Canadian True Crime - 69 The Death of Ezekiel Stephan - Part 3

Episode Date: June 1, 2020

[ Part 3 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.Links to Tawny Platis fundraiserGoFundMeFaceBook EventGetVokl eventPodcast recommendation:Fetal AbductionThanks 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, the Stephens were found guilty by a jury, and then they appealed their sentence. The verdict was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal, but because the ruling wasn't unanimous, the Stephens were eligible to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. In May of 2018, the Supreme Court quashed their convictions and ordered a new trial for David and Colette Steffen. Several months before the trial began, David Steffen started a new fundraising account on Go Get Funding, asking for $150,000 with the headline,

Stand for Truth Funding for Medical Experts to Further Verify the True Cause of Death of Ezekiel Steffen. He wrote that the medical experts would be able to substantiate what the real events were that led to Ezekiel's death. The post was accompanied by a video from David and paragraphs upon paragraphs of text that detailed their side of events and contained multiple screenshots and diagrams that David claimed proved his points. He claimed that they were railroaded by the judge in the first trial, who placed the jury in a position where they had no choice but to decide on a guilty verdict. He outlined a number of other claims, alleging that there was no evidence of meningitis on the CT scan and that doctors were looking for an alternative cause of death to cover up Ezekiel's real cause of death.

He brought up the ill-equipped ambulance that came from Cardston about 40 kilometres away instead of the Glenwood ambulance which was much closer. As you'll recall, this seemed to be a result of Alberta Health Services taking over local ambulance service, which also seemed to be the root cause of the ambulance that showed up, being de-stocked of the necessary equipment. David Steffen also alleged that vaccines were supposed to be a big part of the first trial. He wrote that the Crown wanted to set a new precedent that would hold non-vaccinating parents criminally liable if their kids got sick with an illness that the medical establishment deemed to be preventable by vaccine. There was no explanation for why the trial didn't end up going like this.

He also claimed that the defence had obtained copious amounts of medical files that would have cast a negative light on, quote, the falsified autopsy report and the Crown's deceptive narrative. David Steffen said that they had issues obtaining medical records that he knew were in existence and further claimed that there was evidence destroyed that contains the full truth as to how Ezekiel died. And finally, he claimed that Ezekiel didn't die from meningitis or the empyema or even oxygen deprivation. He claimed that two hours after the ambulance ride, a gas reading revealed that Ezekiel had something called acute hyperkalemia or elevated potassium in the blood.

David wrote that they don't know what caused it, but what they do know is, quote, when they appropriately treated Ezekiel for the hyperkalemia, he woke up and started breathing on his own again. He then went on to allege that after medical professionals were concerned that Ezekiel was going to pull out his breathing tube, they administered a dose of medication that was far too much for his weight and the condition he was in and then proceeded to give it to him another two times. Most sensationally, David Steffen claimed that these medical personnel intentionally terminated Ezekiel's life. He wrote about laws put in place in Alberta to protect the government, saying that if negligence or errors in the medical system causes someone to die,

the injured party can only sue the government for up to $84,000. But if someone is severely disabled due to this negligence or errors, the government is liable for millions of dollars. He went on to state, quote, In effect, the Alberta government has created a law that would promote the euthanising of medically disabled children and adults, children like Ezekiel and apparently others as similar stories continue to pour in. It should be noted that I wasn't able to corroborate this new legislation as David worded it, not to mention the claim. All in all, David Steffen's Go Get Funding Request post consisted of over 3,500 words of allegations of corruption and conspiracy, along with screenshots of medical records with highlighted passages and handwritten notations.

There is little in the way of explanation or sources cited. The overarching theme seemed to be that Ezekiel's death had nothing to do with the actions or inactions of the Steffans, but instead it was the fault of Alberta Health Services. David Steffen alleges that Alberta's Health Authority didn't treat Ezekiel correctly and then attempted to, quote, euthanise the toddler to save government money should the Steffans choose to sue, because if they did, they would apparently be able to claim more money suing because of a disabled child than a deceased one. This is Christy and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 69. On June 3, 2019, the new trial began in Lethbridge,

but this time David and Colette Steffen elected to have a trial by judge only. David also chose to represent himself. Colette was represented by several other lawyers, including the defence lawyer from the previous trial. David was quoted saying he had concerns about going to trial while they were still waiting for some disclosure or information that could be evidence from Alberta Health Services. He said they found proof that certain evidence existed that related to a critical time in Ezekiel's care and they hadn't obtained it yet. At this point, it had been seven years since Ezekiel's death. According to court documents, the purpose of this new trial was not to argue if Ezekiel had meningitis.

That was undisputed. Instead, it was to discuss four main points. One, did Ezekiel have bacterial or viral meningitis? Two, did Ezekiel die as a result of meningitis or lack of oxygen? Three, did the Steffans know that Ezekiel had meningitis? And four, if they did know he had meningitis, should they have sought medical treatment? The court heard from many of the same witnesses as the original trial, Nurse Terry, the naturopath employee and doctor, paramedics and more. But with David Steffen representing himself, the trial went a lot longer than expected

and his cross-examination of crown witnesses was long and drawn out. As you'll recall, there were two 911 calls. David called the first time and when Ezekiel started breathing again, he cancelled the ambulance. Both 911 operators testified. The crown asked the first operator why an ambulance wasn't sent to the Steffen's house the first time and that operator responded that David declined to have one sent and that means that they can't send one. Additionally, David had not given them an address

and because he was calling on a cell phone not a landline an address did not automatically show up on the system. On cross-examination, David accused the 911 operator of not giving them guidance when he cancelled the ambulance. As for the second 911 call where the operator coached Colette through CPR as they were in the back of the car, David asked him whether proper protocol was followed. It was. At another point in the trial, when one of the paramedics testified,

David suggested that perhaps the Steffens would have been better off just driving Ezekiel the rest of the way to the hospital. The paramedic didn't agree with this, stating that if a patient is in cardiac arrest, whether adult or child, a defibrillator will give the most chance of success. He added that there was no chance of it working on Ezekiel because he'd already flatlined. The rest of this trial would be referred to as a battle of the expert witnesses. Dr Barmeh Dali Adayakbo, the medical examiner who performed Ezekiel's autopsy, testified again about his finding that Ezekiel had bacterial meningitis and the empyrema of the lung.

He asserted that there were no signs of any effects from oxygen deprivation. David Steffens' cross-examination of this witness was intense. He asked Dr Adayakbo why it took seven to eight months for the autopsy report to be completed and the response was that the proper amount of time was needed to provide a detailed explanation. The doctor went on to say he'd sent samples of Ezekiel's cerebral spinal fluid and a biopsy of his right lung which had an infectious mass to a microbiologist and he explained it took time to come back with the result. David also brought up that the doctor asked for the lab to conduct a test

that was only approved for research at the time and wasn't approved for diagnostic testing. Dr Adayakbo's response was that he had already determined the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis but the test had been used in the US and Europe and provided a clearer picture of what happened with Ezekiel. Quote, I think you as the parent would be happy to actually know what caused the bacterial meningitis for this kid. That microbiologist, Dr Wilson Chan, would be called to testify too by the defence. According to reporting by the Lethbridge Herald which appeared to be the only media source to report on this testimony Dr Chan testified, quote, the tests showed signs of bacteria but only scant amounts. He said that the tests had not been clinically approved

and he told Dr Adayakbo at the time that the information could only be used for research purposes only. Through this witness, the defence was insinuating that Dr Adayakbo was biased and used the test results anyway to support a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Due to delays in the trial, Dr Barmer Daly Adayakbo came back at a later date for cross-examination via video link from the US where he was based at the time. Representing himself, David Steffen suggested that the doctor didn't explore other possibilities that led to Ezekiel's condition like hyperkalemia, the condition he mentioned in his funding statement that develops when potassium levels in the blood are too high. He also asked Dr Adayakbo about hyponatremia which describes concentrations of sodium that are too low. Dr Adayakbo responded that Ezekiel's sodium levels were fine.

David Steffen noted that the levels were on the lower end of the normal range and asked the doctor if that would have been a cause for concern. He replied, I had a concern about everything. David Steffen questioned if anti-inflammatory herbal medications can help with conditions like hyponatremia. Dr Adayakbo replied that while it can help to prevent further inflammation in a case like this, it cannot undo damage that has already been caused. David Steffen pressed on, asking if factors like Ezekiel's blood pressure and oxygen level were taken into consideration when coming to the diagnosis that he died of bacterial meningitis. The doctor confirmed that medical professionals always consider every possible factor before arriving at their conclusion.

