Boundary Road incident confirmed as murder-suicide
Sault Ste. Marie police have finally released more information regarding two sudden deaths that occurred May 1 at a residence on Boundary Road, confirming on Tuesday that these deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.
An investigation revealed that the incident involved a married couple, with the husband strangling his wife before the former took his own life by "self-strangulation," according to a news release from police.
The wife was located inside the residence whereas the husband was found outside the house in a vehicle.
When The Sault Star arrived at the scene on May 1, an abandoned Toyota Rav4 could be seen sitting outside the residence with its driver-side door ajar.
The Star later canvassed the neighbourhood, with nearby residents saying they knew very little about the elderly couple, outside of the fact that they've lived in that bungalow at 581 Boundary Road for a long time and mostly kept to themselves.
"This appears to have been an act of intimate partner violence. It is an isolated incident," Sault police said in Tuesday's news release. "Identifying information is not being released."
This May 1 incident is not the only high-profile act of intimate partner violence that has spilled onto the streets of Sault Ste. Marie recently.
Last October, Bob Thomas Hallaert shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Angie Sweeney and his three children (aged six, seven and 12) before taking his own life.
Hallaert also wounded his ex-wife Kim Rose during this shooting rampage that took place at two residences on Tancred Street and Second Line West.
In the wake of this shooting, several community groups have taken a more proactive approach to deal with intimate partner violence in Algoma.
The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service launched a new pilot project back in March to improve officers' response to IPV-related calls that do not result in charges.
This project includes updating dispatch policy, enhancing dispatcher training and routinely reviewing calls for service to “ensure there is a high quality of professionalism, empathy and decision making by our staff,” according to Chief Hugh Stevenson.
Sault police claimed earlier this month that these stepped-up IPV efforts have prompted charges in four cases, with officers making 271 callbacks to persons involved in non-charge calls for service since March.
Sault-area advocates have also been active in promoting Bill C-332, a piece of federal legislation which aims to criminalize coercive control in relationships by amending the criminal code.
Members of Sweeney's family and advocates like Dan and Michelle Jennings, whose daughter Caitlin was allegedly killed in London, Ont. by her partner David Yates, visited Ottawa earlier this month to witness this bill pass the House of Commons.
kdarbyson@postmedia.com
The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government
Kyle Darbyson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Sault Star
