Reviewing response

Officials with the Thunder Bay Police Service say they conduct an internal review of their handling of some aspects of the case involving Joseph and Antoinette Lavoie.

The Murillo couple was found dead in their Murillo home Sunday following what police describe as a murder suicide. At about 1 p.m. Sunday the Thunder Bay Police Service Emergency Task Unit discovered the bodies of 69-year-old Joseph and his wife, 69-year-old Antoinette, in the couple’s home on Oliver Road.

The couple had a history of domestic violence police confirmed Monday.

Now the local police force has been met with criticism for their handling of a previous domestic case involving that same couple.

Officials with the Faye Peterson Transition House said Mr. Lavoie was charged with aggravated assault causing bodily harm following an incident in the home back in August. They say Lavoie was then released from custody, which goes against provincial domestic violence protocols.

Police confirmed that they will conduct a review of the incident, but officials said they could not provide comment until that review is complete.  

The results of a post-mortem examination of the victim revealed that Antoinette Lavoie was killed by a single gunshot wound and Joseph Lavoie died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
 
“The preliminary findings were very clear that this was indeed a murder-suicide,” Thunder Bay Police Service spokesman Chris Adams said Monday.

Police did not specify where the single-gunshot wound on Antoinette’s body was located.

The gun used in Sunday’s incident was unregistered and its origin is still under investigation.