Sask. man whose allegations led to trial over police 'Starlight Tours' dies at 56

A Saskatchewan man at the centre of an infamous police misconduct trial passed away on April 2.

A Saskatchewan man at the centre of an infamous police misconduct trial passed away on April 2.

On Jan. 28, 2000, Darrell Night was picked up by Saskatoon police officers Kenneth Munson and Daniel Hatchen and dropped off on the outskirts of the city by the Queen Elizabeth Power Station — a practice that came to be known as a “starlight tour.”

He was left to walk back in only light clothing in temperatures around -25 C, according to court records. Night pounded on the door of the power station until an attendant heard and he was able to go inside and call a cab.

He died at the age of 56 and was buried on April 17 in a cemetery in Saulteaux First Nation, near North Battleford, according to an online obituary.

Night came forward with his story following the discovery in early 2000 of the bodies of two Indigenous men, Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner, in the same area police left him.

Night’s story was a catalyst that led to the inquiry into the death of Neil Stonechild, a 17-year-old Saulteaux boy whose body was found frozen in a field in the northwest outskirts of Saskatoon a decade earlier.

Munson and Hatchen were later found guilty of unlawful confinement in a jury trial.