Psychiatrist Faisal Rahman analyzed the demeanour of an Afghanistan combat veteran as a video of him buying the rifle he would use to kill himself and his family played at an inquiry into their deaths.
Nova Scotia resident Lionel Desmond walked slowly in front of a display case, sizing up four different rifles and testing their weight in his hands. The man in the video looks calm.
He remained patient as he decided what to buy and paid for it.
The Afghan war veteran can then be seen leaving with the Remington Model 760 rifle he would use that evening to kill his wife, his mother, his 10-year-old daughter and himself.
After Dr. Faisal Rahman watched the surveillance video taken Jan. 3, 2017, at the hunting store Leaves and Limbs in Antigonish, N.S., he said he saw little out of the ordinary.
The psychiatrist has faced questions from lawyers at the fatality inquiry into the deaths of the Desmond family about why he focused on the veteran’s demeanour and his not history of combat, mental illness and marital conflict in deciding Desmond was healthy enough to leave hospital on Jan. 2, 2017.
Judge Warren Zimmer asked the psychiatrist for his professional opinion of Desmond’s state of mind in the footage.
The CBC’s Laura Fraser liveblogged from the inquiry in Guysborough, N.S.
Coherent and decisive
Rahman described the veteran as someone who looked composed, calm and able to get others to connect with him. Desmond can be seen talking with the business owner for most of the 15 minutes captured on video.
“He