Accused killer Clayton Eichler has troubled history with women

Gary Ungar sayshe believes his daughter Brennan is "lucky to be alive" after an abusive relationship with a man now accused of murdering two women.

Ungar said early on in the relationship there were no warning signs.

"He was a charming guy," Ungar recalled. "You would never suspect him. He's just that type of personality."

Eichler has been charged with the first degree murders of Kelly Goforth and Richele Bear and the aggravated sexual assault of another woman in Regina.

He hasn't yet entered a plea to the charges against him. He's behind bars awaiting his preliminary hearing, expected this fall.

Eichler welcomed into girlfriend's family

Ungar said Eichler and Brennan started seeing each other in 2007.

"We were going to take him in as part of the family."

For months Eichler didn't work, so Ungar said he gave the young man a job in his construction company.

"He worked for one day, but he thought it was too much effort, too hard of work. So he offered his resignation after one day," Ungar said.

Ungar said Brennan was caught up in drug abuse so he said, in order to help her turn her life around, he and his wife Judy decided to help the young couple financially.

Brennan and Eichler had a baby together and Ungar said they wanted to ensure the boy was taken care of.

"We ended up supporting them and feeding them," Ungar said. "We paid the rent and bought the groceries."

"Judy had hoped that he would amount to something. He seemed to have some ambition but he just never amounted to anything."

Ungar says his anxiety about Eichler increased as he learned about his drug convictions.

In 2004, Eichler spent time in jail for possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.

According to court transcripts from 2008 obtained by CBC, Eichler's lawyer said he and Brennan "both have addiction issues, and that seems to be one of the main problems within their relationship."

The transcript indicates that late in 2008 Eichler and Brennan were attempting to break their addiction to crystal meth.

A judge is quoted as saying to Eichler, "you've obviously got some drug convictions, so obviously substance abuse is a live issue as far as you're concerned."

The relationship becomes violent

Ungar said their relationship took on an increasingly abusive tone.

"It was domestic violence. He would beat Brennan up," Ungar recalled.

"We wanted Brennan to get out of the relationship but that didn't happen."

In November 2008, Eichler was charged with assaulting Brennan.

According to the court transcript there was a dispute between the couple about their child.

"When they met, the accused tried to take the child away from her and in doing so, the accused pushed the complainant to the ground." The transcript says Brennan was injured as a result.

Eichler pleaded guilty to assault in December 2008.

Judge Kenneth Bellerose urged Eichler to attend domestic violence and substance abuse programming and take it seriously.

He did, however, also note to Eichler "you don't have ... a history of domestic violence."

Judge warns Eichler

The judge said despite that, Eichler was at something of a crossroads.

"Obviously something broke down on this particular occasion, okay?" he said.

"And unless all your issues of substance abuse and -- and whatever issues are between yourself and her, you're probably going to be back before the court maybe on a similar sort of offence, okay?"

Eichler was given 18 months probation and ordered to comply with a number of conditions.

However, just months after pleading guilty to the assault, Eichler was charged with breaching his conditions by communicating with Brennan, and failing to attend both court and a probation office.

Eventually Gary Ungar's daughter got out of the relationship, but he said Brennan is still struggling with addictions.

"My daughter probably will never recover."

Ungar has found himself second-guessing his financial support of Eichler. But he said at the time it seemed like there was hope for him and his relationship with his daughter.

I knew the guy was a loose cannon, but to go as far as murder - it's hard to believe.- Gary Ungar

"We did things for them. Maybe stuff we shouldn't have done," Ungar said.

"Maybe we did too much for them. But they did have a future. A beautiful son. There was future there."

Ungar said he was stunned when he learned Eichler had been charged with murder.

"You never expect anything to go that far. It was shocking but not totally unexpected," Ungar said.

"I knew the guy was a loose cannon, but to go as far as murder - it's hard to believe."

Another former girlfriend alleges disturbing conduct

Another former girlfriend told CBC that when she started dating Eichler it was "like a honeymoon relationship."

She doesn't want to be identified because she's afraid of him and the people he associated with.

"It was like he was wooing me all the time, taking me to fancy events, parties or whatever, buying expensive champagne or kind of really showing me a good time."

But over time she said, the relationship took a dramatic turn, as she claims he became abusive towards her.

He really broke down my confidence that way and then it started a lot of sexual pressure-a former ex-girlfriend of Eichler's

She said it started with name-calling and escalated from there.

"He really broke down my confidence that way and then it started a lot of sexual pressure and then it didn't matter if we were out with our friends or by ourselves, whatever we did he had to dictate to me what I should say and do."

And then, she said, it took an even more physical turn like "spitting, punching, kicking, pulling my hair," she said.

"Like he was pretty crazy."

She said she became terrified of him and turned to Yorkton RCMP twice after particularly violent incidents "just because I felt very trapped and like I had tried to get police help or police involvement on a couple of occasions," but she said in the end they weren't much help.

CBC's iTeam asked Yorkton RCMP about these incidents, however police explained that even if they were reported they would no longer exist in their database. The system that logs police reports typically purges records of common assaults after several years.

Eichler was never charged with any crime related to her.

She said despite the way Eichler treated her, she was shocked when she learned of the murder charges.

"It just makes me put everything into perspective of how lucky I am to be alive."

CBC Saskatchewan is taking a closer look this week at missing and murdered indigenous women cases in the province. We are exploring everything from how mothers are raising their daughters differently to the role men play in finding a solution to what more needs to be done.

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