Chief Coroner’s Inquest 2023

Harrowing details of Soleiman’s final moments can be found here.

In an never-before-heard audio the Guard (John Thompson), in charge the day Soleiman Faqiri died left out of his report that Soli was swung at and punched multiple times in the head, the inquest heard.

One of the Jail guards told the inquest that there were nearly 60 policy breaches found in Soleiman Faqiri’s death.

Jurors also heard from Nurse Cathy Goard who said she felt Soleiman was “cooperative, maintained good eye contact, and that a transfer to the maximum segregation unit would be possible. The plan was to get him into a wheelchair, cover him with a sheet, get him into the shower and then into his cell.”

According to Nurse Goard, Soleiman seemed to respond well to the plan.

Suddenly, Goard said, it seemed the guards were moving Faqiri before the rest of the team was ready. What happened next was captured on video and shown at the inquest below.

The Inquest also heard from Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, expert forensic psychiatrist who took the reviewed staff and nurse’s notes and entry logs during Soleiman’s stay at the Jail.

Chaimowitz said the only way to have helped Soleiman was through in-patient hospitalization — information that Soleiman’s father shared with the correctional centre just days before his death when the family tried to visit him.

Jurors also heard that Soleiman never saw a psychiatrist while in custody, despite several pleas from his family when they tried to visit him.

An eyewitness testimony recording video of Mr. John Thibeault into Soleiman’s death was played in the inquest. The Ontario Provincial Police investigators found Mr. Thibeault to be credible.

A recap of Soleiman’s case can be watched here.

In December 2023, Soleiman Faqiri’s death was ruled a Homicide by the Coroner’s Inquest.