Family photos show Ulla Theoret with Lily; her son Paul Theoret; and her parents, Raija and Olavi Turunen.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Ontario’s Domestic Violence Death Review Committee has decided that it will review the circumstances of a triple murder-suicide that took place in Burks Falls, Ont., last year.
Ulla Theoret, 55, was shot and killed in her home, along with her 28-year-old son Paul and her 88-year-old mother, Raija Turunen, by their neighbour Mark Jones on Feb. 23, 2018.
Ms. Theoret and Mr. Jones were not, and had never really been, a couple. But he had attempted to court the retired nurse, and a recent Globe and Mail feature detailed that in the years before the murders, his behaviour toward her had become increasingly aggressive and obsessive.
Five months before she was killed, Ms. Theoret reported to police that Mr. Jones had previously sexually assaulted her. It happened two years earlier, she told them, but her father had died in July, 2017, and she no longer felt safe. The officer described her in the interview report as “agitated.”
Because of the non-romantic nature of Ms. Theoret’s and Mr. Jones’s relationship, the coroner’s office said previously that they were still considering whether this case fit the scope of the DVDRC, which analyzes “all homicides that involve the death of a person, and/or his or her child(ren) committed by the person’s partner or ex-partner from an intimate relationship.”
On Wednesday, they confirmed a decision had been made that the case would be reviewed.
Ms. Theoret’s surviving sons, Thomas and Hans, are hopeful that this process could provide answers to some of the questions they have wrestled with for the past year and a half.
“It feels good to know that somebody, outside of this circle of people that have been dealing with it for the past year and a half, is going to look at [this case],” Hans said. “It’s weird to say that something like that feels good, but it does. It feels like people are hearing our story.”
The brothers only learned of their mother’s sexual-assault allegation after she was killed – and they do not know what came of it. They have asked the OPP for more information about their investigation, but many of their requests have been denied on privacy grounds.
The OPP would not discuss the case with The Globe because the force is mentioned (although not named as defendants) in a lawsuit filed by the brothers against Mr. Jones’s estate.
In an e-mail Wednesday, Emily Groot, regional supervising coroner for Ontario’s North Region-Sudbury Office, said that the information considered by the DVDRC includes “the history, circumstances and conduct of the perpetrators, the victims and their families. Community and systemic responses are examined to determine primary risk factors, to identify possible points of intervention and develop recommendations that could assist with the prevention of similar future deaths."
The mandate of a DVDRC review is similar to that of a coroner’s inquest – although the process is less public, and provides only a snapshot of the information that would be publicly available in an inquest. The coroner’s office has said it will not be calling an inquest in this case. But under the Coroners Act, relatives have the right to formally request one.
The Theoret brothers still believe an inquest in this case would be valuable. Because Mr. Jones also killed himself, there will be no trial. An inquest, they argue, could shine a public light on issues such as firearms policies and violence against women and mental health.
In the weeks leading up to the murders, Mr. Jones had confided in another neighbour that he had been diagnosed with dementia, and that his driver’s license was revoked. Thomas and Hans want to know why his firearms licences weren’t also taken away.
The 58-year-old used both a shotgun and pistol to kill their family members.
Ontario’s Chief Firearms Officer Dwight Peer told The Globe previously that his office cannot comment on specific cases, or say whether they are conducting any review into this one.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
Molly Hayes