David then questioned him about potential prejudice. He produced a letter from Alberta Justice to the medical examiner's office, received on the day of Ezekiel's autopsy that warned about the background of the Steffen family. He read a part of it out. There is information to suggest the family and extended family are sovereign citizens, also known as being from a sovereign or freedom group. Those from this group tend to be anti-government and anti-establishment, and there are suspicions that they are typically well armed.

Dr Adayakbo said that the warning he received didn't influence his findings. Quote, At this point, whether it's the Taliban or whatever it is, I don't care. After days of questioning and a cross-examination that had been drawn out for some time, with what the media described as angry exchanges, Dr Adayakbo reportedly became visibly frustrated and agitated with the questioning. His voice rose and he paced around the video conference room, sometimes yelling his responses in anger.

Quote, This is not magic, this is medicine. Justice Klaxon became frustrated several times, at one point asking the doctor to take a break. This situation would prove to be a pivotal moment in the case that would have consequences later on. As you'll recall from the first trial, the defence called an expert witness, Dr Annie Savageau, the former chief medical examiner for Alberta,

and the person responsible for hiring Dr Adayakbo. She did not agree with his findings. She believed Ezekiel died of lack of oxygen due to a medical misadventure, which of course is the issue with the ill-equipped ambulance and Ezekiel being without oxygen for eight minutes. Also, she didn't think Ezekiel had bacterial meningitis, it was her finding that he had the less severe viral meningitis. In cross-examination, Dr Adayakbo was asked to go through Dr Annie Savageau's report. He told the court that her report was incorrect and not the way medicine is practised.

The defence argued that Dr Adayakbo's testimony should not be admitted because he was quote, writing a distorted history of Ezekiel's illness and he was not thorough in trying to obtain Ezekiel's history before writing his reports. The defence also referred to Dr Adayakbo's frustration and occasional outbursts, adding that the way the doctor delivered his evidence was troubling. The judge ruled to accept Dr Adayakbo's testimony as evidence. Also to testify was Dr Shauna Burkholder,

the doctor at Alberta Children's Hospital who testified that she strongly suspected bacterial meningitis early on. She based this on her own physical assessments, the information she gathered from David and Colette, as well as information passed on by the first doctor who saw Ezekiel in the Cardstone Hospital. She referred to the CT scan done after Ezekiel arrived as one of the most abnormal CT scans she'd ever seen. On cross-examination, David Steffen claimed that there were no records documenting

what happened with Ezekiel for 55 minutes once he arrived at Alberta Children's Hospital and he asked Dr Burkholder about this repeatedly. She responded that emergency responders are often too busy to take time to record everything they're doing at the time they're doing it and must wait to document what happened. She then pointed out that her team prepared notes later. David then suggested that those notes aren't official medical records but Dr Burkholder disagreed and said that they are.

David asked her why there is no mention in any records that Ezekiel's health improved at home before it deteriorated. She replied that her resident doctor may have recorded it and suggested the reason why she didn't was because there wasn't any time to get a history of Ezekiel's illness from David and Colette before he arrived at the Alberta Children's Hospital. At the end of the crown's evidence before it was time to hear from the defence, David Steffen and Colette and her legal team filed an application to dismiss the charges against them

claiming that the crown had not proven that Ezekiel would have survived had he received earlier medical attention. In response, Justice Terry Claxton noted Dr Burkholder's testimony about how Ezekiel's brain scan was one of the most devastating she'd ever seen. He also pointed out her testimony that 100% of people who contract bacterial meningitis and don't seek medical help end up dying and those who get help have a 95% survival rate. The judge said that from that evidence,

a jury would be able to decide that Ezekiel's life would have been saved had he been taken to hospital even just 24 hours earlier. Of course, there was no jury in this trial, but the application was dismissed. In a break during the trial, David Steffen spoke to the media claiming that the official report of Ezekiel's death doesn't exist. He stated that all they found was a chain of emails between the medical examiner and the microbiologist. He also told the media that Ezekiel's symptoms, including the information around the brain,

could have been caused by his lack of oxygen between the time he was picked up by the ambulance and his arrival at Cardstone Hospital eight minutes later. David Steffen called himself to the stand. As he was acting as his own defense counsel, it would be unusual to have him question himself. In this case, he gave a three-hour monologue before the judge, consisting of his side of the story about Ezekiel's illness and hospitalization.

