Police investigating grisly Calgary murder scene

Praxius

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Police officers stand in front of a house that was the scene of a multiple murder in Calgary, Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...lgary_deathsFollow_080529/20080529?hub=Canada

Police investigators in Calgary will spend Thursday trying to figure out who killed three adults and two little girls in an upscale neighbourhood in the city's northwest.

A family acquaintance arrived at the home Wednesday morning and found the bodies of two young girls, ages four and six, and three adults in their thirties.

Only one person remained alive in the house -- the one-year-old girl whose crying prompted the acquaintance to venture inside.

Police are calling the deaths a "domestic homicide," although they have not released further details of how the occupants died.

Their bodies, found scattered throughout various rooms of the house, were removed Wednesday night around 10 p.m., said CTV Calgary's Bill Marks, reporting from the scene Thursday morning.

"The most pressing (question) seems to be why was the one-year-old little girl spared and who among the dead was responsible for the killing spree," Marks said in an interview on CTV's Canada AM.

"One of the many questions that may never be answered is 'why.'"

Calgary police chief Rick Hanson said Thursday that investigators will be trying to piece together what happened in the days and hours before the murder and also trying to determine whether anything could have been done to prevent the deaths.

Police had not been called to the house for any previous domestic incidents.

Neighbours described the father of the children as "loving" and said he was studying to be an architect. The children's mother has been on maternity leave from her job as an occupational therapist.

"They were a warm and caring family," neighbour Jerry Hauge said Thursday. "They really cared about each other and all the neighbours up and down the street."

Appearing on Canada AM, Hauge is the president of the Dalhousie Community Association, which houses a kindergarten program that was attended by one of the slain children. He said the father would often offer help on architectural matters to the association.

He said area resident are still in shock.

"We were out on the streets talking to one another and supporting one another," he added.

Police believe the third adult found in the house was a tenant.

The one-year-old girl is being cared for by social services while authorities try to find members of her extended family.

Many of the officials who dealt with the crime scene have sought counselling. Some are referring to the deaths as Calgary's worst mass murder in 20 years, said Marks.
 

#juan

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The thing that pops into my mind is the "tenant". According to everybody who was asked, this was a wonderful, loving, family. Who was the tenant? How long had he been there? Does he have a record? The news people haven't said much about him. I guess we will get the answers to these questions eventually.

I'm not thinking very well. It should be obvious to police who committed suicide if it was a murder/suicide.
 

karrie

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I don't understand why they don't know who it was if it was a murder suicide. What popped into my head is, was it any of them?

I can't even begin to express how this hit me in the gut today. The poor family. The poor person who found them. It brings tears to my eyes to think what that must be like.
 

#juan

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It spurs the imagination Karrie. The police would likely know if it was as murder/suicide. They are just not talking yet. Something makes this case special, or particularly gruesome enough to make all the police at the crime scene seek counceling.
 

Praxius

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The thing that pops into my mind is the "tenant". According to everybody who was asked, this was a wonderful, loving, family. Who was the tenant? How long had he been there? Does he have a record? The news people haven't said much about him. I guess we will get the answers to these questions eventually.

I'm not thinking very well. It should be obvious to police who committed suicide if it was a murder/suicide.

Well I'm not sure on all the details either, but I would imagine they have to make sure they contact all of the family which would be involved to notify them who was dead and who was still alive. From what I gathered from last night's report, they were still trying to track down their extended family to get someone to look after the child who survived the whole thing.

They were hinting towards this other tenant at the house last night pretty losely and referring to the family as a nice one..... they were leaning more towards this other tenant, however they had no actual information or evidence relating to this tenant in the first place, to attempting to speculate who did what remains to be seen.

It could have been the tenant, then again it could have been the mother or father finally snapping after being nice and helpful / masking that they have such a good family for so long.... nobody knows just yet and it's all just speculation at this point in time.

But it doesn't suprise me that they are not saying a whole lot to the media just yet..... it's still kinda new news at the moment, as it all occured just yesterday. I imagine futher details will be known in another day or two (three days top) ~ Due to the police officers who needed counciling, the impression of the crime scene's details and how many people were found dead and in what manner their bodies were found as...... chances are they're still trying to figure out how to properly explain the details to the public (on top of contacting family)
 

#juan

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But it doesn't suprise me that they are not saying a whole lot to the media just yet..... it's still kinda new news at the moment, as it all occured just yesterday. I imagine futher details will be known in another day or two (three days top) ~ Due to the police officers who needed counciling, the impression of the crime scene's details and how many people were found dead and in what manner their bodies were found as...... chances are they're still trying to figure out how to properly explain the details to the public (on top of contacting family)

I just read another small article and it turns out that the tenant was a female. That seems to put a different light on it though I'm not sure why.....
 

karrie

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It spurs the imagination Karrie. The police would likely know if it was as murder/suicide. They are just not talking yet. Something makes this case special, or particularly gruesome enough to make all the police at the crime scene seek counceling.

Man your signature is inappropriate on this one. 8O
 

karrie

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I just read another small article and it turns out that the tenant was a female. That seems to put a different light on it though I'm not sure why.....

probably because female murder suicide usually only involves a woman and her children. Slaughtering men is difficult for women, let alone a mother/father/children. Most women are too easily overpowered, especially by a desperate parent. But that's just 'usually'.
 

karrie

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My signature??? I wasn't aware I had one.

