Coroner’s inquest to examine death of Colton Clarkin next week [Video]

A coroner’s inquest into the death of Colton Clarkin will be held in Charlottetown next week.

Clarkin was 27 years old when he died by suicide in the summer of 2023. He was being held in custody at the Hillsborough Hospital in Charlottetown, but he was classified as “absent without leave” from the psychiatric hospital at the time of his death.

Except when a death is clearly due to natural causes, the Prince Edward Island coroner’s office calls a public inquest any time a person dies while they are an inmate in a provincial jail, correctional facility or other institution because they are in the care of the province.  

The purpose of the inquest is to establish the facts surrounding that person’s death and let a jury …