Police in Ottawa have identified the three victims in a double-murder suicide in nearby Stittsville, Ont. that’s shocked the quiet community.
Police said Tuesday the bodies of 10-year-old Jon Alexander Corchis and six-year-old Katheryn Elizabeth Corchis, along with Alison Constance Easton, 40, were discovered inside their home.
Charges are not expected to be laid, police said, “due to the circumstances.”
A cause of death is expected to be revealed after the bodies of the victims are examined. Autopsies on the bodies will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Insp. John Maxwell told reporters on Tuesday that investigators will be speaking to friends and family of the victims in the coming days.
“This might seem like a cut-and-dry file; not necessarily,” said Maxwell. “That’s why we want to talk to a lot of people and find out if they saw anything along the way. We’re always looking for the prevention of the next tragedy of.”
The bodies were discovered on Monday evening when the children’s father returned to his Stittsville home, located about 30 kilometres west of Ottawa.
Maxwell said the father spoke to investigators Monday night.
“He was completely and totally devastated,” he said. “It’s horrific, it’s everyone’s worst nightmare.”
Maxwell said police had “very minor” contact with the family in the past, and described it as “barking dog complaint-type calls.”
He said the calls were “absolutely not” related to any kind of domestic violence.
Maxwell offered his support to firefighters, paramedics and police officers who were the first to arrive to on the scene, saying it was “very, very difficult” for them to see the bodies of the young children.
“Thank God there are men and women out there who go into the darkness like we do," he said.
Grief counsellors were called in to Stittsville Public School on Tuesday along with parent volunteers and extra supply teachers. The school had also lowered its flag to half-mast on Tuesday, in commemoration of Jon and Katheryn.
Residents in the Ottawa suburb said the two young children were well-known in the area.
“The neighbours we spoke to last night tell us they knew the children well,” CTV Ottawa’s Claudia Cautillo told Canada AM on Tuesday. “This is a tight-knit community. The home is just literally steps away from the public school.”
However, few details were known about the children’s parents, Cautillo said.
“In term of the parents, (neighbours) said they didn’t know too much about them. They were quiet, nice people, though, that lived in the neighbourhood for a few years.”
Neighbours on Tuesday stopped by to pay tribute to the victims, placing flowers and a memorial poem in front of the home, which was still cordoned off with yellow police tape.
