An email entered into evidence at a fatality inquiry into the Lago Lindo explosion hints at what may have prompted the violence that left four people dead four years ago..
Dwayne Poirier confessed to strangling his wife in an email sent to his therapist shortly after the killing. (Supplied)
Dwayne Poirier sent the email to his mental health worker, Marlene Thio-Watts, moments after strangling his wife, Cathie Heard, on June 20, 2010.
In the email, released to the media Tuesday after an application from CBC News, Poirier confesses to killing his wife in a fit of rage and expresses his remorse.
“On (Saturday) afternoon, I came back to (the) house so … me and Cathie could go through and divide property,” he wrote.
The couple began arguing, so Poirier departed to the basement for a nap before waking to eat popcorn with Heard.
He retired to his basement bedroom once again, but Heard came down to argue over their possessions, he said.
She demanded he leave the home or she would call police, Poirier wrote.
Cathie Heard’s body was found in the basement of her Lago Lindo home. (Submitted by Lyn Morrison)
“I grabbed my suitcase and duffle bag as to leave when Cathie tried to grab my bag and said I was a rapist and a thief.
“As she grabbed for the bag, she also grabbed my right hand and scratched it and that’s when I hit her and threw her off.
“All I could see was her smug look at the (courthouse), laughing at me saying I was going to jail.
“I could not stand the sight of this and went blank and before I knew it I had choked her to death!”
Poirier wrote he was “deeply sorry” and “could not live with myself.”
“Dwayne Poirier. I can’t believe I took a life!” he wrote. “The disappointment I have caused my family is unbearable for me.”
Thio-Watts, who last treated Poirier one year prior to the killing, received the email two days later.
In the meantime Poirier removed a cap from the natural gas line leading to the home and opened the valve on a propane tank.
Though investigators are not certain what ignited the gas, the ensuing explosion destroyed the home and the adjacent houses, killing Poirier and neighbours Brad Winter and Craig Huber.
The hearing is scheduled for one week at the courthouse in Edmonton.
