Sam Fitzpatrick Died on a Kiewit Project, Their Lawyer Removed the Evidence. [The Missing Rock]

This is Labour Day. September 1 2025. 

Sam Fitzpatrick died on a Kiewit project 6035 days  ago.

Sam was working at a Peter Kiewit and Sons project at Toba Inlet. British Columbia, Canada.

He was 24 years old when he was crushed to death by a falling rock on very steep terrain.

[video] Sam and his brother Arlen working very close to the same area where he was killed

 Arlen and Sam Fitzpatrick

The rockfall incident one day before Sam was killed. Same excavator operator working above other crews. [video]

There was abundant media coverage about the legal fight, that Brian Fitzpatrick brought to bear against the American mega-corporation that is the Kiewit empire. 

[Google.. "Sam Fitzpatrick / Kiewit"   or  "Brian Fitzpatrick / Kiewit"

This...is a story that was very near and dear to Brian's heart...as well as mine in the search for what happened.

This...is the story of  the "missing rock"

Now, we all have shorter attention spans and are impatient with nonsense spouting talking heads that occupy our screens and pages.

So here's the quick highlights....then the evidence.

1. Sam was killed on Feb. 22 2009.

2. The scene was attended by the RCMP and WorkSafeBC.

3. I have spoken directly with the lead WorkSafeBC investigator in person, on the phone, text and via email. That person told me this story directly.

When that investigator asked which rock fragments were from the killer rock....nobody that was present could or would say which fragments were from the 2 meter boulder that killed Sam.

The Kiewit representatives at that moment were unhelpful and uncooperative in helping to identify the rock that killed Sam.

The WorkSafeBC investigator did not, and could not know that they were being deceived. 

Unbeknownst to the RCMP and WorkSafeBC ....a plan was in the making to locate and remove the rock fragments from the incident site, and transport them to a different location.

Now...I'm sure that you are asking....how do I know this?....and more importantly...if...if this is true, then obviously the proper authorities would have dealt with it....cuz ...you know tampering with evidence in a workplace fatality is bad...right? 

A Canadian lawyer working for the Kiewit Corporation hired a contractor to come to the very remote incident site to help locate and package the rock fragments from the rock that struck and killed Sam Fitzpatrick. The packaged rock was then transported offsite. 

At a shop in Burnaby BC,  the rock was reassembled, piece by piece.

Unfortunately for the Kiewit Corporations' claim that the killer boulder magically rolled from an unknown location { with zero physical evidence}...the reassembled rock actually looked more like oversize blast rock from the worksite.

Shockingly similar to other boulders that the large excavator [Cat 345 ] above had been handling.

[ There were two large excavators working above Sam, on the steep slope, operated by Jesse Taylor and Mike Ladd. Cat 345 and John Deere 450 ]

Bold Statement

How do I know this?

Because, the contractor that was hired to do the job, contacted Brain Fitzpatrick directly...after the fact { 2012}

The contractor told Brian that he had photos of the gathering process, plus images of the rock being reassembled in the Burnaby shop.

I went with Brian to meet with the contactor and retrieve the photo disc from the same Burnaby shop where the rock reconstruction took place.

This was July 13 2012. I have all the email discussions between Brian and I....we discussed the meeting and rendezvous point the night before on July 12 2012.

The contractor told us both that he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, and that the task was just part of a larger investigation.

He confirmed that the Kiewit lawyer had hired him for the task. [ I'm leaving out the lawyer's name throughout this story.] He was a prominent heavyweight in the BC legal world.

Here's most of the images from the contractor's photo disc.

From the incident site...all marked and painted, after Kiewit representatives told the WorkSafeBC investigator that they didn't know which piece was which.

The air powered tool in the photos is the rock drill that Sam was operating when he was struck and instantly killed by the 2 meter rock.

Painted rock fragment images were taken by the contractor on March 8 2009. Sam was killed on February 22.

.

Photos of the overall site. Various sources.

The Killer Rock being reassembled in the Burnaby shop. March 2009

And now you are thinking....why didn't we tell anyone?

Oh my....we tried. At the time, Brian Fitzpatrick was battling against Kiewit's appeal of their 250,000 CAD fine for killing Sam.

Brian won the first round. Then it went to round two with the WCAT. Worker's Compensation Appeals Tribunal.

Brian had the pro bono services of a prominent labour lawyer to assist him.

Brian presented his lawyer with the story about moving the rock evidence and the resulting photos.

