Ontario's police watchdog says relatives of a Toronto woman who died after falling from her balcony last week have postponed speaking with investigators, citing concerns about possible leaks from police sources regarding the case.
The Special Investigations Unit says counsel for the family of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet told the agency such leaks undermine their clients' trust in the investigation.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the SIU stressed police are prohibited from discussing an incident under investigation by the watchdog precisely to protect the credibility of its work.
It said disclosing such information can also delay the investigative process, ``as seems to have occurred here with the cancellation of the family interviews.''
The agency said it has written to the Toronto force to ask that it take immediate steps to prevent ``further releases of information about what occurred inside the apartment.''
A story published in the Toronto Sun on Wednesday says unnamed sources told the paper Korchinski-Paquet used a heavy appliance to block her balcony door before she fell to her death.