WARNING: this story contains disturbing details.
A top Nova Scotia Mountie at the time of the mass shooting more than two years ago says he doesn’t think the victims’ families were properly supported — and that the crime scenes shouldn’t have been released without being cleaned up.
Chief Lt. Darren Campbell gave evidence over two days this week to the Mass Casualties Commission, leading the public inquiry into the killings on 18-19 April 2020, and also spoke to the commission in two interviews in June and July.
Campbell now works in New Brunswick, but was a maintenance officer — one of the highest-ranking RCMP positions in the province — at the time of the shootings.
He told the commission about how he met with many of the victims’ families the summer after the tragedy, when a gunman shot and killed 22 people in several communities across the province while driving a replica RCMP car.
Many of their concerns included what they felt was the RCMP’s failure to disclose information and issues with Const. Wayne (Skipper) Bent, the only liaison officer assigned to deal with almost all of the victims’ families, Campbell said.
RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell was a support services officer at the time of the shootings, the third highest ranking Mountie in Nova Scotia. (CBC)
“They were very emotional meetings,” Campbell said in an interview with the committee.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of families and I will say … I’ve never been in a meeting with people that affected me more or was as difficult as this.”
The families of some victims, including those of Heather O’Brien and Gina Goulet, said they were left to clean up the scenes where the women died.
Campbell said O’Brien’s family told him there were shell casings left in the vehicle, as well as what they called “body parts.” According to Campbell, he asked both Bent and a member of a team of forensic experts how this could have happened.
Typically, after the forensics team processes a car for evidence, Campbell said they may leave a stain or tissue behind, but it is then turned over to an insurance company for cleaning or destruction.
“This is no different than a real residential crime scene. You know, we usually don’t let the family come back and see a horrible, messed up scene,” Campbell said.
“That would be traumatic.”
Campbell apologized personally to the family
But Campbell said Bent told him the O’Briens wanted the car back as quickly as possible, even in the condition it was in. Bent testified to the commission last month that he would not argue with O’Brien because it was their property, so the car was returned.
Campbell said he has encountered similar situations when families want to see loved ones after they have been killed. While he doesn’t want to turn families down, Campbell said he always tries to dissuade them because what their loved one looks like now “isn’t who they are.”
He said the same logic applies to a crime scene in a home or car — “it’s not good for people” to see that.
During his meeting with multiple members of the O’Brien family, which covered issues such as the condition of the car and how one of them had a gun pointed at them by an officer when he approached the crime scene, Campbell said he offered his condolences and told them “as a man, I’m sorry.”
He also let them know what steps they could take to file a professional complaint if they wanted to do so, he said.
Campbell said he never issued a written apology and is not aware of any formal apologies to O’Brien from the RCMP.
Heather O’Brien with daughters Katie Devine, front, Darcy Dobson, second from right, and Molly O’Brien, far right. (Submitted by Darcy Dobson)
On Tuesday, after his second day of testimony, Campbell broke down in tears and apologized to all the families for “failing” them.
In Goulet’s case, the inquiry released a summary of a meeting between the commission and her daughter Amelia Butler and son-in-law Dave Butler.
Amelia received no official notification from next of kin, and the document says that despite giving the information to at least four different police officers, no one called the couple to let them know when Goulet’s property was ready to be handed over .
Instead, Dave Butler put up “no trespassing” signs and entered the house himself, finding “blood all over the door and other things he shouldn’t have seen,” the document says.
The Butlers themselves arranged through insurance to have Goulet’s house cleaned, but the police didn’t tell them that was an option. At one point, the couple found a shell casing near the bathroom door and a “piece of lead” in Goulet’s toilet.
Bent testified that he felt “really bad” that the Butlers had this experience and organized the cleanup before he contacted them on April 21, two days after Goulet’s murder.
A memorial on Highway 224 displays a photo of Gina Goulet, one of the victims of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting. (Pat Callahan/CBC)
Amelia Butler told the commission she initially believed Bent was their personal liaison officer and he never explained how he actually represented families connected to the 21 victims. Dave Butler said Bent “couldn’t keep his stories straight” and often couldn’t remember who he was talking to.
Campbell said in an interview with the commission that he was not aware of what the Butlers went through, but what they described “never should have happened.”
He said usually Bent or another member of the investigation team will be the one to talk to each family about insurance coverage options.
When asked if the support offered by Bent was enough, Campbell said given the scope of the mass shooting, the Mounties could probably never provide enough help and “there’s always more we can do.”
But when asked if that help met the minimum level of care, Campbell said no, based on feedback from families.
“If it was good, there would be no complaints,” he said.
Campbell said Tuesday that he knows Bent has worked very hard for months to help families, and the strain has left a “lasting effect” on him.
In his evidence on Monday, Campbell said he raised concerns with the Major Crimes Squad, which appointed Bent as a liaison, that it would be a “heavy burden” on one person.
RCMP Const. Wayne Bent gives testimony related to support for family members at the Mass Victims Commission of Inquiry into the April 18/19, 2020 Mass Homicides in Truro, NS, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan)
But Campbell said as the team discussed it, they ultimately told him Bent could handle it on his own.
In his own interview with the commission, Bent said he “was a bit selfish” having worked hard to build relationships with people and wanted the same message to reach every family.
Bent had no special training to be a family liaison officer, and on Tuesday Campbell said he would like to see a specially trained national team that could respond to natural disasters, terrorist attacks or mass shootings anywhere in the country.
Family members of one victim, Const. Heidi Stevenson was the only one not dealing with Bent. Stevenson’s husband and children had one police officer assigned to them while her parents dealt with another member of the RCMP, Campbell said.
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