By Arthur Weinreb
Monday, September 10, 2007
Early last Tuesday five people were found dead in the upscale area of Oak Bay B.C., just outside of Victoria. They were later identified as Peter Kyun Joon Lee, 38, his wife, Yong Sun Park, 32, their 6-year-old son Cristian and Ms. Park's mother and father.
After the bodies were found the police, as they are wont to do, were slow in releasing details about what had happened. The cause of the deaths was not immediately released One of the earliest bits of information to emerge was that blood spatter experts had been called to the home. It also became quickly apparent that the lack of interest that the police showed in locating a suspect or suspects meant that they were satisfied that what had happened was a murder-suicide.
Once the names were released to the public the following facts regarding Peter Lee's background began to emerge:
All of this information was, of course relevant to give people some insight as to why Peter Lee did what he did. But surely the most relevant facts in Lee's background was how he kept getting released on bail after being charged with violent offences including a bizarre assault upon his wife. No, prior to the cause of the deaths being released (multiple stab wounds) it was assumed that Lee had shot his family and then himself because of the presence of the blood splatter experts. As revealed in their headlines, many in the media thought that the most important part of the Peter Lee's background was the fact that he had been a long time member of Canada's military reserves.
Toronto Star – Dad in mass killing had gun training
National Post – Dead suspect in alleged murder-suicide was reservist
Vancouver Sun – Murder-suicide father had military training
Seattle Times – Canadian military reservist blamed for death of four
The fact that Peter Lee was in the reserves and had received military training was singled out as the most important fact in his background. But he or anyone else hardly needs to go through military or any type of training to stab family members to death. But the media didn't merely jump to the erroneous conclusion that Lee had used a gun to kill his family; they jumped to the conclusion that Canada's military had somehow provided him with the training that was needed to murder his family.
It's bad enough when scenarios are reported that, no matter how logical they seem at the time, turn out to be wrong. But in this case there seemed to be a quick attempt by some in the media to blame the Canadian Forces for providing Lee with the ability to commit mass murder. Not only was it wrong, but it was highly unfair to blame the military for what in the end had absolutely no relevance in what took place. In the absence of real evidence that Lee had used his military training in order to kill his family, the fact that he served in Canada's reserves, apparently without incident, didn't warrant the restaurateur constantly being described as a reservist in headlines.
Even though we know that most of the media elites would love soldiers to put down their weapons, hold hands and sing Kumbaya, those that highlighted Peter Lee's military status went way over the line. They should apologize to the men and women who are serving or who have served in Canada's military – but of course they never will. The fact that Lee served in the reserves was no more relevant than the fact that he was a restaurateur. But being in the reserves was somehow worthy of a headline.
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