By Chelsea Laskowski

Melfort mayor ‘shocked’ as RCMP investigates murder-suicide

Jan 26, 2015 | 12:53 PM

A murder-suicide is something Melfort’s mayor, Rick Lang, would expect to hear about in a big city, not his own community of 6,000 to 6,500 people.

However, that was the reality in the small farming city over the weekend.

Melfort RCMP reports a woman, 48, and man, 46, died in an apparent murder-suicide on Friday night. They were found in a 12-unit, three-storey apartment. The scene has since been released.

Const. Regan Ulinski with Melfort RCMP would not state what was happening in the unit when police were called that night.

Lang said he got a phone call from RCMP with more information that Saturday morning, the day after the incident, and that “it was apparently related to a domestic situation.”

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Melfort’s RCMP is releasing very little information at this time, and declined to confirm Lang’s comment.

“The fact that it happened in our community I guess is just a little surprising for us because it’s something you don’t wake up in the morning and expect to hear about,” Lang said.

The RCMP will say it’s not looking for any suspects and there is no public risk.

 “There is no danger to the community itself from that perspective,” Lang said. “This is just, unfortunately one of those things you don’t see coming, but you really have no control over.”

He said the community has always been viewed as safe and they will “continue to do that.”

Coming on the heels of a high-profile murder-suicide in Alberta in which the shooter killed eight people– including his wife and young son – one may wonder if there was anyone else involved.

That’s not the case here, Lang said.

“As far as I know there were no children living at home. There, apparently, are some older children, but no one connected with the actual domestic situation itself.”

Once again, Ulinski would not confirm this.

Lang used one word to describe his reaction to the news of the deaths – shock.

“I guess there was some shock for sure because our community isn’t immune to this, but it certainly is something that doesn’t happen very often,” he said.

“All communities in Saskatchewan have to realize, you’re not immune to that. It can happen anytime, anyplace. And it’s just so unfortunate that those types of incidences happen at all.”

On a more personal level, Lang said he can’t wrap his head around how a murder-suicide is committed.

“Obviously there’s a trigger somewhere, where this is seen as the option that’s a solution, which it really isn’t a solution. I don’t understand it, probably never will,” he explained. “I just, I can’t rationalize it myself, so it’s really hard. Hard to figure out why these things happen.”

He said domestic situations that lead to violence of this nature confirm the need for shelters like North East Domestic Violence Shelter. The transitional home for women and children escaping abusive homes was almost complete in Melfort before a fire destroyed it almost two months ago.  

Melfort RCMP is holding off on releasing the victims’ names until they’ve spoken with the next of kin.

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, and the RCMP said it will give more details at that time.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk