A Saskatoon woman who claims she was a victim of domestic violence is deported to Canada after being arrested in Oregon on suspicion of crossing the border with her 7-year-old son using fake IDs It is supposed to be
Judge Stacey F. Beckerman of the U.S. District Court in Oregon ordered the return of Dawn Marie Walker, 48, to Canadian authorities on Wednesday.
The prosecution and defense agreed to return to Canada after Walker waived formal extradition proceedings.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Oregon District Scott Kellyn told the court it was in the best interest of both countries to return Walker to Canada.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents are to drive her to the Canadian border and release her to law enforcement.
She also faces charges in Canada, including public mischief and kidnapping of a child in violation of a protection order.
U.S. federal public defender Megha Desai told the court that Walker was a victim of intimate partner abuse and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Walker, a member of the Okanese First Nation, issued a statement earlier this month saying he fled Saskatoon out of fear for his own and his son’s safety. He said he would never hurt his son.
Beckerman said Tuesday that Walker ended up in court in Oregon and lamented not getting the help he needed at home.
“I hope you can meet your son soon,” she said to Walker.
Walker, a noted Indigenous author and CEO of the Coalition for Sovereign Indigenous Peoples, was arrested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on August 5.
She was indicted by U.S. authorities on two crimes related to her alleged cross-country travel with her son who returned to Canada using a false identity.
Walker’s pickup truck was found last month along with some of her belongings in a park south of Saskatoon. I was afraid.
For two weeks before her arrest, the RCMP and Saskatoon police treated it as a missing persons case.
According to an affidavit filed in an Oregon court by Homeland Security Special Agent Clinton Linsley, Walker and the boy’s biological father were involved in a lengthy custody battle, and she died on July 25. was to return the child to
Saskatoon Police did not disclose whether the domestic violence allegations were involved in the investigation. Police said all previous allegations by Walker had been investigated, but no charges had been filed.
Mickey Jurrick
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