Oak Bay killer should have been in custody, inquest told

A family violence expert has told the Oak Bay murder-suicide inquest that the man at the centre of the slaughter should have been held in custody after his wife accused him of trying to kill her in a car crash last July.

Peter Lee should have been kept in jail until a proper forensic assessment for violence potential was done on him, UBC family violence expert Don Dutton told the inquest in Victoria on Monday morning.

Dutton said Lee's marriage and family breakdown, his death threats against his wife and previous gambling addiction were all risk factors for extreme violence.

His wife, Sunny Park, told police that Lee had crashed the vehicle into a hydro pole on purpose because he was angry at her plans to divorce him.

Lee was charged in connection to the crash, but instead of being held, he was placed under a court order to stay away from his family and was released on bail

A month later he killed his wife, his six-year-old son, his wife's parents and himself at their Oak Bay home, the inquest has heard.

The hearings, which began last week, resumed on Monday. Previously, prosecutors at the inquest testified that they had no legal means of keeping Lee in custody following the car crash because of the lack of evidence that he intended to harm his wife or family.