to give testimony that contradicted the autopsy report prepared by her former hire and direct report. But Dr Savageau assured the court that despite these issues, she was neutral in her testimony. The court also heard that she was being paid $500 an hour by the defence. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? SquareSpace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time.

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and when you're ready to launch, use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. In closing remarks, defence lawyer Sean Buckley told the jury it had to decide whether the Stephens' actions were a marked departure of what a reasonable and prudent parent would do. They also had to decide whether it was objectively foreseeable that failing to seek medical attention would endanger Ezekiel's life. The defence emphasised Dr Annie Savageau's testimony that Ezekiel had viral meningitis, not bacterial, and he died of a paramedic misadventure thanks to an ambulance that was ill-equipped to deal with a toddler with breathing issues. The defence also pointed out the three people who testified seeing Ezekiel, adding that none of them saw a reason to seek medical attention.

They were his grandfather Anthony, the fire chief who saw them at church, and nurse Terry. When it came to Terry, the defence claimed that nothing was jumping out at her and she only suggested that Ezekiel see a doctor just to find out what was wrong. Crown prosecutor Lisa Wiech told the jury, This trial is not about murder. The Crown does not need to prove the Stephens had anything to do with Ezekiel's death. She said she has no doubt that his parents loved him and wanted him to be well. Quote, That's not what this is about.

They failed in their duty to provide medical attention. She pointed out that along with the autopsy report, three other doctors at the Alberta Children's Hospital all determined that Ezekiel had bacterial meningitis, and they all thought that it may have been possible to save him if his parents had sought medical attention sooner. The Crown pointed out that failing to take Ezekiel to a doctor was a marked departure from what a reasonably prudent parent would have done. Quote, A reasonably prudent parent wouldn't, as David said, wait and see if he got worse.

Prosecutor Wiech said that their actions were far below the minimum standard of care for children that society expects. Quote, They should not have walked to the hospital. They should have run. In his charge to the jury, Justice Rodney Jerk told them they needed to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that David and Colette Steffen had failed to provide Ezekiel with the necessaries of life and not to make their decisions based on sympathy, prejudice or fear. With that, it was time for the jury to deliberate.

The trial had gone on for six weeks, and many tears had been shed in the courtroom by Colette Steffen, their family, friends and supporters in the gallery, and on occasion even some of the jurors were observed to be shedding tears. Protesters were also a frequent side outside the courthouse, holding signs that said, Science, not fear, not negligence. And children have the right to live and not die of a curable disease. During the trial, the Steffens had been posting frequently on their Facebook page, Prayers for Ezekiel, as well as a website created called Stand for Truth, which provided a daily blog of court proceedings from their side.

Thed also started up a crowdfunding campaign, encouraging people to donate to them so they could afford to defend themselves in court. As you'll recall, one headline on his blog read, Did Alberta Justice Try to Frame Zeke's Parents? In the blog, David detailed how various groups had been trying to get their fundraising account shut down and had succeeded. They posted that they were being unfairly persecuted by the government and felt that their approach to health and parenting should be respected. They also accused the federal government of corruption and acting out of vengeance towards their family.

The insinuation was that there were grudges held after the government's fight against true hope nutritional years earlier. As the trial went on, the case made national and international headlines, some of them that the Steffens thought were grossly sensationalist in nature. One read, His Antivac parents gave him an herbal remedy. The toddler died. Now his parents are on trial. And another headline from Barstool Sports read,

Two asshole anti-vaccine parents led their kid die after trying to cure meningitis with maple syrup. In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that this is not what the Steffens did. They put a small amount of maple syrup in Ezekiel's water in their efforts to hydrate him, but it wasn't one of his treatments. After headlines like these, David and Colette would tell Lethbridge's Bridge City News that they had received over 300 death threats. The jury took less than 24 hours to reach a verdict. They found Colette and David Steffen guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life to Ezekiel.

The sentence for this was up to five years in prison, which would see them lose custody of their three children. Colette Steffen broke out in tears and could be seen shaking after hearing the verdict while David rubbed her back. Several jurors were also observed to be crying. Outside the courthouse, Crown Prosecutor Lisa Wiech spoke to the media, saying that the charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life ensures that people who cannot care for themselves received the minimal standard of care expected by society. She added that the Steffens definitely, definitely loved their son.

Quote, Unfortunately, nobody can speak for Ezekiel. He wasn't old enough to speak for himself. What we are required to do is make sure that the public at large and accused people in general are held to the criminal standard. And in this case, it was holding the parents to the criminal standard of care for their child. Several of the Steffens relatives spoke to the media, including David Steffen's brother-in-law Eric, who told Global News that the world was not going to see a better family than David and Colette Steffen. He said he didn't know any other people that treat their kids better.

