Inquest may be called into Stratford shooting rampage

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A deadly gunfire rampage in Stratford doesn’t meet the criteria for a mandatory inquest, but the quadruple shooting may still be the subject of an in-depth public examination, a spokesperson for the coroner’s office says.

Ricky Bilcke, 31, fatally shot Johnny Bennett, 36, and seriously injured Stephanie Irvine, 37, and David Tokley, 43, on Aug. 1 before turning his gun on himself, Stratford police said.

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Investigators determined the violence was the result of an “ongoing neighbour dispute” and Bilcke was armed with a shotgun, a high-powered rifle and a handgun during the attack.

The murder-suicide – Stratford’s first homicide in nearly two decades – shocked the community and left many asking how the city best known for its annual theatre festival and thriving culinary scene became the scene of unprecedented gun violence.

But with Bilcke dead and no criminal charges laid in the case, the only avenue for a public examination into the fatal incident is a coroner’s inquest, a formal hearing during which the facts are laid out before a jury, which may make non-binding recommendations to prevent similar deaths from occurring.

Mandatory inquests are called when someone dies in a handful of circumstances including on certain job sites, while in police custody or during an interaction with police, while being physically restrained at a hospital or psychiatric facility and in certain cases of children’s deaths.

The Stratford shooting doesn’t meet the criteria for a mandatory inquest, said Stephanie Rea, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner.

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“But all cases can be considered for inquest if it would be in the public interest to be fully informed of the circumstances of the death through an inquest and if there is a likelihood the jury on an inquest might make useful recommendations directed to the avoidance of further deaths in similar circumstances,” Rea wrote in an email.

It would be up to the chief coroner to decide whether to hold a discretionary inquest into the case following a review of the death investigation by a regional coroner, Rea said.

Two criteria are considered when making a decision on whether to hold a discretionary inquest: would it be in the public interest to be fully informed of the circumstances surrounding the death? And what is the likelihood that a jury would make useful recommendations to avoid similar fatalities?

Aaron Hardman, whose brother David Tokley was struck with a shotgun blast in the head after hearing the gunfire and rushing to the scene to help, said holding an inquest would “help better protect communities” and shed light on what led to the shooting.

“I think it would help David,” Hardman said of his brother, who was released from the hospital last week.

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In a previous interview from Victoria Hospital, Stephanie Irvine described how she was holding her two-year-old daughter when Bilcke shot Bennett, her boyfriend of more than three years, with a rifle before shooting her in the right arm with a shotgun, nearly severing her limb.

Irvine escaped back into her home and Bilcke fired more shots into the house, she said. 

Irvine said she and Bennett had an ongoing feud with neighbours Chris DeWall and Connie Smart, a couple living across the street with Bilcke, but they’d had few interactions with the gunman since he moved to the block in the spring.

Neither DeWall nor Smart responded to an interview request.

Stratford police had been called to Bradshaw Drive 11 times since the summer, mostly for noise complaints and neighbour disputes as a result of the conflict, Insp. Mark Taylor said, noting Bilcke had a licence for all of his guns and no prior criminal record.

Little is known about Bilcke, whose mother didn’t respond to a request for comment. His father, Rick Sr., died in 2004

Philomena Hamberg, a property manager in Stratford, said she rented a place to Bilcke before he moved to Bradshaw Drive in April and still rents to his sister, Thora.

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“I’d see him all the time. He was always over here all the time helping her. If she had to work, he was taking care of her cat,” Hamberg said. “He was just a super sweet guy and everyone who knew him would tell you the same thing.”

Thora Bilcke declined an interview request, citing the ongoing police probe, but she wrote about her brother’s death on a Facebook memorial page to her father.

“Hey dad. I know it’s been a while and I’m sure you’ve already greeted him with open arms already but we lost Ricky 11 days ago on August 1st. Promise me you’ll take care of him will you? Give him all the love and all the hugs from everyone down here that misses and loves him,” she wrote in the Aug. 12 post.

“You would have been so proud of him and the man that he became and the things that he accomplished. I guess I just have to try and take some solace in the fact that you are both together again and are no longer in pain. I’ll love the both of you with all I have for the rest of my life no matter how angry I might be at you for leaving me the way that you did.”

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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