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WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicidal ideation and harm to children.
A psychiatrist with British Columbia’s Northern Health authority called for a new mental health hospital in B.C. in her testimony to an inquest into the deaths of a Prince Rupert family.
The coroner’s inquest has heard that Christopher Duong was suspected by police to have killed his wife Janet Nguyen and their two young sons on June 13, 2023, three days after he was detained under the Mental Health Act but then released a few hours later.
The inquest also heard Nguyen was believed to be a “willing participant” in the deaths.
A coroner’s inquest is a non-fault-finding inquiry that aims to determine facts related to a death, make recommendations to prevent similar deaths and to ensure public confidence in the process.
Dr. Barbara Kane was asked if resources at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, where Duong was assessed, could have influenced the decision to release him, with inquest counsel Steven Liu saying the hearing has heard the locked detention room at the hospital was “akin to torture.”
Kane says it’s a judgment call that is “not easy,” but she’s sure that some patients are discharged before they should be, because of a lack of appropriate resources.
She says patients “used to go [to] Riverview,” the psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam. B.C., that was closed in 2012, but doctors “don’t have that anymore.”
The hearing in Burnaby, B.C., has heard that Duong was released after an assessment by a doctor at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital who was also his longtime family physician, and who found him to be “friendly and calm” at the time.
In the wake of downtown Vancouver’s two random attacks that left one victim dead and the other severely injured, supporting individuals experiencing mental health challenges while keeping the public safe is top of mind. Marina Morrow, chair of the school of health policy and management at York University, joins Dan Burritt to discuss the recurring discussion around reopening the hospital to a greater capacity.
Kane says safety plans for patients detained under the Mental Health Act normally aren’t done if they are subsequently released.
Asked for recommendations about psychiatric care, Kane said that the lack of a psychiatric hospital in B.C. has caused backups in patient care.
“We need a psychiatric hospital in B.C., a real psychiatric hospital,” she said, adding that maybe the province needed “a couple of them.”
Police apprehended Duong after he was found driving around Prince Rupert at 2 a.m., with Nguyen and their boys aged two and four, saying they had to keep driving or they would be killed in a “hit.”
Duong was known to police due to a history of weapons charges, while a notice of civil claim filed by B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture in 2015 describes him as a “violent gang member and drug trafficker.”
But an RCMP officer told the inquest on Thursday there was no evidence that anyone else was involved in the deaths of the family, who were found dead together in a bed in a home belonging to extended family.
The officer said a video “last will and testament” was found on the couple’s phones.
Testimony is expected to wrap today at which point a jury will deliberate on non-binding recommendations.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to look for help:
If you’re worried someone you know may be at risk of suicide, you should talk to them about it, says the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Here are some warning signs:
- Suicidal thoughts.
- Substance use.
- Purposelessness.
- Anxiety.
- Feeling trapped.
- Hopelessness and helplessness.
- Withdrawal.
