Today, more than two years after the Nova Scotia mass shooting, the common law spouse of the killer has finally spoken in public, as she gave evidence in the Mass Casualty Commission proceedings. Lisa Banfield spent 19 years with Gabriel Wortman before he went on a rampage and killed 22 people over the course of 13 hours on April 18-19, 2020. It is difficult to know what to make of Ms. Banfield. She has had two years to prepare her answers, considerable preparation time and help from her high-profile lawyer, and the benefit of knowing everyone else’s versions of events before having to give evidence. On the other hand, multiple other witnesses have confirmed her accounts of having been the victim of domestic violence over an extended period of time. On yet another hand, she had no children to protect, and seemed to be enjoying a comfortable lifestyle built on criminal activity of which she must have been well aware, and now has a clear financial interest in denying knowledge of those criminal activities as she tries to retain entitlement to Gabriel Wortman’s estate.
