Missing BlackBerry messages show shortfall in investigation: Dunphy family lawyer

The lawyer acting for DonDunphy'sfamily challenged a retiredRCMPchief superintendent Thursday on the way police conducted their investigation into the April 2015 shooting death.

In asking questions at the judicial inquiry into the shooting, BobSimmondspointed towhat he called"shortfalls in the investigation" includingrecently revealedBlackBerrymessages onConst. JoeSmyth'sphone.

• Const. Joe Smyth misled Dunphy shooting inquiry, new evidence suggests

Smyth, a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer who was working security for then-Premier, Paul Davis, has testified that he shot and killedDunphyat his home inMitchellsBrook, afterDunphypointed a rifle at him.

"We recently got, like in the last seven or eight days, transcripts from ConstableSmyth'sphone that is vitally important to the issues before this inquiry, " saidSimmonds.

In the BBM conversation with a colleague,SmythreferredtoDunphy"as some lunatic threatening the premier," and saidhe may be late for a beer if he had to arrest him. The messages were later deleted.

Simmondsquestionedretired ChiefSupt. AndrewBoland, who was second-in-command in Newfoundland and Labrador when theRCMPbegan investigatingDunphy'sdeath.

He wanted to know whyDunphy'sphone, which was actually his daughter's phone, was seized the day of the shooting butConst.Smyth'sphone wasn't seized until three weeks later.

"Why investigators did or did not do things is entirely up to the path of the investigation and how it flows. I have every confidence in the people and the work that they did, " said Boland.

Simmondsfirst called the deleted messages "incriminating texts," later changing that to "relevant e-mails that would been of interest to this commission."

Pointing out the messages were not found until February of 2017.Simmondsasked, "Does that not at least cause you some concern that, hey, there is certainly something that should have been done that wasn't?"

Boland went on to say the investigators were doing their work and had their own reasons for following information and particular investigative paths.