Thread by @Tim_Bousquet

I'm at the proceedings of the Mass Casualty Commission. Today's discussion WILL include quite graphic descriptions of violence. If you want to avoid that, you can mute the hashtag #MCC

We have 4 detailed and inter-connected articles ready to go when the documents are tabled, which I think will be in about 10 minutes. Today, Brenda Forbes is testifying. #MCC

We've also just received an embargoed copy of the "Perpetrator's Violence Towards His Common Law Spouse" document that will be tabled tomorrow. I'm reading it now. #MCC

@MCC Lawyer Emily Hill is presenting the foundational document "Perpetrator’s Violence Towards Common-Law Spouse"

Here are our 4 articles...

‘A greedy, overbearing, little bastard’: the life of a terrible man, from university ‘asshole’ to mass murderer halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/a-gre… by me

A month before the mass murders, the perpetrator went to Pictou to kill someone else halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/a-mon… by me

Brenda Forbes tried to warn neighbours and the RCMP about the “psychopath” in Portapique years before he went on his murderous rampage. No one listened. halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/brend… by @joan_baxter

She had a bad date with the future mass murderer, went back to his apartment, and an RCMP officer walked in halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/she-h… by me

Hill: we think there are more people who were affected by the killer, and they haven't come forward #MCC

There is A LOT of information in the above 4 articles, and in today's presentation. It's impossible to cover it all in one day... I hope we hit the highlights. #MCC

Hill is now discussing "FF," the killer's ex-wife. I wrote about her experiences here: halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/a-gre… #MCC

Hill is discussing various women the killer was involved with. One is QQ, who met GW at The Thirsty Duck and then had a very odd and frightening couple of weeks with him. I wrote it about that here: halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/she-h… #MCC

There is an almost unlimited number of rude, aggressive, and obnoxious encounters with women. Many of these are in the above articles, and more are being recounted today and in the foundational document #MCC

Not at all to dismiss those women's experiences (quite the contrary — it's really important to hear about them), but the short of it is that GW was a complete and utter asshole, for his entire life #MCC

One of the most disturbing situations was GW's relationship with EE, a woman who lived in Portapique. I detailed those here: halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/i-did… #MCC

As I reported in that article, EE brought a 19-year-old woman, DD, to GW, so that he could have sex with DD. What was not clear when that article was published, but is now known, DD is EE's daughter #MCC

I'm not going to recount everything Hill is saying, because much of it is in the articles above. You can find them all on the Examiner's homepage: halifaxexaminer.ca #MCC

Hill is now describing complaints made to the Denturist Board. Here was GW's response: #MCC

In the end, the Denturist board reprimanded GW, suspended him for one month, charged him $8,000, and required him to attend a seminar entitled “Dealing With Difficult People: How to Communicate with Tact and Skill.” #MCC

Hill is now discussing Kip MacKenzie. A month before the mass murders, GW went to Pictou, looking to kill MacKenzie #MCC halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/a-mon…

GW told lots of people he knew how to get rid of bodies. Hill says there's no evidence that he actually did, but of course, if his boast were true, there wouldn't be evidence, right? But... #MCC

Forensic anthropologists conducted a thorough search of the Portapique property, and found no evidence of graves or additional corpses. I've done a bit of looking around for missing people in Maine, but can't reasonably connect any of them back to GW #MCC

Hill is finished with her presentation, and now we're going directly to the testimony of Brenda Forbes. #MCC

Forbes is testifying virtually, via Zoom. #MCC

Forbes lived in Portapique from 2002-12, at 293 Portapique Beach Road, nearly next door to GW's cottage. When she left Portapique, she sold her property to John Zahl and Joanne Thomas, who were killed in the murders #MCC

Forbes: at first we thought he was OK, but then we changed our opinion. Brenda and her husband were both employed by the military, and GW asked her to provide him ammunition. They refused #MCC

Hill: did you ever see him with guns? Forbes: yes, we'd see him firing guns into the water. My husband told him not to do that, it was a residential neighbourhood. But we didn't know he wasn't allowed to have weapons #MCC

Forbes: when we first got there, we would go over for drinks, and that's when I met Lisa Banfield. (It was 6 months or so before GW asked them to buy weapons and ammunition for him) #MCC

Forbes remembers that if Banfield was having a good time, GW would "grab her and pull her away" #MCC

Forbes: when the mass murders happened, I said, "oh my god, it finally happened" #MCC

Forbes: When I lived in Portapique I tried to warn people about him, but lots of people told me, 'oh no, he's a nice guy.' After the murders, lots of people contacted me to apologize, saying I was right #MCC

Hill is showing Forbes this part of her interview with police on April 22, 2020: #MCC

