Testimony in a fatality inquiry into a triple murder-suicide in Guysborough Co. is underway.
The inquiry opened in May; testimony was expected to start in September, but was delayed until November.
It was adjourned again to give the Borden family’s lawyer, who was only retained the week before the hearing, time to review evidence in the case in November.
Lionel Desmond, a 33-year-old war veteran diagnosed with PTSD after two tours of military service in Afghanistan in 2007, killed his wife, daughter, mother and himself in their home in Upper Big Tracadie in Jan. 2017.
Adam Rodgers, counsel for members of the Desmond family, says this is very much the preliminary phase of the inquiry.
Rodgers tells The Hawk they’ll hear from investigators first.
“We’ll be laying the groundwork, trying to provide an understanding for the public as to why an inquiry was called in the first place,” he says. “(We’ll) set the scene for later evidence, which will get into more depth on PTSD, the military service of Cpl. Desmond, and some of the things that may have caused him to do what he did.”
Rodgers say this phase of testimony, which is scheduled to last three weeks, will include the medical examiner’s conclusions, as well as reports from the homicide investigation and first responders.
He says the inquiry’s findings and recommendations, which may not be available until late 2020, won’t assign any legal responsibility for the deaths.
The various counsels presented their opening statements Monday.
Allen Murray, senior Crown attorney, said their goal is to get answers.
“This process is not a criminal trial, it is not an adversarial process; it is inquisitorial, it is a fact-finding- not a fault-finding- exercise,” he said. “It requires that all counsel work together to marshal and present evidence in furtherance of the inquiry’s mandate.”
Testimony continues Monday afternoon; you can watch the proceedings here.
