Lethal carbon monoxide levels in N.W.T. man who died in sweat lodge: coroner
Last Updated: Thursday, February 19, 2009 | 3:47 PM CT
CBC News
A Lutselk'e, N.W.T., man who was found dead in his sweat lodge last week had lethal amounts of carbon monoxide in his system, according to preliminary autopsy results.
Deputy chief coroner Cathy Menard told CBC News Thursday that she won't know for sure if the carbon monoxide was what killed Lawrence Catholique, 52, until the full autopsy is finished in three to four months.
A well-known former band leader, drug and alcohol counsellor, and spiritual healer in Lutselk'e, Catholique will be buried Saturday in a family plot in Fort Reliance, N.W.T.
Family members told CBC News earlier this week that they believed Catholique had accidentally poisoned himself while burning charcoal in his air-tight sweat lodge.
"I know that he wasn't ready for this and his family's not ready for it. It was just a really, really bad accident," Ray Griffith said in an interview earlier this week.
Catholique had been using a sweat lodge for about 15 years, and believed strongly in its healing abilities, said Griffith, a close family friend.
Catholique had hosted many gatherings in the lodge, even entertaining aboriginal groups from Arizona, Griffith said.
"I'm going to miss him a lot … as will everyone in the community," Griffith said. "He was well respected."
Speaking in Chipewyan, Catholique's father, Pierre, said his son would usually say when he was going somewhere.
When the family did not hear from Catholique for a couple of days, the elder Catholique said they called RCMP.
Catholique was eventually found frozen in his sweat lodge.
