After murder-suicides, families left to wonder what went wrong
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic details of violence.
A couple is found dead in their home. Police soon confirm it is a murder-suicide.
In the aftermath, family and friends are often left to wonder what went wrong and what could have been done to prevent the deaths. Experts say much remains hidden in such cases, given there is no trial after the perpetrator dies.
"Often the file is closed quickly, and we don't know much about the relation[ship] between [the] men and women before this happened," said Louise Riendeau, a spokesperson for Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, a Quebec organization representing women's shelters.
"We don't know if there was a health problem, a mental health problem. So it's often difficult to see what happened."
As part of a 16-month investigation, CBC News compiled and analyzed intimate partner homicide data across Canada between January 2015 and June 2020. In 61 of the 392 documented cases (15 per cent), the homicide was followed by a suicide, the investigation found.
The vast majority of the victims were women, most often killed with a firearm by their male partners or estranged partners. But, without a trial, and left to rely on coroner's reports that don't often give a full picture, little else is known about what led to the crimes.
In Quebec, there were 38 intimate partner homicides over the five-year period analyzed by CBC. Of those, seven were murder-suicides.
In one 2020 murder-suicide, Gatineau Police only identified the couple as a 63-year-old man and a 55-year old woman, but did not name them or indicate who committed the murder.
CBC only discovered their names after inquiring with the coroner's office.
Although coroner's reports can shed some light on the murders, experts say they don't provide the full picture. Often, the coroner only focuses on what led to the death in the preceding hours, days or weeks.
Simon Lapierre, an associate professor in the school of social work at the University of Ottawa, hopes that will change.
Lapierre was part of a Quebec committee that recommended a checklist in December 2020 to ensure all coroner's reports contain specific details — such as past criminal charges, mental health or addiction issues or controlling behaviour.
The checklist should improve the consistency of the reports, and give a better overview of what happened and any warning signs that were perhaps missed, Lapierre said.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.