Cpl. Gerry Rose-Berthiaume testified that witnesses said Lionel Desmond had struggled to cope after returning from war and had conflicts with his spouse that seemed to spiral out of control after a New Year's Eve incident.

The Sisters of St. Martha has an agreement with the Nova Scotia government, forbidding medically-assisted dying at St. Martha's Hospital in Antigonish.

Lionel Desmond, an Afghan war veteran, shot and killed his wife Shanna, 31, their 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah and his 52-year-old mother Brenda, before turning the gun on himself.