PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. –
An inquiry right into a triple homicide dedicated by a former soldier in Nova Scotia heard Tuesday from a psychiatrist who mentioned Lionel Desmond understood what he was doing was mistaken when he killed three relations and himself in 2017.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Scott Theriault testified that the previous infantryman understood his actions had been morally and legally mistaken though he was affected by extreme post-traumatic stress dysfunction, main despair, a borderline character dysfunction and borderline delusions about his spouse.
Theriault’s testimony is vital as a result of the inquiry has heard from one other psychiatrist who confirmed Desmond had suffered from dissociative episodes that left him believing he was reliving the traumatic, violent occasions he skilled whereas serving in Afghanistan in 2007.
A few of Desmond’s relations have additionally mentioned that after he was medically launched from the army in 2015 and returned dwelling to Nova Scotia, he suffered flashbacks and generally seemed to be in “fight mode.”
Theriault, nonetheless, mentioned that even when Desmond was affected by full-blown delusions, that would not have been sufficient to absolve him of prison duty.
The forensic psychiatrist additionally mentioned that the tragic occasions that unfolded in rural Nova Scotia on Jan. 3, 2017, may have been prevented if Desmond’s psychological well being remedy had not been interrupted through the 4 months earlier than the killings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 2, 2021.
