Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
National

Police, court documents reveal more details behind Edmonton mass murder-suicide

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Jan, 2015 05:42 PM
  • Police, court documents reveal more details behind Edmonton mass murder-suicide

EDMONTON — What was it that made Phu Lam so angry that he killed eight people?

The Edmonton maintenance man had been accused two years ago of abusing his wife and lashing out when he realized their eight-year-old son wasn't his biological offspring. He shot them both Sunday, along with other members of his wife's family, including a three-year-old niece. Yet he spared two other children who had also been in the north-side home — his toddler daughter and an infant nephew.

Lam dropped the two kids off at a relative's home the next day, then visited with other family before driving to another house to kill one last target. When that person wasn't at home, he shot dead an innocent woman who happened to be there.

Police revealed the details Friday and said they are still working to piece together the complex case and explain what turned 53-year-old Lam into a cold-blooded killer. All they can say for now is that it involved domestic troubles.

Court documents show Thuy Tien Truong, 35, had tried to escape her marriage to Lam before.

He had emigrated from Vietnam in 1979 and was visiting his home country when he met Truong in a coffee shop in 2000. They married six months later and she came to Canada in 2003.

Truong said in a 2012 application for an emergency protection order that her husband became controlling shortly after she landed here. Lam changed her phone number because he didn't want her to have friends. He wanted to choose her clothes. He didn't want her to work, but she got a job anyway.

Then he hit her. Once, he choked her so hard she thought she was going to die, she said. He threatened to kill her if she called police.

Truong said in the document that she was so unhappy she had sex once with another man. Lam became suspicious and a DNA test proved that their son, Elvis, was not his.

Lam planned "to actually kill off her whole family and he was going to look for a gun, but no one would sell it to him," a court interpreter said while translating Truong's testimony during an emergency protection hearing.

"He asked his ex-wife if she could find him a gun ... but the ex-wife told him not to do it because he has two kids with his ex-wife too."

The protection order was granted. It was revoked two months later when Truong failed to show up at court. Criminal charges against Lam — assault, sexual assault and uttering threats — were stayed. Prosecutors have said she and other witnesses recanted their stories.

The couple eventually had another child, but other court documents filed when Lam declared bankruptcy indicate they separated as early as February 2013. Police said they were trying to determine if Lam and Truong were still living together. Lam was listed as the owner of the home and police said he probably had a key.

Acting deputy chief Mark Neufeld told reporters Friday that autopsies confirmed that all eight victims were shot to death, but he refused to give further details.

He said investigators have received valuable help from the Vietnamese community, but added they may never fully understand why Lam exploded to violently.

"We struggle to try to put some sense to something like this," Neufeld said.

"We will chase down everything we can to try to find out the reasons why, because I think it's important.

"But at the end of the day you try to import rational thought into an irrational act and, a lot of times, it just never comes."

MORE National ARTICLES

Bhagat Singh's sister passes away in Canada

Bhagat Singh's sister passes away in Canada
Parkash Kaur, the younger sister of revolutionary and freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, has died in Canada, a family member said here Monday...

Bhagat Singh's sister passes away in Canada

Murder Trial Of Luka Rocco Magnotta Set To Begin In Montreal On Monday

Murder Trial Of Luka Rocco Magnotta Set To Begin In Montreal On Monday
MONTREAL - The trial in one of Canada's most publicized and shocking criminal cases is set to begin Monday with evidence being heard in the proceedings against alleged murderer Luka Rocco Magnotta.

Murder Trial Of Luka Rocco Magnotta Set To Begin In Montreal On Monday

Whitecaps move into playoff position with win over Real Salt Lake 2-1

Whitecaps move into playoff position with win over Real Salt Lake 2-1
VANCOUVER - Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson contemplated substituting Pedro Morales at halftime on Saturday.He's certainly glad he didn't.

Whitecaps move into playoff position with win over Real Salt Lake 2-1

Coroner's Inquest Into Lucia Vega's Suicide Could Peel Back Curtain On B.C. Deportations

Coroner's Inquest Into Lucia Vega's Suicide Could Peel Back Curtain On B.C. Deportations
VANCOUVER - A coroner's inquest starting Monday into the death of a Mexican national who hanged herself inside a Vancouver airport holding cell offers a rare chance to examine the secretive deportation process encountered by many migrants, says an advocacy group with ties to Lucia Vega Jimenez's family.

Coroner's Inquest Into Lucia Vega's Suicide Could Peel Back Curtain On B.C. Deportations

Montreal: Propane Tank Explosion In Apartment Building Injures Five

Montreal: Propane Tank Explosion In Apartment Building Injures Five
Paramedics say the two severely injured people had burns on roughly 80 per cent of their bodies but no impact wounds, which are typical in explosions.

Montreal: Propane Tank Explosion In Apartment Building Injures Five

Barrie MP Patrick Brown will seek Ontario PC leadership

Barrie MP Patrick Brown will seek Ontario PC leadership
Federal Conservative MP Patrick Brown officially jumped into the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race on Sunday with a pledge to break from a status quo he says has cost the party four straight elections.

Barrie MP Patrick Brown will seek Ontario PC leadership