Years can’t wash away family pain over 1988 murder of Byron Carr
The incredible hurt still takes John Carr by surprise.
Naturally, the sudden, violent departure of his sibling stung a great deal at the time when he and other family members learned the popular Charlottetown teacher had been murdered in his home on Nov. 11, 1988.
Surely, John thought early on, the gut- wrenching ache would eventually subside. He found otherwise.
So did his siblings and so most certainly did his parents, Allison and Lois Carr, learn that not only is the pain permanent, it remains pronounced.
“I would not have expected the pain of it lasting as long as it has,’’ says John.
“Well, we have gotten on with our lives. We haven’t let it basically control or dictate where our lives have gone, but it does affect us and the pain is always there and it doesn’t really diminish with all the years, which was a surprise.’’
Each year when the anniversary of the murder approaches, John notes, his brother, Byron, is in the
forefront of the mind of family members.
“My mother and father, I can say probably think of him daily.’’
John says former teachers and students continue to contact his family to say they still think of Byron.
“People are saying ‘ we want you to know what he did for us really changed our lives for the better’,’’ he says. “So we have had a lot of community support . . . we always felt we were not alone.’’
Sgt. Brad MacConnell of the Charlottetown Police Services has been the lead detective since police began the cold case review back in 2007. He is overwhelmed by the ongoing attention the case draws.
“I’ve never been involved in an investigation that so many people wanted solved for so many reasons,’’ says MacConnell. “There is a real public interest in bringing this to closure.’’
John, who is a Charlottetown lawyer, says he and other family members are hopeful and optimistic the case will be solved.
“We’re very confident that the results will be there, that there will be an answer,’’ John said.
“We’ve never had the idea of revenge or punishment or anything like that. No, we want to know what happened, why it happened and who it was that did it. That would bring closure to us.’’
John says as a lawyer he understands the difficulties and roadblocks police have had with the case.
“I’m satisfied that in the beginning Mike Quinn, Paul Smith, now the chief ( of police), and others had their hearts in the right place and did their best,’’ he said. “We’ve always thought that. My family appreciated what they were doing. Now Sgt. MacConnell and his team are continuing that.’’
Police, he says, have “really renewed their effort’’ since 2007 to solve his brother’s murder.
“Whether or not there will ever be a trial or whether anybody will ever be charged, I can’t tell you that because I don’t know the answer to that but I think it will be solved in a sense that we will know what happened as a family and can bring closure hopefully to it,’’ he says.