Nearly a decade later, inquest begins into fatal London police shooting in Old South

An inquest is underway, looking into the death of a man shot dead by police nearly a decade ago. CTV London's Reta Ismail reports.

It’s been eight years since 35-year-old Samuel Maloney was fatally shot in the head and chest by London police inside his home on Duchess Avenue in south London, on Dec. 23, 2016.

On March 20, 2018, the SIU cleared London Police Service (LPS) of any wrongdoing during the fatal shooting. The following year, an inquest into Maloney’s death was announced.

The virtual inquest began Tuesday and is expected to last 15 days, where a jury of five will hear from 12 witnesses.

According to an SIU report, and a four-page report completed by the former LPS Chief Steve Williams, the father of two was shot and killed by police during a raid of his home while he was holding a hatchet and after he had shot at an officer with a crossbow.

His wife and two young children were inside a rear bedroom in the home. Maloney was shot and killed by London police at the doorway to that bedroom.

At the time, London police believed computer equipment at the home contained evidence of criminal offences and sought a warrant to search for it.

The inquest began Tuesday with the regional supervising coroner for the inquest Presiding Officer Dr. David Eden laying out the inquest process for the jury.

Following a short break, Maloney’s common-law spouse Melissa Facciolo read a statement detailing her relationship with Maloney and describing him as a devoted father who was ‘ahead of his time’ developing artificial intelligence algorithms far before AI was popularized.

“The growing bond Sam and our children shared was shattered by his sudden and violent death. It turned our world forever upside down. The children and I are now confused, fearful, and to this day struggle with trauma,” said Facciolo during her statement.

Following the fatal shooting, Facciolo was arrested for possession of a firearm while prohibited. These charges were later withdrawn.

Facciolo’s legal counsel Megan McPhee confirmed to CTV News that Ms. Facciolo has filed a lawsuit against the LPS. That lawsuit is ongoing.

Sam’s brother Peter Maloney also read a statement on behalf of his family, describing his brother as a ‘good man’ who suffered from ‘paranoia and distrust of authority.’

“Despite a loving family who offered unlimited support and made several attempts to intervene with Sam, he succumbed to the pressures of his mental and emotional struggles,” read Maloney.

According to the statement of facts read by inquest council Roger Shallow, Sam Maloney was, “the subject of a criminal investigation that concerned alleged unauthorized use of the Hyland Cinema website and email to publish racist and misogynistic propaganda.”

Shallow said Maloney worked as a programmer and system administrator for the cinema’s website and was alleged to have sent unauthorized emails and posted offensive material to the cinema’s website. After police received complaints, an investigation began.

According to London police reports presented during the inquest, Maloney and Facciolo were both known to police. Maloney had a lengthy police record that included assault, assault police, importing prohibit devices (22 high-capacity magazines) and mischief.

It is anticipated that during the inquest, police radio audio recordings, video images, and pictures of the scene will be showed as evidence to be considered by the jury when making their recommendations.

The inquest will not lead to any legal findings, but rather allow the jury to make recommendations to avoid similar deaths in the future.