Brian's own lawyer absolutely refused to enter this new...very serious allegation into the mix. Refused multiple times.

Result....a bullshit decision from WCAT to reduce the WorkSafeBC fine down to about 75,000 CAD plus special fees ....to a total of about 90,000 CAD.

Next...The RCMP investigate Sam's death as a criminal matter, at the urging of Brian Fitzpatrick.

Several RCMP investigators attempted to interview the contractor that did the gathering and reassembly work.

But, the contractor had contacted the the original Kiewit lawyer, who told the guy to not cooperate with the RCMP investigators.

I know this from direct phone conversations with one of the RCMP investigators, and from conversations with Brian Fitzpatrick after he had spoken with the RCMP.

Brian and I pushed the RCMP to investigate the lawyer for removing important evidence from the scene of a fatality, but they refused  to budge. Many, many times....we tried to get them to listen.

But, no go. Ever.

Lots of drama ensues. Brian Fitzpatrick died of a heart attack during a routine surgery on July 30 2017. 

2955 days ago.

I took over as the full time advocate for the family, with the solid support and backing of my friends, journalist Tom Sandborn and then USW boss, Steve Hunt.

We were in full time contact with the prosecutor's office and RCMP.

We all campaigned hard to get the prosecutor to chase down the missing rock story.

We had it all. The Photos, The name of the lawyer, the contractor, emails between the contractor and Brian Fitzpatrick...the whole shebang.

Over way too many years, while we waited for the prosecutor's office to trudge forward, they refused to look any further into the obvious evidence tampering. [ we endured several different prosecutors over the years]

About one week before the Kiewit and two of the managers [ Gerald Karjala and Tim Rule ] were going to court, the prosecutor's office chickened out.

They "stayed" the case on August 31 2021. Four years ago. 

In September of 2021, In desperation to get some justice, somewhere, I made a complaint to the BC Law Society about the actions of lawyer xxxxxx , and his evidence tampering in a fatality investigation.

In short, they wrote back, and skillfully sidestepped any responsibility or jurisdiction. Their letter says this...

So....Then I take this letter to the last remaining RCMP officer that was involved in the Sam Fitzpatrick. I ask him to look into the actions of the Kiewit lawyer.

He says, that because he is based on Vancouver Island and the lawyer in question is based in West Vancouver, I need to ask the West Vancouver Police to do the job.

So...I write a letter to the West Vancouver Police, asking for their help.

And...amazingly enough they answer. But...They answer the same old way.

Not in our jurisdiction.

The West Van Police point me in the the direction of the the police that are in the area where the incident took place....the RCMP.

I return back to the original RCMP investigator with my tales of world class run around.

He quietly and calmly tells me that they aren't going to take one more step in the Sam Fitzpatrick case. It's done. It's over.

To recap.

1. Brian's lawyer in the WorkSafeBC appeal fight, refused to add the evidence tampering to the case.

2. The RCMP tried and totally failed to get more evidence or testimony/statements from  the various players. [ on the missing rock issue] The lawyer was never questioned. The contractor refused to cooperate.

3. I lost count of how many different Crown Prosecutors refused to even consider the "Missing Rock" evidence...like it was radioactive.

4. The BC Law Society sidestepped it pretty hard.

5. The West Vancouver Police didn't want anything to do with it.

6. And...at the back end, this case was a dead duck to the RCMP. Like trying to put defibrillator paddles on the Christmas turkey.

On October 28 2021, myself, Tom Sandborn, Steve Hunt and a group from the USW and the BC Federation of Labour, including, Laird Cronk, went to Victoria.

We had the attention of then Attorney General, David Eby, Minister of Labour, Harry Bains, and MLA Nicholas Simons.

We asked, pleaded and demanded that the AG throw his weight behind our cause.

They listened politely for and hour....and absolutely nothing came of it. Zero. Zilch. Nada. 

The "Missing Rock" story was something that Brian Fitzpatrick tried desperately to get attention to from all the legal gatekeepers. They did nothing.

I'm gonna have to call them all cowards.

They worked extra hard to turn a blind eye to the evidence tampering in Sam's death.

I have written and deleted this story many times over the years. Today it sees the sun.

Brian Fitzpatrick. Mexico. January 2017.

News articles about Sam Fitzpatrick and Kiewit

https://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-collection-of-news-articles-about-sam.html

And...some more info and news articles + a song

https://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.com/2024/12/my-original-song-ill-not-be-back-this.html