On cross-examination by the Crown, David said that he was aware that with bacterial meningitis, there was usually 24 hours before it became a crisis. Crown prosecutor Britta Christensen asked, Do you recall being told that it was a potentially deadly condition? He replied, That would have been communicated to me. The Crown also asked David if he was aware that vaccinations would have protected against meningitis.

He replied, No, I wasn't really aware of what meningitis was. Colette Steffen also testified tearfully as she told the court that her role as a stay-at-home mum is to care for her children. Quote, It's why I was put on Earth. She described Ezekiel's death as an extremely traumatic time that no parent should have to go through. She spoke about her online research on Ezekiel's symptoms

and why she and David made the decisions they did. She testified that she did not remember telling the doctors that Ezekiel was so stiff that his back was arched. Both Colette and David doubled down on their statement that Ezekiel could fit into his car seat fine, but he just looked uncomfortable, which is why they laid him on the mattress. In a weird development, David cross-examined his wife

because they were on two separate legal teams. David, of course, representing himself and Colette being represented by a group of lawyers. He asked her to recall a story of a previous encounter with the naturopath, Dr. Tracy Tannis. Colette said that when her oldest child, Ezra, was sick, she'd seen Dr. Tannis, who instructed her to take him to a medical doctor,

and she did. As you'll recall, Dr. Tannis had testified that her employee spoke to a woman on the phone, who was Colette, who suspected that her toddler had viral meningitis. The court heard that Dr. Tannis told her employee to tell the woman to take her son to emergency. The inference here was that Colette likely would

have taken Ezekiel to the doctor if the naturopathic clinic had have told her to, but she didn't recall being told to do this. After David and Colette's testimonies were reported, David told Global News that they felt good about what they'd said. I think we were able to clarify a lot of points and misconceptions that were made when we were nearly

48 hours sleep deprived and food deprived and traumatized when we made the statements to the police, so I think it went quite well. So, back to the battle of the expert witnesses. Dr. Annie Savageau testified again for the defense, repeating her findings that she did not agree with the medical examiner and three doctors who concluded that Ezekiel died of bacterial meningitis.

Her finding was that Ezekiel died from hypoxic brain injury or lack of oxygen after the ambulance ride. Quote, he would not have died if not for the medical misadventure. The defense pointed out Dr. Savageau's extensive research in asphyxia, a condition that occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen. She added that some people consider her a leading

expert on the topic. As you'll recall, Dr. Savageau had not had her contract renewed and was suing Alberta Justice for wrongful dismissal. As the media were reporting on her testimony at the second trial, several outlets noted that the lawsuit was a multi-million dollar one. In closing arguments, David Steffen told the judge that medical professionals failed his son

and the evidence suggested that the real reason Ezekiel died was because of a failure by them to properly intubate the toddler. He claimed that Dr. Ardaakbo was missing critical medical information that could have led to him arriving at a different conclusion in the autopsy report. Among this missing information was the ambulance report that detailed Ezekiel's eight minutes without oxygen,

a radiology report that reportedly showed swelling on the brain from a lack of oxygen, as well as a CT scan that David claimed ruled out bacterial meningitis. As well as this, David told the court that the doctor also didn't receive lab reports, some doctor's notes and nurses' notes. David Steffen also claimed that medical professionals at the Alberta Children's Hospital were prejudicial

towards the Steffen family. During a break, Lethbridge News asked David what this meant. He said, quote, When we got into the Alberta Children's Hospital, there were warnings going out to the child and family services agents, to the doctors, to the police officers, anyone who was engaging with us, that we were sovereign citizens.

It eventually grew into being fundamentalist Mormons. They were concerned that we were going to bury the body of Ezekiel in our property. There was just a lot of misconceptions about who we were that created a state of prejudice where people would have had more of a motive to engage in withholding the evidence. When asked to clarify what a sovereign citizen was,

David said he wasn't sure. A Google search details that sovereign citizens refused to accept the legitimacy of the government or the court systems. Closing arguments for Colette Steffen came from the lawyers who were assisting her. They repeated Dr Annie Savageau's finding that Ezekiel didn't die of bacterial meningitis

but oxygen deprivation. Lawyer Sean Buckley said that if the judge can't decide on the actual cause of death, then he wouldn't be able to conclude that medical intervention would have made a difference. Jason Demers, another of Colette's lawyers, told the judge that the parents thought they were doing the right thing in caring for Ezekiel

and not even a prudent parent makes the right decision all of the time. Quote, parenting, like the practice of medicine, is not like looking in a crystal ball. Bad things happen to good children without rhyme or reason and bad things happen to good parents. In the Crown's closing arguments, the judge heard that David and Colette should

have taken Ezekiel to a doctor long before the toddler's health deteriorated so drastically. Quote, it's the Steffen's failure to respond to what I would say was increasingly alarming information or feedback from their child during that period of time. Prosecutor Britta Christensen said that both parents knew he had meningitis.

Quote, knowing that he had meningitis and there are forms of it that are fatal and fast-acting, it was incumbent on them to see a doctor. She added that there was no decision to take him to a physician in spite of his declining health in the two days before he stopped breathing. And it was only then when they sought medical

treatment. And by doing so, they endangered Ezekiel's life, she said. And with that, the evidence was over. The trial was originally scheduled to last for four weeks, but due to various delays it ended up stretching to three months. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level?

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the court came back to hear the decision of Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terry Claxton. As you'll recall, it was a judge only trial. Justice Claxton spoke for only four minutes. His final statement was, quote, I have concluded that Ezekiel did have meningitis. The Stephens did not know that Ezekiel had meningitis

but were alert to the possibility and monitoring for symptoms. The meningitis Ezekiel had was viral and he did not die from meningitis but from the lack of oxygen. Therefore, I have concluded that the Stephens are not guilty of the charge. According to the media, the many supporters of the Stephens in the courtroom erupted

into tears and Collette Steffen burst into tears. Outside court, she kissed her husband before he spoke to the reporters saying that they didn't know what to expect today, quote, and it is shocking because it's been seven years of our lives fighting this. So it has become a part of our identity. It's just a beautiful

thought that we can move on with our lives. He also went on to state that they were still missing evidence, quote, we feel that based on what the judge had before him for evidence that he made the right decision. But there is still outstanding evidence that we have never received in regard to what took place with Ezekiel that would likely shed light on his cause of death

and all the factors that led up to that. David added that they would be seeking to be compensated for legal costs. On his Facebook page, David further reflected on the verdict, quote, it's a beautiful thing for the freedom of all Canadians. A beautiful thing in establishing parental rights or at least maintaining parental rights that are coming

under fire here in Canada. While Justice Clarkson's verbal ruling was short, the full details of how he arrived at his conclusions were contained in his written decision, which would be examined in detail by the medical and legal profession as well as the media. Justice Clarkson wrote that he was not convinced

that Ezekiel died of bacterial meningitis. Instead, he was satisfied by Dr Annie Savageau's conclusion that Ezekiel had viral meningitis and died from lack of oxygen. He said this occurred because Ezekiel stopped breathing and the resulting oxygen deprivation lasted long enough to lead to his death, quote,

it follows that the crown did not prove medical attention would have saved Ezekiel's life or that if he had viral meningitis and it was life-threatening, medical attention even could have saved his life. Of Dr Ardaeakbo's autopsy finding of bacterial meningitis, Justice Clarkson accused him of having confirmation bias

or honing in on one theory evidence that didn't support that theory, quote, in Dr Ardaeakbo's opinion Ezekiel so obviously died of bacterial meningitis that it is a complete waste of time to even consider anything else. The comments raised the eyebrows of many watching the case, notably those

in the science community. In a debrief post for the website Dr David Gorski detailed what he perceived as the issues with Justice Clarkson's judgment. At one point, calling it intellectually bankrupt, he essentially said that the judgment confused Ezekiel's final most proximate cause of death

which is lack of oxygen, something we all die of with his actual cause of death which is the bacterial meningitis that Ezekiel so sick that he stopped breathing in the first place. Dr Gorski wrote that Justice Clarkson let himself get drawn into the weeds of the viral versus bacterial argument

which sidetracked him from the true cause of Ezekiel's death, which was, quote, the parents waited until far too late to take him to a doctor and that's why he died. Dr Gorski went on to say that seeking advice from a naturopathic doctor who didn't even examine Ezekiel doesn't count, quote, at the very latest

