New details describe how the gunman who killed 22 people in the April 2020 massacre in Nova Scotia grew up in a home of violence and psychological torture, growing up to carry on the example set by a father he hated. The Mass Casualty Commission leading the investigation into what happened on April 18-19, 2020, when Gabriel Wortman went on a deadly rampage across the province in a fake RCMP car, released new documents Monday about the violence in Wortman’s family. Police interviews with various members of Wortman’s family, as well as his common-law wife Lisa Banfield, describe how the gunman was abused for years by his father, Paul Wortman. “He was never treated like a little boy. He was treated like an animal,” Glen Wortman, Paul’s brother, said in a police interview shortly after the massacre. Gabriel was raised as an only child in the Moncton, NB area by parents Paul and Evelyn Wortman. He has a sibling, biological brother Jeff Samuelson, who Paul and Evelyn had in 1970 in the US and put him up for adoption at birth. Samuelson finally learned about his birth family and met his parents and the gunman in 2010. According to the seminal document released Monday, the committee has yet to interview members of the Wortman family through its own team, despite efforts to speak with some of them.
History of violence in the Wortman family
Inquest documents said Paul has four brothers: Neil, Glynn, Alan and Chris. The two younger brothers, Alan and Chris, are retired members of the RCMP. In his statement to the RCMP after the mass shooting, Paul said he had grown up in a violent family “[w]there was more going on here than screaming.” Alan Wortman confirmed this in an interview with police and said their father Stanley – the gunman’s grandfather – was violent towards the three older brothers, but not their mother, him or Chris. In a letter to Samuelson after learning about his birth family, Neal described Wortman’s family history and how violence went back two generations to the gunman’s great-grandfather, George Wortman. He wrote that George was “a tyrant who brutalized his family” and his children, including Stanley, were “severely off-centre”. “All of them, to varying degrees, treated their wives and children the only way they knew how – the way their father treated his family members. Abused children often become abused parents,” Neil said. Paul Wortman’s siblings also described several incidents of abuse against his wife, Evelyn, and said Gabriel witnessed much of it. One brother said they never reported the abuse because they were all “terrified” of Paul.
Children’s incidents
The gunman’s childhood, and Paul himself, was key to understanding the entire rampage, Glynn told police, adding that Gabriel was “distorted.” There were several incidents that left a mark on the gunman, Banfield and others said, including one time Paul drove his son alone on a dirt road and Gabriel was convinced his father was going to kill him. Another time, Paul gave his son a gun and told him to shoot him. In his interview with the RCMP, Paul said he “had a hell of a temper” and screamed a lot, but “I never hit Gabriel.” Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulensin, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulensin, Sean McLeod, Alana Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC) Samuelson said Paul once told him a story about how when Gabriel was about two and a half years old, Paul decided Gabriel didn’t need his favorite blanket anymore “so he burned the friggen in front of him.” Banfield and Neal told police that when the gunman was younger than 10, Paul forced him to kill the family dog. “What does that do to a child?” Neal said. During the rampage in April 2020, the gunman also shot several dogs. Banfield said the gunman told her he didn’t feel his mother was protecting him from abuse. As a result, Banfield said the gunman “had no respect for women, and no respect for his father.”
Armed violence against the father
The gunman grew up and went to the University of New Brunswick, studying psychology. There he met his first wife and then became a funeral director and later established a dental practice in the Halifax area. On a family trip to Cuba around 2000, the gunman attacked his father, Paul, who said Gabriel beat him unconscious. Banfield, who was also on the trip, said the fight started because Paul was in denial about how he treated the gunman as a child. After the attack, Paul took Banfield aside and urged her to leave the gunman. He told her, ‘I’ve been a bastard to my wife, I’ve been a bastard to my son, and Gabriel is going to do the same thing to you,’” Banfield recalled to police.
Threats against parents
There was another incident in June 2010 when the gunman called Glynn and told him he was going to drive to his parents’ home in New Brunswick to kill them. Paul spoke to a Halifax Regional Police officer at the time, who was investigating the allegation, and said his son had several serious weapons, including handguns and long guns, without a permit. But Paul hadn’t seen them himself for more than five years, and without more information, the officer believed he couldn’t get a search warrant. When he spoke to police after the mass shooting, Paul said the massacre could have been avoided if “someone had done a little more pushing” around the threats.
The gunman’s medical history
According to medical records, the gunman was referred to psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Maynes in 2000. The gunman saw Mains four times. For these visits, the term listed on his chart is “narcissistic personality.” He also saw Dr. Cynthia Forbes in Fall River for high blood pressure in 2009 and reported a “history of alcoholism,” although the notes say he planned to stop drinking the following summer. At the time, Forbes suggested the gunman see a psychologist to help him deal with anxiety “but he wasn’t interested right now.” He did not return to Forbes until June 2018 and between then and January 2020 he visited her seven times for treatment of “benign hypertension”. “He had a horrible upbringing from a very dysfunctional family. And, um, he never asked for help … and … he fell down the stairs,” Chris said. Chris also told police he always knew the gunman was capable of killing someone, possibly his parents or Banfield, “but not to this degree.”
“That Could Have Been Me”
Samuelson said that when he was reunited with his family in 2010, the revelation that he had a long-lost brother was a “big bombshell” for Gabriel. The gunman had to go through a “horrific upbringing” on his own with no role models, Samuelson said. Chris agreed with that point, telling police he believes much of the animosity between the gunman and his parents stemmed from keeping his brother a secret. “It could have been me up there if ah, you know, if I had grown up in an environment like Gabriel,” Samuelson said. On Monday, the inquiry is also expected to hear from a panel of witnesses on mass shootings and masculinity, as well as an expert on domestic violence.
