A judge and Crown have been appointed to a public inquiry into a triple murder-suicide in Guysborough Co.
Lionel Desmond, a 33-year-old Afghan war veteran, killed his wife, mother and young daughter, then himself in the family’s Upper Big Tracadie home in Jan. 2017.
A fatality inquiry will be held in the Guysborough municipal office; a date has not been set, although it’s expected to start later in 2018.
Warren Zimmer, a provincial court judge, will preside at the inquiry; Allen Murray, the chief Crown for the central region based in Antigonish, has been appointed dedicated prosecutor.
Terms of reference include the circumstances of Desmond’s release from St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish the day before the deaths, if he had access to appropriate mental health care, and if he and his family members had access to appropriate domestic violence intervention services.