when Ezekiel became so stiff that the Stephens couldn't put him in his car seat they should have taken him to the nearest emergency room. As you'll recall, this is what Colette said in the recorded statement she originally gave to police. It ended up being different to the testimony they gave at the first trial where they claimed Ezekiel sat in his car seat just fine

but just looked to be uncomfortable. You'll also remember that the Stephens then asked for those audio recordings not to be admitted in evidence at the second trial which was denied. Justice Clarkson's judgment referred specifically to these inconsistencies. He concluded that he could not rely on any of the statements the Stephens gave

to the medical staff or the police in the 48 hours after Ezekiel was hospitalised. Quote, perhaps as the defence has argued the combination of stress, suggestion, confusion, lack of sleep, lack of nourishment and the overpowering urge to help save their child all contributed to the content of the statements they made in those fateful six days.

In any event, I am of the view that those statements are not reliable. He said he would only accept the statements the Stephens gave to 911 dispatch, to the paramedics and to Dr Clark at the Cardston Hospital. The judge did not give an explanation as to why he would only accept these statements.

So, to summarise, Justice Clarkson had to choose whether to believe the Stephens' original recorded statements in hospital or their testimonies in court years later and he chose their testimonies. But perhaps one of the most controversial parts of Justice Clarkson's written decision was the way he devoted an entire section

to complaining about the way Dr Ardaicbo spoke. Dr Ardaicbo is Nigerian and spoke with an accent. Here's a paragraph verbatim from Justice Clarkson's ruling. In another part of the judgement, Justice Clarkson referred to Dr Ardaicbo's attitude as concerning, distracting and unfathomable. He said,

he would not believe the fact that he would only accept the statements he made in court years later, that the statement he made would not be enough for the judge to believe that he would only accept the statements he made as concerning, distracting and unprofessional. He added that all participants

had a profound difficulty in comprehending the doctor. In his ruling, Justice Clarkson also wrote about parental rights, saying that Ezekiel was sick and the criminal code doesn't impose a duty to seek medical attention for every sick child. And for that duty to arise,

there must be a risk to the child, which is the risk to his life, resulting from meningitis. Quote, the evidence before me does not establish that the viral meningitis Ezekiel had constituted a risk to his life. Therefore, the duty to seek medical attention

did not arise. He wrote that the crown had failed to establish that the Stephens owed Ezekiel a duty to medical care beyond the actions they chose to take. Quote, having failed to prove this essential element, the charge against the Stephens must be dismissed.

The details of Justice Clarkson's decision not only stunned the medical community, but also the legal community. Just days later, 42 legal and medical professionals filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council, requesting that the council investigate. In it, they claimed that Justice Clarkson

acted in a manner that was discriminatory and that some may perceive as racist. Quote, we believe that Justice Clarkson's choice of words is inappropriate, shocks the conscience, and speaking for ourselves undermines our confidence in the administration of justice. Dr. R. Dayakbo himself was contacted for comment,

and he told the Canadian press that the situation was still making him emotional. Quote, I was quite overwhelmed that people really can see through all of this and see the truth. He said that he only knew one of the dozens of people who signed the complaint. The media reported that Dr. R. Dayakbo

has worked in Canada and the United States for almost 20 years, and he had testified at more than 50 criminal cases. Another complaint against Justice Clarkson's comments was filed by the Canadian Association of Nigerian Physicians and Dentists, who represent more than 2,000 Nigerian doctors and dentists in Canada. In the letter, the association wrote, in a multicultural society such as Canada,

these comments are disturbing, divisive, and unacceptable. An article by CBC News reported that this was not the first time Justice Clarkson had been the subject of media attention and criticism. In 2018, quote, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial after finding Clarkson had relied on rape myths and stereotypes in acquitting a stepfather of sexual assault. The identities of the stepfather and the survivor are under publication ban,

but Justice Clarkson essentially said that he didn't find enough evidence that the survivor tried to avoid her stepfather. The Supreme Court found that a survivor's behaviour after an attack can't be used as a standalone reason to discredit their testimony. In the weeks after Justice Clarkson's judgment in the Steffen case, a lawyer, a pediatric respirologist, and a forensic pathologist wrote an opinion piece for CBC. The headline was,

the judge's bizarre remarks in the Ezekiel Steffen case signal a miscarriage of justice. The authors, Juliet Gichon, Ian Mitchell, Pauline Alakia also cosigned the formal complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council. In the CBC article, they questioned why the judge disregarded the recorded statements the Steffans made at the hospital,

and instead accepted their claims made in court seven years later. They also wrote that, in their view, Justice Terry Clarkson's written decision, quote, improperly focused on the medical examiner's accent and not on the medical evidence, quote, Justice Clarkson did not accept the opinion of a highly qualified physician with a black face, who relied upon extensive medical evidence who actually looked into Ezekiel's body and told the court what he saw.

