The murders of 2 Oak Bay children by their father will come under the scrutiny of BC's representative for Children and Youth.
Last week Andrew Berry was found guilty of two counts of second degree murder in the deaths of 6 year old Chloe and 4 year old Aubrey.
Over the more than 5 month trial, evidence showed that Berry had a serious gambling problem, he was destitute, had almost no food in his apartment, and the power had been cut off -- and yet was allowed to have custody of his children over Christmas.
Representative Jennifer Charlesworth says there are always things that can be learned from such tragic cases, and assures her office has been monitoring the trial:
" You have a lot of things happening simultaneously. Domestic violence, mental health concerns, high conflict family law, an addiction -- in terms of a gambling addiction. And when you bring all those facets together, it makes it incredibly complex to figure out what's happening, and what needs to be done."
Charlesworth says her office can now initiate its own probe of circumstances, and while there are a few ways forward, she is leaning towards one in particular:
" We can do an investigation of this particular case that would lead to a report. You're probably familiar with the kinds of reports that come out of our offices in these situations. Or we can do a report in which issues such as that interface of domestic violence, mental health, child protection, and family law, all come together. And I'm leaning towards that."
The office started collecting information from the BC Coroners Service, and the provincial Ministry of Children and Family Development, less than a month after the murders.
Charlesworth will make a decision after taking a closer look at the trial and what transpired.