Hundreds of mourners packed a 200-year-old Nova Scotia church today for the funeral of a former soldier and the mother he shot to death.
Rev. John Barry told mourners it was impossible to explain a "horrific tragedy" that saw 33-year-old Lionel Desmond kill his mother Brenda, wife Shanna, 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah, and then himself.
Barry said such tragedies can make it feel that all is lost, but only God has the answers.
A stiff wind drove the cold rain sideways as mourners arrived for the first of two family funerals.
Among mourners were members of the military, Royal Canadian Legion members and a few veterans wearing trademark leather jackets with their regiments shown on the back.
Lionel's Desmond's casket was draped in a Canadian flag. Family and friends say he suffered from PTSD after a 2007 tour in Afghanistan.