Instead, the judge criticised him for his speech and antics. Online, there are over 700 comments left under that article. One commenter wrote about Justice Clarkson's incomprehensible choice to set aside the evidence of Dr Ardaic Bo, who had examined Ezekiel's body, in favour of speculation by Dr Savageau, who had not, quote, moreover, the issue was not whether the child's meningitis was viral or bacterial. The issue was that his misguided parents didn't seek treatment for their son

until he was on the point of death, when it was too late to treat whatever sort of meningitis poor Ezekiel had. Others said that the authors were pushing an agenda, and the article was one-sided. One commenter said, quote, this is a slippery slope. Do you want the state to control your parental obligations? Yet another said,

children are not the property of their parents. They have all the rights every other person has, and one of those rights is access to medical care. In a post on the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page, David Steffen accused the authors of race-baiting. The dictionary defines race-baiting as the unfair use of statements about race to try and influence the actions or attitudes of a particular group of people.

David Steffen also called for a review of all autopsies performed by Dr Ardaic Bo, who he referred to as the, quote, disgraced former Alberta medical examiner. The Edmonton Journal published a response to Justice Clarkson's comments by Deborah R. Hatch and Brian Hurley, directors of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers. They wrote that it is the judge's duty to scrutinise expert witnesses, quote, concerns about expert evidence and the weight to be given

to such evidence are valid and critical in a case such as this, which rests in large part on opinions provided by experts. The authors noted that the defence originally tried to have the evidence of Dr Ardaic Bo ruled as inadmissible, but Justice Clarkson ruled that he was a qualified expert and admitted it, quote, to suggest that the trial judge rejected the evidence of Dr Ardaic Bo for racial or prejudicial reasons reflects a misunderstanding of what was required by law and what occurred in this case.

The authors added that this speculation did a disservice to an experienced trial judge who has served for many years. The month after the verdict, the Crown filed a notice of appeal. They claimed that Justice Clarkson committed several errors, including establishing a medical standard unknown to law, making comments in the trial that gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias, taking into account irrelevant considerations, and placing the onus on the Crown to prove that Ezekiel would have been saved

had he been taken to a doctor. The Crown was seeking either a conviction or a new trial. On the prayers for Ezekiel Facebook page, a post appeared with screenshots that alleged the Crown did not serve the Stephens with their notice of appeal as directed by the Court of Queen's Bench. The post went on to claim that the Stefan family only found out about it through a new source in the media. This has not been corroborated. In January of 2020, it was announced that the appeal would be heard in court in June,

where the Crown would need to prove its points. CBC News asked David Stefan if he was worried about it. He replied, Obviously, because of COVID-19, the appeal is likely not going to happen in June. But speaking of the virus, David Stefan hit the news again with a new claim on his Facebook page. Quote,

I can't help but state it as I see it. A hoax. A hoax that is being used to usher in a one-world government with a digital currency and some fancy new vaccines that you will have the chance to experience, whether you like it or not. CTV News reported an email response to this from Dr. Juliet Guichon, an associate professor of medicine from the University of Calgary, one of the three authors of the CBC article that slammed Justice Claxton's decision. She wrote,

Public health experts are just that, experts, whereas Mr. Stefan has no qualifications in public health and preventative medicine. Most people see Mr. Stefan's latest vaccine pronouncements as more conspiracy theory on his part. Conspiracy theories is the phrasing that has been used by several different media outlets to describe David Stefan's claims. In fact, he himself has tagged his own posts with conspiracy, collusion and medical tyranny.

In the lead-up to the new appeal, he has again been promoting his crowdfunding link. In an update on that post, David writes, David goes on to claim that Alberta health services are liable, both civilly and criminally, for Ezekiel's death. David says, David goes on to claim that Alberta health services are liable, both civilly and criminally, for Ezekiel's death, and that the complaints lodged against Justice Claxton's ruling were,

One of the supporters of the Stefan's started a petition on change.org. Under the headline, The accompanying post says, The post goes on to say that there are a number of reasons why readers should be deeply alarmed by several things. Firstly, the erosion of parenting rights. Quote, Parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit without the fear of recrimination.