He added that he believed there was collusion going on here. Quote, I don't believe our government is secure anymore. David's aren't added to this. Quote, This is pretty much a travesty to the Alberta healthcare system. Because of this ruling, every child with a sniffle, a headache and a sore throat is going to end up in emergency wards and a doctor's office because from this point on, if you dare to make the wrong decision, you'll be held accountable. After the guilty verdict, David Steffen posted to his Facebook page a letter that started,

Dear Jury, Quote, I deeply love each one of you and appreciate the tremendous sacrifice that you have made over the last eight weeks. I only wish you could have seen how you were being played by the Crown's deception, drama and trickery that not only led to our key witnesses being muzzled, but has now led to a dangerous precedent being set in Canada. The floodgates have now been opened and if we do not fall in line with parenting as seen fit by the government, we all stand in risk of criminal prosecution. He then referenced the Crown's assertion that this wasn't about murder,

but about whether Ezekiel's life was endangered because of their actions. Quote, How many parents have lost children for various reasons? All of which could be concluded that the child's life was endangered and the parents should have been able to foresee it. David would claim that there was a conspiracy. In a later interview with Bridge City News, he claimed that a local radio station reported on the verdict before the jury announced it. This claim has not been corroborated.

The community's reaction to the final verdict was polarizing. Many people acknowledged the tragedy the Stephens lived through, but also drew attention to the fact that they didn't take advice and didn't seek medical attention. Others said they supported natural remedies, but were of the opinion that if a child is sick, they should be taken to the doctor. Supporters of the Stephens said that they were stunned because the Stephens never intentionally let Ezekiel die and haven't they lost enough already?

In the lead-up to the sentencing hearing, a controversial film was about to be released called Vaxt, which built itself as an investigation into the CDC's destruction of a study linking autism to the MMR vaccine. As a side note, there is no scientific evidence of a link between vaccines and autism, and the film was banned from several film festivals and removed from Amazon after it was deemed to be misleading. But the producers decided to leverage the Stephens' guilty verdict

to get some publicity for their film. They released a short video to the Facebook account of producer Dal Bigtree that featured an interview with David Steffen. It's becoming quite an issue, it's becoming quite a parental rights issue for medical choice, for how we need to treat our children, and ultimately it comes down to whether we have the right to vaccinate or not vaccinate without being held from the libel, or whether or not we have to rush our children to the doctor

every time they even get just a sniffles in fear that something may just randomly happen and then we're held from the libel. This is about everybody. This isn't the way that the media has played it out to be. They've tried to distance us from the average person by trying to say that he was too stiff, stiff as a board to get into his car seat. He had to be fed somehow through an eyedropper. He was being treated for meningitis from maple syrup and fruit and berries.

That's not the case at all. We were treating our child with different homeopathic remedies, different herbal remedies like tens of thousands of people do, nothing out of the ordinary, and he wasn't severely ill, and then everything just came to a crash on the evening and ended up in an ambulance. They didn't have the right equipment and subsequently ended up brain dead. David also issued a call to action asking their supporters to send letters of protest and come to the courthouse wearing blue jeans and white shirts to show their support.

The sentencing hearing was held on June 24th 2016. The media observed a crowd of about 70 supporters of the Stephens who greeted the family as they arrived at the court. There were also protesters, many of them medical doctors. Dr. Kirsten Jones told the media, you cannot impose your personal views on your children in a way that endangers their life. The crown was seeking a sentence of three to four and a half years in jail and the defense asked for no jail time for the Stephens,

instead asking for a conditional or suspended sentence. Collette and David were both allowed to make statements. Through tears, Collette told the judge that the day Ezekiel died was the worst day of her life. Quote, my children are everything to me and I'm everything to my children. I am incredibly sorry I did not take him to the hospital. I just loved him so much. She said if she could turn back time and do something differently, she would. In David's statement, he said,

Quote, looking back at it, had I known that it could possibly end up in this situation, I would not have put my child at risk. There is nothing I wouldn't give up to bring him back. With that, it was time for Justice Rodney Jerk to announce his sentencing decision. He said, this case was about whether parents who failed to take a sick boy to a doctor should be held criminally responsible. The trial was not about vaccination. This is far beyond a child who simply has the sniffles.

