Second year without a vigil to mark Vernon Good Friday massacre

VERNON – For the second year in a row, a vigil to remember the nine members of the Gakhal and Saran families who were murdered in Vernon on Good Friday in 1996 will not be held. The families will be remembering their loss in private, according to a media release from the Vernon Women’s Transition...

Vigil remembers victims of Gakhal/Saran mass murder

By Charlotte Helston Seventeen years ago today, Canada's second largest mass murder unfolded in Vernon. April 5, 1996 was supposed to be a happy day—the Gakhal and Saran families were preparing for a wedding. Sadly, the day has come to be remembered as a tragic bloodbath. The guman, Mark Chahal, shot nine members of the...

“The sadness is eternal:” Gakhal family

By Charlotte Helston It's been seventeen years since Harminder Gakhal heard the gunshots that killed her cousin and eight other members of her family. The estranged gunman was the husband her cousin left because of domestic abuse. Gakhal was twelve years old when it happened. Now, at 29, the painful memory has become a reason...

Domestic violence still a problem, 17 years after Canada’s second worst mass murder

By Charlotte Helston Last month's murder-suicide in rural BX hit close to home for a Vernon family that experienced a similar tragedy 17 years ago. A vigil for the victims of Canada's second largest mass murder was held Friday evening outside the museum. The community huddled together, shielding candles from the sharp breeze. Colourful saris...