Sarnia mayor shocked by death of Sault's Gale Dennis

Life threw a lot of curveballs at Gale Dennis.

For starters, there was the marital breakup of her parents, Ken and Patricia Inkster of Sault Ste. Marie.

Then, as an adult living in Sarnia, Dennis got, and beat, leukemia.

And then, her husband, said by friends to be the best thing that ever happened to her, died suddenly of a ruptured aorta.

Until one week ago, Margaret Gale Dennis was a survivor.

Now, the discovery of the 43-year-old woman's battered, dead body in a seedy Southwestern Ontario rooming house has prompted Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley (shown) to call for a provincial investigation into the way domestic abuse cases are handled by hospitals.

Police conduct internal review

Sarnia police are also conducting an internal investigation of their handling of the case.

A front-page article in Monday's London Free Press says investigators aren't certain whether Dennis's death resulted from homicide, suicide, or some other cause.

The investigative article by reporter Jennifer O'Brien reveals:

- How police were called to Dennis's apartment three days before she was found dead there

- How Dennis was allegedly treated at hospital later that day for a large gash above her eye

- Mayor Bradley's surprise to learn that hospitals don't automatically call police when abuse is suspected

- How police left that day without charging Dennis's live-in boyfriend, even though a previous assault conviction had resulted in a court order prohibiting him from seeing her. Only after Dennis died was he charged with one count of assault and two counts of breaching a probation order

- The filthy conditions found in Dennis's room above Mr. Mike's Bar

For further information...

To read the London Free Press's investigative article about Dennis, click here. Note: this article contains graphic descriptions that may offend some readers.

To read reporter Jennifer O'Brien's coverage of community reaction to Dennis's death, click here

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