He said that the Stephens were caring parents and neither intended to put Ezekiel's life at risk. But while Collette did her own research and consulted a nurse, David just got more nutritional supplements and called his dad. Additionally, the Justice said that Collette seemed to express remorse, but David did not. Quote, he deflected responsibility and demonstrated a complete lack of remorse for his actions, focusing more on how the situation affected him as opposed to his son.

Justice Jerk went on to say that David loved his son, but to this day refuses to accept his actions played any role in Ezekiel's death. He mentioned the fact that when Ezekiel stopped breathing, David called his father before he called 911. Quote, David's moral culpability is greater than Collette's. With that, David was sentenced to four months in jail and Collette was given a three month conditional sentence in which she'd be on house arrest. This would mean that she'd have to stay in her house

unless she had an approved appointment or to attend church. Justice Jerk also ordered that they both complete 240 hours of community service and that their three children see a medical doctor at least once a year and a public health nurse every three months. And finally, the judge ordered Collette to post an unedited, accurate copy of his decision onto the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page which at the time of recording has over 7,000 followers. The National Post spoke with several lawyers

who said that this was a rare request and one that had no precedent. Quote, however, it is a clear sign that the courts are starting to respond to the increasing power of social media and to the ways that criminals can attract supporters and publicity that undermines faith in the legal system. Outside the courthouse, prosecutor Lisa Weech said that they were glad to get justice for Ezekiel. Quote, unfortunately, nobody can speak for him. He couldn't even speak for himself.

That was at the forefront of our thoughts as we went through. In a later interview with Bridge City News and Lethbridge, David Steffen would say that the reason his sentence was worse than Collette's was because he'd been speaking out more to the media. While Collette was often observed to stand next to him, she almost always let him do the talking. After the sentencing, the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page After the sentencing, the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page erupted with polarizing comments.

Many detractors asked when the Facebook page was going to post the judgment as per the judge's orders. The administration behind the page argued that there was no time limit imposed on the order and said that David and Collette had given up control of the page after the sentence. The link to the judgment was posted without commentary three days later. Around the same time, a new post on the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page announced. We want to thank the good staff at the Calgary Children's Hospital who were brave enough to provide the CT scans

that proved that Ezekiel did not suffer with a brain injury related to meningitis, but rather hypoxic injury related to the ambulance being destocked. The Calgary Children's Hospital is another name for the Alberta Children's Hospital. The post had pictures of the scans and the reader is asked to refer to a diagnostic imaging report also posted to explain the scan pictures. I have no medical background, but I read the report carefully several times. It could not find the terms they said would be on a specific page

or any reference to anything along those lines. In the same post, the Steffens referred to X-rays that the Crown allegedly had that weren't disclosed to the defence until after the guilty verdict. David Steffen posted pictures of the X-rays claiming that they proved that the autopsy report was falsified. I reviewed these pages carefully, but I couldn't find any logical reasoning to explain why the information posted proved his claims. Again, I'm not a medical professional,

but if David Steffen's goal was to promote a certain message to the general public, it would benefit him to explain his claims in a comprehensive way that a layperson could understand. People in the comments of the Facebook post asked why the scans weren't available before the trial and the page admin replied that it was a cover-up. In fact, conspiracy was a key theme in many responses coming from the Steffen camp. Days after the scans were posted, a link to a new blog post was posted to the Facebook page with the headline

Final Judgement, an edited copy and comparative analysis. In it, David Steffen accuses the judge of blocking evidence that would have been favourable to their case. He alleged that the reports were falsified and witnesses were censored and the Facebook post alleged that media outlets contradicted each other, misrepresented information as fact and photoshopped David's face to look hardened and angry. These claims were not corroborated.

The guilty verdict and sentencing sent ripples through the community and there were several ramifications. One announcement came from Health and Wellness Expos of Canada. Part of David's sales and marketing role with True Hope Nutritional was travelling around Western Canada to give sales presentations on the company's supplements. He had been invited to speak at Health and Wellness Expos in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. But after intense public backlash, sponsors and vendors started pulling out when they discovered that David Steffen was on the speaking roster.

As a result, the owner of Health and Wellness Expos of Canada announced that David Steffen would no longer present at their events. The other announcement came from the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta who said they were investigating Dr Tracy Tannis. A group of over 40 Canadian medical physicians and surgeons sent a letter to the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta saying that they were deeply concerned about the conduct of the registered naturopath. They alleged that she did not meet the standard of care.

