The Desmond Fatality Inquiry has finished its second day of testimony in Port Hawkesbury.
Three people testified Wednesday.
One was the woman who found the bodies at the scene of the tragedy, where Lionel Desmond shot and killed his wife, daughter, mother, and then himself inside their Upper Big Tracadie home in 2017, his sister Chantel Desmond.
Desmond said she still remembers the smell of blood, and the curry left on the stove, as she came through the door to find Shana and Lionel Desmond.
“I look over and I could see my brother’s boots, Dunlops, and I immediately went into shock because I remember seeing a hole in his face,” she said. “I ran out of the house.”
Desmond said she didn’t know then her and Lionel Desmond’s mother Brenda, and his daughter and her niece Aaliyah, were inside the family home.
She came to tears talking about Aaliyah.
“She loved to play Minecraft, she loved her animals,” she said. “She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up.”
She said Brenda Desmond knew her son was suffering.
Chantel Desmond said that’s why Brenda Desmond spent so much time trying to help his family.
“As a mother myself, if my child’s sick I feel hopeless, there’s nothing I can do,” she said. “I just remember my mom praying so hard.”
The inquiry also called Albert MacLellan, a retired Canadian Forces recruiter who spoke to Lionel Desmond before he joined up, and who was involved after the tragedy in arranging the funerals and covering travel expenses for family returning to attend.
Paul Long, a retired principal and guidance teacher from Guysborough Co., and Lionel Desmond’s cross-country coach, was also called.
Long recommended Desmond for the CAF.
Testimony is set to resume Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
