Regional Police update murder-suicide investigation
Posted Mar 11, 2011 11:48:14 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Waterloo Regional Police are ready to close the books on a murder-suicide that claimed the life of a Waterloo father and son.
Police spokesperson, Olaf Heinzel, tells 570 News investigators have now determined how 2-and-a-half year old Cameron Reeve died: he was drowned in the family tub by his father.
The father, 40-year old Edward Cameron Sheldon, took his own life by asphyxiation.
Heinzel says these conclusions were reached by post-mortem results in combination with how emergency responders found the bodies inside a Lincoln Rd. apartment back on February 24.
When asked if there was a history or any previous reports of mental health issues with the father, Heinzel says police had “some concern that there were some issues relating to the emotional state of the father.”
But he adds, police can not provide details at this time.
He says if there are early signs of difficulty in a family, police rely on family members to report it so pre-emptive action can be taken.
But Heinzel adds, unfortunately, not every situation can be prevented.
Heinzel says while the police investigation is shutting down now, professionals who deal with this kind of situation will be seeing if they can learn anything to try to prevent similar future tragedies.
Heinzel says the family is of course going through a terrible ordeal dealing with this situation, as are the investigating officers who had to sort through the graphic nature of what happened.
But he adds, the investigators are trained to cope with this sort of crime, but of course they are parents as well, and to see the death of a child is always difficult on a personal level.
