The release of new videos showing the long-time Nova Scotia mass shooter couple recreating what they saw and experienced on the night of the crash is raising questions about why police charged her during the weeks following the shootings.
The Mass Victims Commission on Wednesday released images of Lisa Banfield walking an RCMP investigator as she recalled what happened in Portapique, NS, on April 18 and 19, 2020, including how her partner beat her. and tried to handcuff her.
The recreation was filmed in late October 2020, six months after Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people while driving a simulated RCMP car.
A few weeks after filming the recreation, Banfield was accused of supplying ammunition to the gunman.
Finally, the Crown determined that there was no public interest in bringing the case to trial and instead referred the matter to restorative justice. Once completed, the criminal charge will be dropped.
“I have concerns about the timing and concerns that she was charged in the first place,” Banfield defense attorney James Lockyer said Thursday.
Erin Breen, a lawyer representing three groups of sexual assault and justice: Avalon Sexual Assault Center, Wellness Within and Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, said she is concerned about the sequence of events.
“It has always been a very worrying issue from our perspective. My clients were very outraged when they learned that Mrs Banfield was accused,” he said.
“Systemically it’s a problem when a survivor shows up and shares information about their survival behavior and ends up being charged in a criminal investigation.”
Banfield said he begged with a gunman
In videos released Wednesday, Banfield explains how the couple had celebrated their 19th birthday when they started fighting.
After spending the night, Banfield said the gunman pulled the covers off the bed and assaulted her, kicking her to the bedside. He then threw her around the cottage, which she noticed was already empty with gasoline, and set the building on fire once they left, she told the researcher.
Banfield said the gunman dragged her into the garage and tried to handcuff her.
“Looking into his eyes, there was nothing,” he said. “It was very cold.”
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from above: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Banfield was able to escape, without shoes, and hide for the next few hours, terrified that he would find her when he heard gunshots.
Medical records released through the investigation show Banfield spent five nights in hospital after suffering a rib and vertebra fracture, as well as major bruises and scratches since the night of April 18th.
Other documents made public Thursday as part of the commission dealt with how the gunman used violence, emotional abuse and other controlling behaviors toward Banfield for nearly two decades.
Promote more police training
Megan Stephens, a lawyer for Women’s Shelters Canada, said she is concerned that Banfield’s experience discourages other women from going to the police.
“I am concerned about the message people receive because sometimes the violence is such that people need to call the police; there is no one else who can intervene to protect them,” he said.
“But in this case, it seems like there were multiple failures, and the message I think women will unfortunately get if they connect these points, if they themselves live in abusive relationships, is that I don’t know if this is the right choice for me. “.
MIRAR | The investigation hears the spouse of the NS mass shooter about years of abuse and control
The investigation hears the spouse of the NS mass shooter about years of abuse and control
Public investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting released a dramatic and unpublished video and testimony of the gunman couple on Wednesday. He described having suffered years of ill-treatment at the hands of the gunman, including the night he killed 22 people.
Breen said he hopes the commission’s work will at least spark a conversation about how police and the justice system should address the couple’s abuse.
“You see it quite often in situations where women defend themselves with a violent conformation, they end up being accused of aggression themselves,” she said.
“The current policy of pro-arrest, pro-prosecution, pro-trial eliminates any option or power to the person who has survived the violence.”
Stephens said he also hopes police will have more training on how to better recognize and respond to abuses, including controlling behavior.
Lisa Banfield’s running shoes, lost while fleeing Gabriel Wortman, show how commission attorney Gillian Hnatiw presents a founding document on the violent behavior Wortman directed toward Banfield, her de facto spouse, in the Commission investigation into mass killings on mass killings in rural areas. Nova Scotia on 18 and 19 April 2020 in Halifax on Wednesday 13 July 2022. Wortman, dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a replica of the police cruise, killed 22 people. (Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press)
“Intimate partner violence not only involves discreet acts of physical violence, there are other ways in which control and coercive behavior can really lead people to get caught up in situations and not have control,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there is not enough training to prepare the agents who are on the front line. Even more so in some of these rural communities where there are no specialists, there are generalists.”
Banfield felt “betrayed” by the filming of the recreation
In an interview Banfield granted to a commission attorney in April this year, he said he felt ambushed by the filming of the recreation.
He said he wanted to meet the RCMP sergeant. Greg Vardy at the Portapique country house so he could see where his sneakers had been and where he had been hiding overnight. It was the first time he had returned to the cabin since the night of the commotion.
“I heard people think I was lying about what happened, it’s like I thought if I went up there for the first time, I want someone to see it, you know, to find my shoes, to find that tree. To find the things I tell you happened, ”he said.
But Banfield said that when he went to meet Mountie, he had brought a small audio and video equipment.
“I felt like I had been betrayed,” he said.
Her sister, Maureen, later participates in the interview. He said Banfield was not in the right mental shape to do the recreation.
“Here’s what I think is probably the deepest betrayal when it comes to manipulating her that is being investigated without our knowledge,” Maureen Banfield said.
“It was horrible and I think he was very doomed for her mentally, and that’s for me, I think, the most blatant thing that happened in terms of her well-being and putting her first.”
Banfield is not being investigated during filming
An RCMP spokesman said Banfield was not under investigation at the time of filming the recreation.
“The recreation of the video of the victim / witness was related to a period of time in which Ms. Banfield was the victim of multiple crimes. Since she was not under investigation, it would not have been appropriate to endow her with the rights granted to a person who is being investigated for a crime or who is under arrest, ”Cpl said. Chris Marshall.
“Lisa Banfield received the reason for the arrest, the rights to the lawyer and the police warning, as required by law, during the investigation in which she is charged with ammunition-related offenses.”