‘Unfortunate’ procedure to leave body hanging after suicide: military cop

OTTAWA – A military investigator at the scene of a Canadian soldier’s suicide defended the decision to leave Cpl. Stuart Langridge’s body hanging from a chin-up bar for 90 minutes.

Warrant Officer Jon Bigelow, of the military’s National Investigative Service, says it was necessary to properly investigate the site in order to rule out foul play.

He says it was procedure not to cut down the body as photographs and video were taken.

Bigelow says the Alberta medical examiner was present and did not express any concern about the amount of time investigators took.

The Military Police Complaints Commission is examining allegations from Langridge’s parents that military cops conducted a biased investigation into his death, one designed to exonerate the Canadian Forces.

Bigelow is the first of the officers named in the complaint to testify at the commission’s public interest hearings.