Reporting on a murder-suicide

Posted by Phil Andrews

There has been some recent commentary on this blog about whether there is news value in reporting on deaths being the result of a murder-suicide.

I was pondering this dialogue in digesting the reports this week of just such an incident in a New York State college setting.

I find it newsworthy and very relevant to make public whether Ontario deaths may be of this nature -- particularly amid the context of our premier leading a very conspicuous campaign where we seek to confront domestic and sexualized violence. If there is a murder in such circumstances, I believe that's an important fact to make public and to note socially.

Reporting on suicides needs to be done with care. I appreciate that. But disclosing some homicides and not others seems inappropriate to me.

Comments

[Troy Bridgeman]

I agree Phil and I am happy to see you are not endorsing the OFM and the SIU's secrecy trend. Secrecy is the enemy of democracy and a free and uncensored press is essential to ensure a healthy democracy. I appreciate the sensitivity of this and cases like it but I don't see how keeping the facts from the public will make the tragedy any easier for the family or friends of the victims.
There appears to be extenuating circumstances and unanswered questions about the involvement of police and emergency services personnel i.e.: jurisdiction, arrival time, foreknowledge, misinformation etc. and the public expects the press to investigate and report on this. I understand why police and other authorities would want to keep these things secret but that is not how things are supposed to work in a free society.

[Troy Bridgeman]

My apologies. The bottom paragraph of the above post was intended for another comment section on this blog i.e.: "the FOI request for fire report declined"

[stephen s]

Troy: Yet again, we're on exactly the same beam. All I can produce after searching again this evening is anecdotal answers.

Phil: Pardon my posting this in full, hopefully being the TorStar extended family extends grace for doing this:

TorStar
By: Jane Gerster Staff Reporter, Published on Fri Jul 11 2014

[The Ontario Provincial Police are keeping secret how a father and his two young sons died after their bodies were found in a burned-out car near Barrie.

Even after the investigation closes, it will take a freedom of information request for the public to learn the exact cause of death for Samuel Masih, 36, and his two young boys, Tyrese Sutherland, 10, and Santosh, 4.

The rigid OPP policy not to disclose runs contrary to the practices of every other police service in the Greater Toronto Area. The RCMP was unable to provide their practice by deadline.

At Toronto, Peel, York, Durham and Halton regional police services, the standard is to reveal cause of death except when it might harm the investigation or a future court case.

The Mississauga family was reported missing in the early morning a week ago. Masih’s wife said her husband told her he was taking the boys to a movie. Their charred remains were discovered in a burning vehicle a little more than four hours later, but it took until Wednesday for police to publicly identify the bodies.

Despite telling the Star, “we’re satisfied that the person responsible for the other two deaths perished in the vehicle as well,” Sgt. Peter Leon said the OPP never discloses cause of death while “the investigation is ongoing.”

“I don’t know why,” Leon said of the policy. “It’s just something that’s always been the norm.”

But “the norm” isn’t a good enough reason to withhold the information, argued John Sewell, former Toronto mayor and head of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition. .

“It would be very useful if the public were informed so we had some idea as to what was going on,” Sewell said. “There’s no good reason to keep it private unless it interferes with the investigation.”

In most GTA cases, it doesn’t.

“In virtually every case I can remember, we’ve released the cause of death,” said Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash.

“I don’t believe any (investigations) in the last few months have not had cause of death revealed,” said John Mans, detective sergeant in charge of the homicide, child abuse and sexual assault unit at Halton Police.

Even though police are not looking for other suspects in the murder-suicide, Leon said the policy stands. “There’s always a possibility that some information could be received down the line that leads us in a direction that perhaps we didn’t know about,” he said.

Further troubling Sewell is that even after the investigation closes, the public would need to file a freedom of information request to find out cause of death.

By contrast, the regional police services would release cause of death to the public following an investigation’s close unless it would negatively affect court proceedings — and even then, the public would hear it later in court.

“After the investigation is closed, you should be able to get the information,” Sewell said. “You should be able to get it because there’s no interference.”

The public wouldn’t even be able to get the information from the Coroner’s Office, since the Coroner’s Act only gives permission to release death investigation information to next-of-kin, a family’s personal representative, or other members of the investigative team.

And in cases similar to that of Masih and his sons, where the suspect is dead, the information would not come out later in court.

“There shouldn’t be fixed circumstances” for accessing the information, said Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal. “I would hope every police service would have a policy that’s flexible.”

It’s within the OPP’s discretion to disclose cause of death, according to a spokesperson for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. The spokesperson declined to comment further, since “the OPP has indicated they require an FOI request before they release the information, therefore it may come before us on appeal.”]

With files from Todd Coyne and Brian Platt

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2014/07/11/opp_wont_say_how_father_and_sons_died.html

I must leave it at that for now, but will search further to find some legal challenges on this, as there must have been.

[Tony L]

REPOST FROM ANOTHER BLOG:

A lot of people are talking about the "public's right to know". I am not going to argue about what the public has a right to know because I don't have the legal answers to that (and neither do you stephen s no matter how much you copy and paste).

But I have a question for all of you on here (Troy, stephen s and others) complaining that you don't have all the information: Why do YOU care so much? Were you friends or family of the people involved? It doesn't appear so. Is it because you are the type of people who love to gossip and this another juicy tidbit? Is it because you naturally mistrust the government and use any excuse to claim a conspiracy.

Or is it that you don't have lives of you own, and therefore have to involve yourselves in the lives of others to make yourself feel important.

Reporters at least have a reason as it is their job, what's your excuse.

Have a nice day.

[stephen s]

Tony writes:
[and neither do you stephen s no matter how much you copy and paste]
I never claimed I did, Tony. So what exactly is your problem? The entrenched democratic ideal of the right to know and freedom of information?

When a crime has been committed, why exactly should that and the relevant details be held back from the Public?

Because you or someone else says so? So how many other 'inconveniences' are being held back from us?

If there are details that will severely impact the well-being of living individuals, then let a COURT decide that, not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

The irony of the position of persons like yourself is that you are so quick to state "what have you got to hide" when it comes to having to identify yourself on demand to police.

And now you play the exact opposite hand when it comes to the Public having the right to know the cause of death of its members.

So tell me Tony...'what have you got to hide'? Freedom of Information must be blasphemous to you.

Have a nice day indeed.

[Troy Bridgeman]

Sorry Mr. L. You will have to file a Freedom of Information request to get that information.