'You never forget about it': Edmonton venue owner testifies at fatality inquiry into patron deaths

One of the owners of a south Edmonton entertainment venue told a judge on Thursday the business changed its policies after a second patron died of hypothermia.

Tyler Emes, 18, and Mohamed Munyeabdi, 20, died almost a year apart on November nights in 2017 and 2018. Both had recently visited The Ranch Roadhouse, a large bar and nightclub at Calgary Trail and 61st Avenue, and their bodies were found nearby.

A fatality inquiry is examining both cases this week, scrutinizing what happened leading up to their deaths, policies in place at the time, and ways to possibly prevent similar deaths.

Following public outcry, The Ranch Roadhouse closed its doors six months after Munyeabdi's death. It reopened a few months later as Midway Music Hall.

Jesse Kupina, who was one of The Ranch's owners at the time and has an ownership interest in Midway, said the business added a security truck to the premises in 2019 to keep people safe and avoid "a repeat of what happened."

Kupina said while Midway was operating as a nightclub, a security vehicle drove around the building. If patrons refused help or walked away from the venue, the truck would follow, he said.

The business also built an area where people could rest or wait for rides, and now has more robust policies on making sure intoxicated patrons get home safely, he said.

The security truck is no longer needed, he said, since the venue stopped operating as a nightclub this year and is now a ticketed event space.

Earlier this week, the inquiry heard that The Ranch Roadhouse already had a practice of giving intoxicated patrons cab vouchers, not letting them leave without friends, and giving people food and water to sober them up.

"If somebody was having a tougher time — somebody unable to stand or walk — we wouldn't just put them outside by themselves, we would hang on to them," Kupina testified on Thursday.

Jesse Kupina, who has an ownership interest in Midway Music Hall, said the business changed its policies after two patrons of The Ranch Roadhouse died of hypothermia. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)

Body camera security footage played in court earlier this week showed a bouncer retrieving Munyeabdi's friends so they would be together. Munyeabdi had been escorted out of the venue within half an hour of arriving because he had fallen asleep on the dance floor.

Footage also showed one of Munyeabdi's friends, who had not been allowed into the venue in the first place due to being intoxicated, being told multiple times to go home.

Emes, on the other hand, had walked out of the venue by himself, not long after having a series of shots, waving to the bouncers, and — according to a witness — opening the rear door of a cab. He was last seen walking east, away from the venue.

Inquiry counsel Jessica Flanders asked Kupina whether the two deaths informed Midway's safety policies.

"As someone who is part of a venue, you never forget about it," he said, becoming emotional for the first time during his testimony.

"I think it lives in your subconscious forever," he said.

Flanders also asked whether Kupina had industry-wide recommendations for preventing similar deaths.

He said looking back, he felt the business did everything it could have done, but there could be awareness campaigns, perhaps led by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, about pre-drinking and the importance of sticking with friends.

Kupina declined to speak with media after testifying during the hearing.

Earlier this week, AGLC safety program manager Raymond Bradley testified that The Ranch Roadhouse went "the extra mile" to keep people warm by maintaining a heated outdoor area and had won industry safety awards for years.

"At the time, dealing with that age group and alcohol, it's very hard to mitigate all the risks," Bradley said.

Justice Carole Godfrey of the Alberta Court of Justice will prepare a report on the inquiry, which started on Monday.