Family tragedy: Togolese man living in Canada kills his two daughters and commits suicide

The Gatineau Police Service (GPS) in Canada confirmed Thursday "beyond any doubt" that the two girls found dead Wednesday in Aylmer were killed by their father before he took his own life.

" Following the SPVG's investigation, the expert reports of its Forensic Identification Service, and the autopsies performed in Montreal by experts from the Forensic Sciences and Legal Medicine Laboratory, it was determined that this was a double murder followed by suicide ," the SPVG explained in a press release.

SPVG spokesperson Andrée East had argued earlier Thursday that the family tragedy hypothesis was what was being primarily investigated.

The identities of the two girls and their father have also been revealed. The two children are Orli Kpatcha, aged 3, and Liel Kpatcha, aged 5. Their father, Essodom Kpatcha, was 51. According to the SPVG, the bodies of the two girls showed no signs of violence. 

SPVG management stated that it set up a crisis unit from the start of the intervention to provide the necessary psychological support to police officers and civilian employees who felt the need. The Service also claims to have collaborated with its partners in the school environment and the early childhood center attended by the two girls to ensure the establishment of crisis units as well. 

SPVG police officers were called shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday to a residence on Dunkerque Street for a welfare check. Upon arrival, they discovered the lifeless bodies of the two girls and their father, and their deaths were pronounced.

The SPVG command post and the Forensic Identification Service were deployed to the scene. Rue Dunkerque was closed for most of the evening to allow time for the investigation to continue. 

Neighbors in shock

Residents of the neighborhood were still in shock Thursday morning.

" I had trouble sleeping ," admitted a neighbor who lives across the street from the house where the father and his two children were found dead.

" It's a little difficult. It's a quiet neighborhood. We never thought something like this would happen. It's disturbing ," she added.

According to neighbors, police and paramedics attended the scene about a month ago following a couple's argument. 

" The man injured the woman's face and eye. The woman went to the emergency room, and the man left with the police. I looked after the children for one night ," explained the immediate neighbor. The man and woman were in the process of divorcing, she said.

The children were in joint custody, another neighbor said.

The man is said to have moved into the house during the summer.

A local resident came to place a bouquet of flowers on Thursday morning on the bench next to the exterior door of the house where the victims lived.

Source: https://www.ledroit.com

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