Quote, According to what has been given as evidence in the Steffen trial, Dr Tannis did not physically examine Ezekiel who was so stiff from meningial inflammation that he could not sit in his car seat. The next year, the College issued a response to the complaint saying that it found no evidence of this because, as you'll recall, Collette only spoke with the receptionist. She did not seek advice, care, treatment or recommendation from Dr Tannis.

And when Collette came into the office to pick up the echinacea mixture, Dr Tannis facilitated the transaction. But she didn't know that it was the same woman who called earlier and she also didn't know that the woman was intending to use the mixture to treat viral meningitis. The complaint against Dr Tannis was dismissed. Of course, there were appeals. The Crown claimed the sentences given to the Steffens were not long enough for the gravity of the offence, among other things.

And the Steffens appealed their verdict under several grounds, claiming that the judge failed to limit all of the various doctors the Crown called as expert witnesses. During the trial, the defense had objected to several of the witnesses that the Crown had called based on the grounds that all their separate testimonies were unnecessary and cumulative. At the time, the judge had decided that the various medical experts were testifying based on their input into different stages of Ezekiel's treatment as he was transferred to different medical facilities. So that's why they were allowed.

Additionally, the defense argued that Dr Annie Savageau's testimony shouldn't have been limited to just her findings after Ezekiel had passed away and that it was an error to not allow her to give an opinion about what made Ezekiel sick before he died. Additionally, they believed the judge aired in his characterization and restriction of the testimony of David's father, Anthony. As you recall, the judge had said that a witness cannot be qualified as an expert, prudent parent. The Steffens verdict was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal,

but the ruling wasn't unanimous. This meant that the Steffens were eligible to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. David and Colette each served three weeks of their sentences before being released on bail when they appealed. Colette did three weeks of house arrest, and David served three weeks in prison, reportedly in solitary confinement. On May 15, 2018, more than six years after Ezekiel's death, the Supreme Court of Canada quashed the convictions and ordered a new trial for the Steffens.

The written decision explained that the trial judge failed to sufficiently explain the concept of marked departure from the actions of a reasonable and prudent parent. And he also failed to explain it in a way that the jury could apply and understand it. And the court found that the judge also combined two separate elements of the offence. In the case of the Steffens not getting medical attention sooner, the jury needed to understand the difference between the decision being wrong and being wrong in such a way that it was criminal. After the decision, David Steffen was quoted as saying that even though he and Colette

were uncomfortable with another trial, they took comfort in knowing that the whole truth will be established, and the, quote, tremendous lies surrounding their son's death would be exposed. Seven months later, they also filed an order directing Alberta Justice to compensate them. For $1.2 million to cover their previous trial costs, as well as $3 million in trust to pay for legal fees in their upcoming trial. This was refused by the judge who said, you don't have any resources, that's what you're telling me and you're not getting any here.

He noted that the Steffens had not even filed an application for legal aid, and David Steffen replied that it wouldn't be sufficient. There were also various legal issues. The Steffens filed several applications in the lead-up to their new trial. One was an application for a stay of the proceedings, or to have them discontinued and not have to go to trial again. In the argument, David said that he had concerns about how the Crown was handling the case, and also alleged that Alberta Health Services withheld disclosure from the first trial in 2016.

This was dismissed with David told to take up any issues he had with the judge from that trial. Colette also requested that the trial be delayed by several months because the lawyer she wanted to hire wasn't available at the time the trial was scheduled. The Crown argued that the Steffens had a number of opportunities to retain a court-appointed lawyer at a lower cost. Justice John Rook rejected Colette's request, arguing that the Steffens lack of diligence dealing with their case was to blame. The couple also applied several times for the judge to recuse himself from the hearing, alleging that he was biased against them.

Justice John Rook also rejected this, saying that there was no basis for such a finding and referred to their undisclosed accusations as scandalous and inflammatory. And the Steffens also applied to have certain statements they made to the RCMP be withheld from evidence, namely the audio recordings they gave at the hospital. They claimed they weren't in an operational state of mind to give the statements because they were tired, stressed and felt trapped and pressured. The judge denied this request too, saying that the questions asked of the Steffens were appropriate under the circumstances. In response, David uploaded a Facebook video claiming that the deck has stacked against them

and that he believed the writing was on the wall before the retrial even began. And that's where we'll leave it for Part 2. In Part 3, which will be released in a week, we'll go over the second trial, where David Steffen would represent himself, which would lead to a surprising conclusion. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched by Hailey Gray and Portia Bijani, and audio production was by We Talk of Dreams, who also composed the theme song. The host of the Beyond Bazaar True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer, I'll be back soon with Part 3. See you then.

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