Five Bodies Found After Apparent Murder-Suicide In Victoria, BC
Posted September 4, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It is the kind of neighbourhood you might compare to Rosedale or the Bridal Path. It’s called Oak Bay, a suburb of Victoria and it’s the last place in Canada you might expect to find this kind of terrible crime. But police were called to a home in the wealthy suburb Tuesday and discovered the worst thing possible – five dead bodies in an apparent murder-suicide.
Cops received a 911 call about trouble at a residence around 3am and rushed to the address. When they arrived, they discovered a tragic scene involving four adults and a young child. All were from the same family.
The mystery of what happened inside may take some time to sort out. The windows of the expensive home had been blown out (top left), although it’s not clear what caused it. Police have been there for hours, making sure no one gets near the house. The bodies are likely to stay in the residence until forensics experts are done processing the evidence.
Cops are being tight lipped about what they’ve found, but the coroner indicates it appears no shots were fired but that someone tried to set something on fire inside. “Use your imagination,” one unnamed officer relates. “It’s bad, for 30 years of doing this, it’s bad.”
Neighbours say a young family – including a man and a woman in their 30s – and two children lived in the home. At least one indicates a relative may have recently arrived from Korea. “The mother or mother-in-law, was coming over to visit them for a couple of months, in fact was thinking of moving here,” explains a neighbour named George. “He wanted to buy one of my properties.”
So far authorities have only confirmed one thing – they’re not looking for anyone in connection to the slayings. “We believe we have the suspect in the home,” admits Sgt. John Price Of Saanich Police. “We certainly believe it was not a random act. We believe that the suspect and the deceased parties are known to each other.”
Those who live nearby are stunned at the sudden violence that has descended on their area. “I got up at 4am and I could see the police vans, I could hear noises,” recalls Maureen Ross. “I said to my husband, it looks like there’s something going on up the road.” She thought she heard some loud pops, akin to either gunshots or someone setting off fireworks, but it wasn’t until the dawn’s early light that she learned the scope of the tragedy.
The home had just recently been put up for sale. The asking price: a cool $1 million.
