A psychiatrist who treated Lionel Desmond after his medical discharge says his concerns about his relationship were some of his worst stressors.
Doctor Anthony Njoku, psychiatrist with the Operational Stress Injury Clinic in New Brunswick, testified remotely on the eighth day of the Desmond Fatality Inquiry in Port Hawkesbury Friday.
He said, though Desmond’s complaints about his wife didn’t seem delusional, they were probably exaggerated by the former infantryman’s PTSD.
Njoku told the Inquiry Desmond’s wife, Shana Desmond, took part in one of their treatment sessions.
“A wife who was just as caring, who was just as interested in his wellbeing,” he said. “Who wanted to know what was going on with his treatment.”
Njoku said Desmond’s daughter, Aaliyah Desmond, was there as well.
He said they seemed like a normal family.
“Interactions seemed entirely appropriate, I mean between him and the daughter, entirely loving,” he said. “It’s probably the worst moment of this whole thing.”
Njoku then began to cry.
Lionel Desmond killed his wife, daughter, mother, and then himself in their Upper Big Tracadie home in 2017.
