‘ I WILL FIX IT,’ EX-SOLDIER SAID BEFORE KILLINGS
HALIFAX• A clearer picture is emerging of the former soldier involved in an apparent murder- suicide in Nova Scotia, with his own words on social media revealing a man struggling with PTSD who was trying to get his life back.
“I’m truly sorry for freaking out at my wife/daughter and people who know me ... I’m not getting a lawyer. I’m getting my life back,” Lionel Desmond wrote in a Dec. 3 Facebook post that did not elaborate.
“I apologize for anything out ( of ) my control. I will fix it, if not I’ ll live with it.”
Desmond, 33, was found dead Tuesday night in a home in Upper Big Tracadie from what appeared to be a self- inflicted gunshot wound, RCMP say. His wife, Shanna Desmond, 31, their 10- year- old daughter, Aaliyah, and his mother, Brenda Desmond, 52, also died of apparent gunshot wounds.
Friends and family say Desmond was a kind and funny person, who changed after a tour in Afghanistan in 2007.
In his Facebook posting last month, Desmond said he had hit his head on an Light Armoured Vehicle and suffered back spasms after falling off a wall while in the Forces, and had been told he now had post-concussion disorder as well as PTSD.
“That ( explains) my jealousy towards my wife and being over-controlling and (my) vulgar tongue towards my family,” he wrote.
Friends and family confirmed the Facebook page, attributed to a “Lionel Demon,” belonged to Lionel Desmond.
He wrote he had “ADD/ ADHD from thrashing my head,” and doctors told him he should seek neurological help in Halifax.
“I just hope there’s no brain damage ... I will be going to Halifax to find out, wish me the best,” Desmond wrote.
Rev. Elaine Walcott, a relative of Desmond, said Thursday that he had got treatment last year in Montreal but was looking for more help.
She said Desmond recently tried to check himself into a mental health unit at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish and was told there were no beds. She said he was also told they didn’t have his files.
Walcott said Canadian soldiers are asked to put their life on the line in battle, but not enough is done for them once they return home.
“How can we then have them cope with feelings of abandonment? How can we then have them question why they are not as nice as they used to be? As kind as they used to be?” she asked.
Desmond served in Afghanistan in 2007, and had received treatment from a joint personnel support unit for a year prior to his release from the military in 2015. Such units provide support to ill and injured soldiers, including mental injuries.
A retired soldier who served in Afghanistan with Desmond said Thursday his friend had the classic symptoms of PTSD, but appeared to be dealing with them.
“Every time I think about Lionel Desmond as a person, I smile, because he was the person that everyone wanted to be,” Trev Bungay said.
“Lionel two days ago wasn’t Lionel. He fought hard for his country whenever he was asked to do it. He came home and needed help and he couldn’t get sufficient help to make him be able to live a normal life,” Bungay said.
Bungay said PTSD isn’t going away and the proper resources need to be in place.
“There are thousands of veterans who need help, but there are maybe 100 beds we can put them in,” he said.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said Thursday an investigation has started into how the province’s system dealt with Desmond.
The premier said it’s clear Desmond had received treatment for post- traumatic stress disorder from the military, but it’s unclear what level of care — if any — was provided by the province.
RCMP said autopsies were being performed Thursday on the bodies, and they hope to be able to say more about the case on Friday.