You have a smilie face at the end of all your posts, so there was a big ol' grin after that comment. It seemed odd (although I know that sigs are just automatic, I just felt like commenting).
 

#juan

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You have a smilie face at the end of all your posts, so there was a big ol' grin after that comment. It seemed odd (although I know that sigs are just automatic, I just felt like commenting).

No problem. The system wouldn't delete it so I changed it to a more neutral one....
 

karrie

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No problem. The system wouldn't delete it so I changed it to a more neutral one....

I hadn't meant for you to change it juan. I think we probably all end up with posts where our sigs end up looking odd.
 

#juan

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Btw, I just heard that the Calgary police think the father was probably responsible for the murders. He apparently called his parents the night before and told them he thought he was having a mental breakdown. Looks like he was right.
 

karrie

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Btw, I just heard that the Calgary police think the father was probably responsible for the murders. He apparently called his parents the night before and told them he thought he was having a mental breakdown. Looks like he was right.

Damn... one little cry for help. I didn't get nearly that bad, but I had enough of a break down that I'm booked in to see my doc. It's a shame he couldn't pull it together enough to try an option OTHER than slaughtering his family (if it was in fact him).
 

#juan

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Damn... one little cry for help. I didn't get nearly that bad, but I had enough of a break down that I'm booked in to see my doc. It's a shame he couldn't pull it together enough to try an option OTHER than slaughtering his family (if it was in fact him).

That little cry for help wasn't enough, but who could foresee this kind of thing? If only he'd called his doctor, or went to the hospital emergency ward....or something. He had already booked off work for the next day.
 

karrie

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That little cry for help wasn't enough, but who could foresee this kind of thing? If only he'd called his doctor, or went to the hospital emergency ward....or something. He had already booked off work for the next day.

There was a woman in the ER when my son broke his collar bone, who was there for just that. She was checking herself in. I did my best to convey my admiration without invading upon her.
 

dj03

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The city has gone nuts over the last week.

We had a guy pull off multiple carjackings with a gun throughout the city on Sunday, a fatal stabbing at the LRT two nights ago, this multiple murder yesterday and today three schools were locked down because some guy was hold up in a nearby house with a high powered rifle...in this case the wife got out.

I don't think that as of the time I posted this the last one has been resolved yet.
 

Praxius

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Update:


Simran Chandiramani, five, centre, and her twin sister Aarti, pray with their mother Alka and Calgary Police Service Const. Andrew Fuhrman on Thursday after placing flowers on the front yard of the home where five bodies were found. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)


Rochelle Lall, 3½, died along with her parents, her 5½-year-old sister and a tenant in their home.

Autopsy results may be withheld while police probe 5 Calgary deaths
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/30/calgary-deaths.html

Police hope to receive autopsy results Friday that shed light on the deaths of five people, including two young girls, in a northwest Calgary home, but details may be withheld during the investigation.

Police said it could be weeks before the autopsy findings are made public, the CBC's Lynda Calvert reported.

Meanwhile, a picture is emerging of Josh Lall, who was found dead Wednesday with his wife, Alison, their daughters Kristen and Rochelle, and a tenant in the house, Calgary magazine writer Amber Bowerman.

Neighbours said the dead girls were 5½ and 3½, respectively. A one-year-old girl was found crying in her crib, unharmed.

Police have said they consider Lall, a man in his mid-30s, to be the likely killer, although no final determination has been made.

There are reports that he was under extreme stress, working on a degree in architectural engineering and design while raising a family and holding down a full-time job at a Calgary architectural firm.

His father, Dominic Lall, told the Calgary Sun his son was distraught when he called his parents in Ontario a few days ago.

"He told us something was wrong — he had a mental breakdown or something," his father said. The couple was planning to fly to Calgary when they learned of the deaths.

Even so, Lall's colleagues, friends and neighbours describe him as a kind-hearted man who loved his family and was very involved in community activities.

Rob Adamson, the chair at architecture firm Cohos Evamy where Lall had worked for the past five years, said Lall shone at work designing buildings for the disabled.

"He was a very outgoing person in the project work he was doing," Adamson told CBC News.

Adamson said the job is high-pressure and deadline-driven, but added "Joshua always seemed happy at work and interested in his work."

He said he last spoke to his employee on Friday when Lall asked where he could take his wife for an 8th anniversary dinner. Adamson said Lall called in sick on Monday, and the day after called to request a week's holiday.

He said everyone at work wonders what led police to believe Lall could be responsible for the deaths.

"If that were in fact the case, it would be completely out of character and that's the biggest question on people's mind, is that it just simply doesn't make sense," he said.
Bowerman remembered as 'cheery and bright'

Meanwhile, friends and family are also mourning Bowerman, who had written for publications as diverse as Alberta Views and Calgary Real Estate News.

"Personally, I thought Amber was just a fabulous person," Colleen Seto, executive director of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, told CBC News.

"She always had a smile on her face. Always really positive and thoughtful. I can't imagine how her family are feeling right now."

Bowerman family spokesperson Ian Busby told CBC News the family is "devastated."

"It's hard to imagine this happening in anybody's family," he said.

"The troubling thing about how this is affecting everybody is she was one of those people that everybody sort of knows even if they don't know her by name. And they all know her as that wonderful person that's always, you know, cheery and bright."

He said Bowerman had described the home as a nice place to live, with a nice, normal family.
 

#juan

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