Lee inquest resumes after long delay

A coroner's inquest into a multiple murder-suicide will resume Monday in Victoria after a 14-month delay.

On Sept. 6, 2007, Peter Lee, 38,killed his estranged wife, Sunny Park, their son Christian, 6,and Park's elderly parents before committing suicide.

The inquest into their deaths was suspended while a legal battle ensued.

At issue was coroner Jeff Dolan's bidto order Crown prosecutors to appear before the inquest but the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch won a court ruling denying that request.

"What we oppose is cross-examining individual Crown counsel because [of] the concern it will have a chilling effect on the prosecution service," Stan Lowe, a spokesman for the branch, said in May, 2008.

"People will not be able to freely exercise their discretion because they're concerned about one day being brought to an inquiry."

Jurors had indicated they want to hear from the two Crown lawyers Ruth Picha and Laura Ford who handled the case of a single-car crash involving Lee andPark.

The Crown has provided testimony at the inquest about why Lee was granted bail in a car crash case even after his wife had told Victoria police, who said they believed her, that her husband had deliberately tried to injure her.

Jennifer Power, who is Vancouver Island's head Crown counsel, reviewed the Lee file and testified on behalf of the two Crown lawyers involved in the case.

The jury also wanted to know why police didn't do more to enforce the conditions of Lee's bail.

In the month before the killings, Lee called Park, loitered on the edge of their property and did not honestly report where he was living to his parole officer, the inquest was told.

And Lee was never checked for weapons, although Park had told police her estranged husband always had a knife on him and another in the trunk of his SUV.

Lee's parole officer testified she asked police to investigate the allegations, and a bail review was scheduled for Aug. 18, 2007.Neither Lee nor his lawyer attended the hearing, so it was rescheduled.

On the day of the rescheduled hearing, Lee used a 10-centimetre-long knife to kill his family and inlaws before taking his own life with the same blade.

Lawyer concerned

One of the lawyers representing victims groups at the inquest is concerned about the effect the lengthy hiatus may have had on the jury.

However, Diane Turner said, she has confidence in the group.

"It will be a significant challenge for them to come back after all this time and remember the evidence and try to come up with some reasonable recommendations,"Turner said, "although I have every confidence that they are up for this job and I have a lot of faith in this process."

The inquest is scheduled for one week, and is expected to hear from the three police departments who were involved in the Lee case, along with members of a pilot project on family violence.