After analyzing the death of Jonathan Pomares, who took his own life in Montreal in 2019 after killing his two children, the coroner ruled that all this violence was directed towards his ex-spouse and was akin to “a form of settling scores “.
On October 22, 2019, the mother found her two young children dead in her home, stabbed to death. There was also the body of her ex-husband.
Ten days earlier, she had told him that she was ending their relationship.
The 40-year-old man then reacted strongly, drank a lot of alcohol and expressed suicidal remarks.
The next day he shaved his head and drank again with ibuprofen tablets.
Without further ado, the woman called 911. On the spot, the responders found an “aggressive and uncooperative” man, writes coroner Stéphanie Gamache in her report released on Tuesday.
He is taken to the hospital, where he is placed in protective custody because the psychiatrist who evaluates him judges him in “severe decompensation” and considers that he represents a high risk for himself, and that he is also ” unpredictable for others”.
Two days later, he was assessed a third time and discharged.
On the day of the tragedy, while making arrangements for the children, he questions his ex-spouse about the state of their relationship. She confirms that she wants to end it.
After having consumed a lot of alcohol that day – which is confirmed by toxicological analyzes – the man takes the life of Élise, 5 years old and Hugo, 7 years old, then his own.
After analyzing the facts of the case and its context, the coroner underlines that a suicide attempt in a context of separation is a suicidal risk, but also a homicidal risk. It can also be “an extreme expression of control”, she continues, “since it aims to maintain its hold on the person who wishes to end the relationship by taking an action to delay or completely avoid the rupture” .
In the case of Jonathan Pomares, she writes that all the violence of his acts “is clearly directed towards the ex-spouse and can even be akin to a form of settling of accounts”.
This is why the coroner recommends ongoing training in domestic violence for doctors, nurses and other stakeholders and employees of the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and that of Centre-Sud-de-l’. Island of Montreal.
She also suggests developing a homicidal risk assessment grid when a suicide attempt occurs in the context of imminent separation.