Episode 242: The Detective Who Asked the Forbidden Question

What happens when a police detective notices a disturbing pattern in unexplained infant deaths, and begins asking whether vaccination could be one of the variables investigators are overlooking?

This week on VSRF Live, we welcome Canadian police detective Helen Grus and her attorney, Bath-Shéba van den Berg, for the extraordinary story of an investigation that ultimately put the detective herself on trial.

A veteran member of the Ottawa Police Service, Grus was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit, where her work included sudden and unexpected deaths of young children. During the COVID era, she became concerned about a series of unexplained infant deaths and began examining a question she believed deserved investigation: could maternal COVID-19 vaccination be a relevant factor?

Instead of being permitted to pursue that question, Grus soon found herself under investigation. She was suspended, charged with Discreditable Conduct, and subjected to a disciplinary proceeding that stretched across several years. In 2025, she was ultimately found guilty, with the tribunal concluding that she had exceeded her authority in the way she pursued her inquiry. Grus and her defense have maintained that she was doing what detectives are supposed to do: notice patterns, ask difficult questions, and follow potential leads.

Joining her is Bath-Shéba van den Berg, the attorney who defended Grus throughout the proceedings. A Canadian lawyer with a background in constitutional and administrative law, human rights, and civil litigation, van den Berg has also served in the British Army Reserve and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

This Tuesday, we'll hear directly from Helen Grus about what first caught her attention, why she believed the vaccination question needed to be explored, and what happened when she pursued it. Together with van den Berg, we'll examine a case that raises a much larger question: What happens when simply asking the question becomes the offense?

This coming Tuesday on VSRF Live.

⏰ Time: 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT

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