In the last year and a half of his life, Lionel Desmond suffered from paranoia, delusions, suicidal thoughts, nightmares and homicidal thoughts.
In 2015, he was having these thoughts on a daily basis.
The Afghan war veteran’s tortured mind was further delved into Thursday at the Desmond Fatality Inquiry in Port Hawkesbury. The non-fault finding inquiry is tasked with drafting recommendations in the hope of staving off incidents like the Jan 3. 2017 quadruple murder suicide perpetrated by Desmond.
After being discharged from the military in 2015, his care was transferred to New Brunswick’s civilian occupational stress injury clinic.
There, clinical psychologist Mathieu Murgatroyd struggled to rein in Desmond's anger at his wife so they could talk about his post traumatic stress disorder and depression.
In a December 2015 report, Murgartroyd noted that Desmond had dreams of catching his wife cheating on him and finding the man’s severed head.
“Then he wonders if (his wife Shanna Desmond) is actually cheating on him, so are we seeing his recurring nightmares and thoughts now invading his day-to-day beliefs? Is one transferring into another?” Crown attorney Shane Russell asked Murgatroyd.
To which the clinical psychologist responded, “That’s a fair point absolutely… are we talking about delusion here? I’m not sure.”
Desmond’s mental health went in waves, with good points but generally on a downward track.
In April 2016, he revoked Murgatroyd’s permission to speak to his wife or seek information from her.
“Then he changed his mind about (attending an inpatient occupational stress injury clinic in Quebec) and said he’d like to go ASAP,” Russell continued with his questioning.
“He wanted to get there and get there now? Why?”
Murgatroyd explained that Desmond was spiraling and desperate.
Two and a half months into the six-month program, Desmond checked out of the clinic against the wishes of the psychological staff there.
He moved home to Upper Big Tracadie to live with Shanna – about whom he’d had delusional thoughts and against whom his anger had been directed.
Murgatroyd attempted to refer Desmond to an occupational stress injury clinic in Halifax, but he declined and said he would seek care in Antigonish.
The psychiatric department at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish found out about Desmond when he showed up at their emergency department in October 2016 in crisis.
They didn’t have access to his prior psychiatric files.
It was as they were still attempting to understand the man and conditions that on Jan. 3, 2017 he murdered Shanna, his mother Brenda and daughter Aaliyah before turning the gun on himself.
