A framed photo of Lionel Desmond. The triple-murder suicide raised questions about whether the family had access to domestic violence intervention services, and the level of support provided to Mr. Desmond after he returned from Afghanistan in 2007.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
A Nova Scotia inquiry into a triple murder-suicide involving a veteran of the Afghanistan war is calling for better sharing of medical files to improve supports for veterans, tougher licensing processes for firearms, and for the province to create more awareness about intimate partner violence programs and expand health care services for African Nova Scotians.
Justice Paul Scovil delivered the inquiry’s long-delayed final report Wednesday morning in a Port Hawkesbury courtroom, seven years after Lionel Desmond, a retired Canadian Armed Forces corporal, fatally shot his wife, 10-year-old daughter and mother in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S., then turned his gun on himself.
The report, the product of 56 days of hearings over six years, contains an exhaustive recounting of the events surrounding the deaths, as well as 25 non-binding recommendations for preventing similar incidents in the future.
“It is impossible to say with certainty that had my recommendations been in place when Corporal Desmond left the military, no suicide or homicides would have occurred. But we can say that they could have possibly helped avert the tragic events of January 3, 2017,” Justice Scovil said in court.
Mr. Desmond’s sister, Cassandra Desmond, welcomed the findings, and said governments must now follow through. “The ball is in your court,” she told reporters outside the courtroom. “Just get it right, please.”
What happened to Lionel Desmond? An Afghanistan veteran whose war wouldn’t end
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Brad Johns said in a statement that he is reviewing the recommendations. “In the coming days and weeks, we will liaise with our federal counterparts on the recommendations beyond the purview of this inquiry related to areas of federal jurisdiction, such as Veterans Affairs,” he said.
Federal Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said on Parliament Hill that she will also be reviewing the report, and that the federal government will have more to say on the recommendations in the coming weeks.
Justice Scovil is recommending that the province launch a campaign to inform the public about intimate partner violence. The report says Nova Scotia should also lobby the federal government to ensure veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or other health issues are provided copies of their military health records, so the information can be added to their provincial files.
Currently, retired Canadian Armed Forces members need to make applications to the Department of National Defence or Library and Archives Canada under access to information law to obtain copies of these records.
In the days and weeks prior to the killings, Mr. Desmond sought treatment from several health care providers who did not have access to his military health records or information about his treatment at a Veterans Affairs-run inpatient facility in Montreal, the inquiry heard.
“We want to make sure that the work is done to make sure that all health care professionals will have access to the information, in order to make sure that the proper case plan is put in place, and also that the appropriate services are put in place,” Ms. Petitpas Taylor told reporters.
The inquiry also revealed that a lack of information sharing between the military, provincial health care providers, police and provincial firearms officers had led to a failure to recognize red flags that might have prevented Mr. Desmond from renewing his firearms licence. Justice Scovil’s recommendations include measures aimed at tightening these procedures.
Another recommendation is that Veterans Affairs case managers be assigned to veterans transitioning out of the armed forces. In Mr. Desmond’s case, there was a six-month delay in having one assigned to him because of staff shortages.
On Jan. 3, 2017, Mr. Desmond, a 33-year-old African Nova Scotian who had grown up in the province, calmly purchased a firearm from a hunting store and drove to a nearby logging road. He parked and entered the back door of his in-laws’ home, where his estranged wife lived with their daughter in the small rural community of Upper Big Tracadie. Within a few minutes, he shot his wife, Shanna Desmond, 31, and their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, both in the head. He shot his mother, Brenda, 52, in the upper back, before shooting himself.
The triple murder-suicide rocked the close-knit African Nova Scotian community and stunned the country, leading to concern about whether the family had access to domestic violence intervention services. It also raised questions about the level of mental-health care and support provided to Mr. Desmond after he returned from the Afghanistan war in the summer of 2007.
He was a corporal with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment and had been released from the Canadian Forces only 18 months before the killings.
Mr. Desmond was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder in 2011, four years after he took part in two particularly bloody tours in Afghanistan. After returning from the war, he was based in CFB Gagetown, N.B. He went home to Nova Scotia in 2015. Family and friends had long complained he did not get adequate support and care when he transitioned out of the military.
There had been escalating marital problems between Mr. Desmond and his wife, who had been living separately. Days before the killings, Ms. Desmond had told Mr. Desmond she wanted a divorce. Hours before she was fatally shot, Ms. Desmond called a domestic violence crisis line to learn how to file a peace bond, and to ask whether it would cover her daughter.
A 2017 Globe and Mail investigation chronicled a long list of systemic failures Mr. Desmond faced while seeking stability and treatment for his PTSD, leading to calls for an inquiry into the deaths.
The following year, the province ordered an inquiry under its Fatality Investigations Act, though family members and veterans’ advocates had asked for a provincial-federal inquiry.
Outside court, Ms. Desmond’s brother, Sheldon Borden, said it doesn’t seem fair that his parents, who still live in the home where the killings took place, are trapped without any assistance from governments to help them move. “They’re living in a hell. I don’t believe that anyone should be subjected to have to live in a home where they had their family murdered,” he told reporters.
Nova Scotia Justice Department spokesperson Andrew Preeper said the province plans to discuss this request with the federal government.
With a report from Kristy Kirkup