TRAGEDY IN RED DEER
Father and daughter found dead
A father and his six-year-old daughter were found dead inside a Red Deer home Sunday in a suspected murder-suicide.
Mounties arrived at the home in the Lancaster neighbourhood of Red Deer Sunday after they were asked to check on the welfare of the 39-year-old father and his daughter.
Records show the home is owned by a Robert Lesslie Malcolm Campbell.
Campbell lived alone in the home for the last few years with only occasional visits from his young daughter, neighbours said.
Sunday afternoon, Mother’s Day, a heavy police presence around the tidy home alerted nearby residents that something serious had happened.
By late Sunday evening, forensic teams had arrived. Investigators began circulating in the neighbourhood asking anyone with surveillance cameras for footage taken between Thursday and Sunday.
“It’s a tragic situation, a very tragic and sad story,” neighbour Beata Wojtasiewicz said. “I never imagined that something like this could happen in our neighbourhood.”
Supt. Ken Foster called the incident a “tragic loss that affects our whole community.”
He said investigators aren’t looking for any suspects in connection with the deaths.
“We don’t have any concerns about public safety,” he said.
Court records say Campbell had joint custody of a six-year-old girl named Callie.
The documents suggest the relationship between the girl’s separated parents was strained at times as they argued over custody and spousal support.
The little girl stayed with her mother, Debbie Hildebrandt, except for alternating weekends when she would stay with Campbell.
In a sworn affidavit from May 2015, Hildebrandt said she believed Campbell was emotionally abusive.
“I consider Rob to be a bully and is bullying me. It is my belief, based on Rob’s conduct towards me that Rob is attempting to harass me without regard to the well-being of me or our child,” Hildebrandt said.
In undated text messages submitted as part of the affidavit, Campbell is at turns angry with Hildebrandt and emotional about his daughter.
“I would give anything to spend half (the) time that you get to with Callie ... you take her for (granted) Deb, whether you realize it or not,” Campbell wrote.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so sad, lonely, empty in my entire life.”
Police say they will be working with the medical examiner’s officer to determine cause of death for the father and daughter. An autopsy is scheduled to take place Tuesday morning.
Foster said deaths are always difficult for officers to deal with, but especially when it comes to children.
“Our team has been working diligently to arrange critical incident debriefings with our members … so that their well-being is being cared for,” he said.
The girl’s school has been notified and counsellors are being arranged for any affected teachers and students, RCMP said.
“On behalf of the RCMP, I want to express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” Foster said. “This is a tragic loss that affects our whole community.”
Wojtasiewicz said the tragedy has made her more aware of her neighbours and the struggles they might be going through behind closed doors.
“Even when people need help they wouldn’t ask and maybe it was preventable, who knows?”
I want to express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. This is a tragic loss that affects our whole community