Jan 2017: Vet found dead w/wife, child and mother in N.S.

[Halifax Tar]

Not sure where this should have gone.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/four-found-dead-upper-big-tracadie-home-1.3920457

A Canadian Forces veteran who was seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder has been identified as one of four people found dead Tuesday evening in an apparent murder-suicide in a rural Nova Scotia home.

More on provided link.

- mod edit of thread title -

 

[armyvern]

Not my family, but rather the family of a friend and former soldier of mine who contacted me last evening before the news broke. Devastated beyond words and with much hope and prayers for strength for them at this time as they live this tragedy. Watch each others' sixes; send up the count, reach out. Get and be involved - we have troops struggling and we damn well owe it to them to do our very best to make sure they get access to and receive the help they need and the resources they need. We owe them that. We owe them so much.

Fuck.  Devastating.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Condolences to all involved, and take care of yourself, too, Vern. 

 

[the 48th regulator]

A true tradgedy.

RIP.

 

[jollyjacktar]

He was on my first tour, they had a hard go of it.  Very saddened to hear of these events.    :'(

 

[the 48th regulator]

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/desmond-family-says-military-to-pay-for-funerals-of-murder-suicide-victims-1.3231767

Desmond family says military to pay for funerals of murder-suicide victims

CTV Atlantic
Published Saturday, January 7, 2017 5:31PM AST
Last Updated Saturday, January 7, 2017 6:18PM AST

The family of Shanna Desmond says the military has stepped forward and will pay for the funerals of three family members killed by a veteran who later took his own life in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S., this week.

“Veteran Affairs was telling me that the prime minister got involved, and they had orders to support all the families for help with the funeral expenses,” said Sheldon Borden, Shanna’s brother.

Police say Desmond shot and killed his daughter Aaliyah, his wife Shanna, and his mother Brenda before turning the gun on himself.
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Relatives say Lionel Desmond was diagnosed with PTSD after a tour in Afghanistan in 2007. He received help while in the military, but recently was turned away after going to hospital in Antigonish.

Family members say he wasn't the only one dealing with PTSD.

“My cousin Shanna, my little cousin Aaliyah, his daughter, his wife, they were also severely damaged,” said cousin Amber Gero. “They were also dealing with PTSD every day because they had to live with it every day.”

Family from across the country and community members have arrived to share in the grieving and to find comfort.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.

A crowdfunding page has raised close to $20,000 for the families, but there's some confusion over communication with all family members. 

A community vigil of support is taking place Saturday evening.

“We're a Christian people, and we have a lot of strength from the Christian entity,” said Katherine Hartling, the aunt of one of the victims. “We know we can lean on each other and our community has been very, very strong, all three communities and beyond.”

Family members say the house itself has now become a source of sorrow.

“It disgusts me,” said Shanna’s sister, Shonda Borden. “That house had so many memories, amazing memories, but right now we see nothing but negativity in it.”

The home belongs to the father of Shanna Desmond. Richard Borden says he has every intention of having it torn down as soon as possible.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.

© 2016 Bell Media All rights reserved.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest ....

The family of an Afghan war veteran involved in a triple murder-suicide in rural Nova Scotia is disappointed that a long-awaited fatality inquiry has been pushed back again, further delaying findings that could improve care for other former soldiers struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The provincial inquiry was set to begin on Monday to examine the circumstances that may have led Canadian Armed Forces veteran Lionel Desmond to shoot and kill his wife, Shanna, their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, and his mother, Brenda, and then himself in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. on Jan. 3, 2017.

But at the inquiry’s start, Thomas Macdonald, the new lawyer representing Shanna’s parents, Thelma and Ricky Borden, asked Justice Warren Zimmer for a delay to review the thousands of pages of documents to be admitted as evidence. Mr. Macdonald was hired three days before the start of the inquiry, after the Bordens decided to switch lawyers.

The inquiry will now resume on Jan. 27 in Guysborough, N.S., more than three years after the triple murder-suicide ...

 

[brihard]

Bumped with the latest ....

Rough, but it makes sense. You don't hire a lawyer three days before it begins and expect him to be up to speed quickly.

I truly don't think anyone is going to be happy at the end of this inquiry.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with more of the latest ....

Less than a month before Lionel Desmond killed his wife, mother, daughter and himself in 2017, the Afghanistan war veteran called a community group near his home in Nova Scotia to set up an appointment for couples counselling.

Desmond's decision to seek help on Dec. 9, 2016, was discussed Wednesday as part of an ongoing provincial fatality inquiry in Port Hawkesbury, N.S., which started hearings in January 2020.

One of the key mandates of the inquiry is to determine if Desmond and his family had access to mental health services and domestic violence prevention services ...

The wheels grind, slowly ...