Gray likely died of cardiac arrest, complicated by police actions: pathologist

VANCOUVER — The forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Myles Gray in the days after he died following a beating by Vancouver police officers says there was no single, definitive cause of death.

Rather, Dr. Matthew Orde says he identified multiple factors that probably contributed to Gray’s death in August 2015, and the context in which the 33-year-old died was crucial to informing his conclusions.

Orde told the public hearing into Gray’s death that he found it was most likely explained by cardiopulmonary arrest, complicated by police actions to restrain the man, who had shown signs of “acute behavioural disturbance” before he died.

Orde says the police actions involved pepper spray, blunt-force injuries, neck compression and hand-cuffing behind the back in a forced, face-down positioning.

He says it’s difficult to weigh which factors may have played the greater role.

The hearing called by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner is looking into the actions of seven Vancouver police officers in Gray’s beating death.

A police discipline authority cleared all the officers of misconduct in 2024.

However, police complaint commissioner Prabhu Rajan has said there was still “meaningful uncertainty as to what happened.”

In 2023, a B.C. coroner’s inquest heard Gray was left with injuries including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.

The inquest found Gray’s death was a homicide, although coroner Larry Marzinzik told the jury the term is neutral and does not imply fault.

Orde also testified at the inquest, saying a “perfect storm” of factors led to Gray’s death, including his extreme exertion and the actions of police to restrain him.

He said he believed Gray’s body would have been working in overdrive in the struggle with police.

People who are forcibly restrained on their stomach are at greater risk of death, especially when their body has increased physiological demands, Orde said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2026.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press