Forbes says she offered to help Banfield find help, but Banfield was too afraid that "he'd come after her" or her family #MCC

After that, Banfield was "not allowed" to see Forbes anymore. Forbes says after GW found out (through Glynn) that Forbes had reported GW to the RCMP for assaulting Lisa, "she wasn't allowed to come anywhere near me, at all" and "he started... stalking me" #MCC

As @joan_baxter relates here, Forbes would hide her vehicle in the woods so GW wouldn't know if she was home #MCC halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/brend…

Hill shows Forbes this section from the foundational document: #MCC

Hill is trying to determine when GW ruled that Banfield couldn't see Brenda Forbes. Forbes is uncertain, but says it was "both" after she told Banfield that GW had other women to the house and after Forbes reported him to the RCMP #MCC

This is the kind of intimidation that many other witnesses reported experienced directed at them #MCC

Forbes is discussing this incident. Glynn, the two Ellison brothers, and a neighbour also confusingly named Ellison (but first name) witnessed it. #MCC

When Glynn told her about it, Brenda reported it to the RCMP. "It got to the point where I knew she was going to get killed," says Forbes. She says the RCMP said Lisa had to report it herself. "They didn't even check on her" #MCC

Forbes is in obvious difficult health, with shakes and a partial stutter. It's been suggested to me that she has PTSD (I can't know that), but there's a definite contrast between her willingness to testify and various RCMP officers' reluctance and refusal to do so #MCC

Forbes say 2 male RCMP officers came to Portapique to respond to her complaint. They said she needed proof. #MCC

Forbes says that after her interaction with the RCMP, one of the people who were present during the attack on Banfield gave Forbes a photo showing as much. But Forbes can't now find the photo #MCC

Forbes again insists that when she was on speaker phone with the RCMP, she was sitting with Glynn, and she asked Glynn if he would make a statement. Glynn said "no," and that if he did, GW would kill him, as GW told Glynn that he had already killed a man in the US. #MCC

Forbes can't remember who she received the photo from. She didn't mention it in any of her previous statements. #MCC

After this experience, Forbes says she was afraid to live in Portapique, and she decided to move away #MCC

Forbes says that she and her husband sold their house at at $100,000 loss, and moved to Halifax, but then saw GW in Halifax. She didn't realize he had a business in Dartmouth. They decided to move out of Nova Scotia completely. #MCC

Forbes: "When I found out that some of people who were my friends down there [in Portapique}, I felt horrible." Then people in Portapique started calling her to apologize #MCC

We're taking a 20-minute break, and then the lawyers for victims' families may ask more questions. #MCC

We're back. Now, Megan Stephens is asking Forbes more about GW's controlling of Banfield #MCC

Forbes says that when GW was choking Banfield on the ground, there were 4 men there, looking on, and she said to them, don't interfere, it will only get worse #MCC

Much of what's being discussed has already been canvassed. #MCC

Forbes says GW gave "the guys" in Portapique booze and drugs, and in return they would do things for him #MCC

Forbes says the first time she went into GW's house, he showed her and her husband guns. The guns were hidden around the house, as was cash. The fireplace never worked, and there was money hidden into it. #MCC

Sandra McCulloch, who represents the Thomas/Zahl family is questioning Forbes. Forbes sold the home to Thomas/Zahl #MCC

Forbes: "I'm kicking myself now. The people that bought [the house] I didn't warn them about [GW]." GW wanted to buy it, but I told the realtor not to sell it to him. And he killed them, and burned down the house. #MCC

Forbes says she brought Joanne Thomas around Portapique to introduce her to "the good people" in the community, but not to GW, nor did she say that she was leaving because of him. Instead, she said she was leaving for health issues #MCC

Emily Hill follows up on Forbes' earlier statement that GW gave people drugs. Forbes says that when she moved to Portapique, there was a field of cannabis behind her property, and people working for GW were smoking dope #MCC

Hill is asking Forbes about her discussions with media. Forbes is confused. Says she hasn't spoken with reporters. She has. She spoke with @joan_baxter, for instance #MCC

Forbes is obviously quite tired and confused. Hill asks for a short break, presumably so she can refresh Forbes' memory. #MCC

In her interview with the #MCC, Forbes expressed anger at the media, for using her full name. Here are her comments:

I should note, the Examiner was the first media to speak with Forbes. She asked @joan_baxter not to use her name, but instead use her nick name, Boe, and we agreed. After that, however, other media used Brenda Forbes' full name #MCC

The Examiner article is now being introduced as evidence #MCC

Here's the article #MCC halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/he-wa…

We're done here. Once again, there is a ton of new material related to GW's attacks on Lisa Banfield, so I'll be reading and writing for the rest of the day. We start at 8:30am tomorrow. #MCC