Father of girls found dead in Oak Bay on Christmas Day charged with 2nd-degree murder

The father of two young girls found dead in Oak Bay on Christmas Day has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Andrew Robert Douglas Berry, 43, was arrested and charged upon his release from hospital, the RCMP’s Island District said in a news release.

Coverage of the two girls found dead in Oak Bay on Christmas Day on Globalnews.ca:

2:07 Remembering two young sisters in Oak Bay tragedy

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Berry was taken to hospital with self-inflicted injuries after four-year-old Aubrey Berry and six-year-old Chloe Berry were found dead in his apartment.

The girls’ mother had called police on Christmas Day after their father failed to return them as scheduled. Police made the horrifying discovery just after 5 p.m. that evening.

Deputy Oak Bay Mayor Hazel Braithwaite said while people will be relieved charges have now been laid, the task of healing broken hearts is immense.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) continues to investigate the double homicide.

READ MORE: ‘Such pure hearts’: community mourns Oak Bay girls, aged 4 and 6, found dead on Christmas

“We’ve been engaged with them throughout this investigation and we’re very grateful for their tireless effort.”

Victim Services is also continuing to support the girls’ family.

Family dispute

Court documents reviewed by Global News reveal the girls’ parents had been locked in a bitter custody battle since their estrangement in 2013.

Last spring, documents filed by the mother found in a custody judgement suggested that Berry had threatened to “blow up the house” in a fight over money.

Concerns were also raised that he was inappropriately touching one of the girls.

Berry was warned by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) over that issue, but a judge later ruled it was in the girls’ best interest to spend time with him, and that he was “a loving father who has much to offer his daughters.”

The MCFD won’t comment on the specific case for privacy reasons, but said it is conducting a preliminary probe into whether an in-depth review is appropriate in the case.

More to come.

-With files from Liza Yuzda, Paul Johnston and Amy Judd