Also listed is the potential for a dangerous precedent for the government to dictate health care and the wasting of taxpayer money on aggressive prosecution of a case that has already been settled. As at the time of recording, this petition has over 12,000 signatures. While preparing coverage of this case, I read that David Stefan wanted people to know the facts and make up their own minds. So, I spent a lot of time reading his various online writings in his blogs MeetTheStefans.com and StandForTruth.ca on his Facebook page, Prayers for Ezekiel, at his personal Facebook page and on his Go Get Funding post.

My goal, as I told you at the beginning, was to tell both sides of the story to the best of my ability. But it hasn't been easy. I found that David's claims of conspiracy and cover-up are one thing, but the evidence he posts in an effort to substantiate those claims are difficult to understand and make sense of. After the first trial, he made claims that were not mentioned in the second trial, like the allegation that Alberta Health Services euthanised Ezekiel by giving him a dose of medication that was too high for his weight and condition and giving it to him on three separate occasions.

On his Go Get Funding post, David posts the screenshots of the apparent evidence again, with no captions or explanations. I question why this evidence didn't make it to the trial, if it was so compelling. From what I've read, David's likely reply to this question would be that the judge silenced witnesses and stopped certain evidence from being heard. I did contact David to give him the heads up that I will be covering this case and the opportunity to comment. None of his websites and blogs list any way that you can contact him,

so it had to be through Facebook. And at the time of recording, it had been several weeks since the message was sent and he had not read it. So, as you can see, it's an impossible situation. The medical and legal profession say Ezekiel's parents failed him because they procrastinated too long and didn't call for medical attention until he'd actually stopped breathing. Ezekiel's parents say the failure was on Alberta Health Services. Because of a miscommunication, the ambulance didn't have the equipment needed to help a toddler breathe, even though little Ezekiel was already blue in the face by the time the ambulance even got to him.

His parents say that what happened afterwards is a conspiracy by Alberta Health Services to cover up their negligence and errors, and also by the medical establishment in Canada to propel an agenda that aims to take rights off parents and enforce vaccination. In a piece for science-basedmedicine.org, pediatrician Dr Clay Jones speculates on the situation. Quote, From the minute it became clear that the Stephens had waited too long to seek real help, they probably began doing what all humans do. Rationalising and unintentionally altering their memory via the process of repeated recollection.

Their memories being sent over and over again through a filter that slowly removes aspects that call into question their parenting skills or love for their child. Memories that might cast doubt on their ability to protect their child from harm were eventually replaced by conspiratorial outrage. And, in all of this, a little boy has been lost. Ezekiel Jasher Steffen, a cute little toddler with blonde curly hair and a cheeky grin. A toddler who couldn't effectively communicate how he was feeling, as he had seizures and must have suffered for days with increasingly severe head and neck pain,

which he wasn't given any pain relief for. Finally, he slipped into an unconsciousness that he would never wake from. Ezekiel Steffen is buried next to his grandmother, Deborah, who died by suicide at age 40 after a struggle with bipolar-effective disorder. Ezekiel would be almost 10 years old now. He was, of course, survived by his big brother, but he now has two more little brothers and a little sister. We remember him.

I'll be sure to update you about the appeal. Thanks for listening and thanks also to my listener Hannah and her partner who helped me with the pronunciation of Dr. Ardaeakbo. I still don't think I had it down, but it was 100% better than what I was going to say. And special thanks to the host of Swindled. His name is a concerned citizen and you heard him on today's episode. If you haven't listened to Swindled yet, you should be. You'll love it, I promise.

Swindled covers white-collar crime and corporate greed. Look for the episode called The Game Changer that was released a few weeks back. It's the Australian story of Bal Gibson, which follows similar themes to the Ezekiel Steffen case and also features a voice part from me. The main source of fact for these episodes were the various court documents available, they also utilised the journalism and reporting of Quinn Campbell for Global News, Valerie Fortney for the Calgary Herald,

Dallin Shirts for Lethbridge Herald and Megan Grant for CBC Calgary. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched by Hailey Gray and audio production was by We Talk of Dreams who also composed the theme song. The host of the Beyond Bizarre True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then. you