‘We still love him’: Family member of victim in Hillendale homicide investigation says

A woman who claims to be a close family member of the woman killed in Kingston’s Hillendale neighbourhood on Wednesday has spoken out, saying she hopes people understand that her family does not blame the man who killed her cousin.

Lyn Kelly says she is first cousin with Debbie Fardella, who she says was tragically killed by her husband Richard Fardella Wednesday morning.

Kelly says that she and others on Debbie’s side of the family understand that Richard had advanced brain cancer, and this was completely out of character for him.

“He was a good husband who loved his wife dearly, something just went wrong,” Kelly told Global News.

Kelly is not the only person who has said that Richard was dealing with brain cancer.

A Facebook user named Lesley Fardella, who claims to be the niece of the victim and the accused, wrote in a post on social media that the accused was suffering from severe brain cancer at the time of his wife’s death.

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“My family suffered something unimaginable today and as devastated as we are over the death of my aunt, please know that my amazing Uncle Rick is in his final stages of brain cancer and really has no idea of what he has done,” the post read.

The owner of the Facebook account has not responded to several requests for comment from Global News, and Kingston police would not comment on the condition of the accused out of respect for the family, Finn said.

Kelly said she reached out to Global News because she wanted people in Kingston to understand that those on Debbie’s side of the family “still love him.”

“We still love Rick and think he’s a good person. He is not the villain in this, cancer is,” Kelly told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We still love Rick and think he's a good person. He is not the villain in this, cancer is," Kelly told Global News.

0:57 Kingston police investigating homicide in city’s midtown

Kingston police have not confirmed Debbie’s name, but did confirm that 59-year-old Richard killed his 60-year-old wife on Wednesday morning before 9 a.m. at his home at 177 Hillendale Ave.

Two phone numbers are registered at the home, an R. Fardella and a D.J. Fardella., and Debbie Fardella’s Facebook page shows images of her and Richard in several pictures.

Finn said other people were inside the home at the time of the incident, that police received a 911 call from inside the home, and that officers arrived at the Hillendale home shortly after 9 a.m.

Richard was charged on Wednesday with second-degree murder.

The judge has ordered that Fardella be assessed by a psychiatrist at the request of his lawyer.