'She was a very good person': Teacher, mother of two remembered after Sask. homicide-suicide

Charlene Aubichon is being remembered for her loving personality following a suspected homicide-suicide at a campground in Meadow Lake on Monday. (Submitted/Delbert Aubichon)

SASKATOON -

Charlene Aubichon from Flying Dust First Nation is being remembered for her loving personality following a suspected homicide-suicide at a campground in Meadow Lake on Monday.

Aubichon was a teacher at an on-reserve school and a mother of two.

“She was a very good person, very kind, very loving and she loved her children more than anything. And I think more than anything in the world, she wanted them to be okay and I feel so sad for them to be left with no parents and the way things ended,” said Delbert, Aubichon’s older brother.

Delbert said when he and Aubichon were younger, they played a lot of sports together and she loved to compete with him.

“She knew that if her brother missed a shot, she had to make every shot because she was a highly competitive athlete and she wanted to be right behind me. I think that led to some success in her life. She was never one to be a quitter. She was smart and educated.”

Charlene Aubichon was a teacher at an on-reserve school and a mother of two. (Submitted/Delbert Aubichon)

Delbert said leading up to her death, Aubichon was in an abusive relationship with her husband, Delane Graham, who she had been with for 15 years, and recently decided to leave him.

“She wasn’t happy and I know she had suffered through some silent abuse behind closed doors. She always tried to protect the guy, she didn’t want to open up and didn’t tell people what was going on,” Delbert said.

“Mentally, I don’t think Delane could cope with it. They’re going through a breakup and she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore and he stayed around ... He didn’t have any family here, no moral support and he’s going through all these dark thoughts in his head.”

'I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT'

Meadow Lake RCMP received a call at 2:44 p.m. Monday reporting that a gun had been fired at the Lions Park campground.

A 34-year-old woman from Flying Dust First Nation was found dead outside a camper trailer and a 34-year-old man from Thunderchild First Nation was found dead inside the trailer, RCMP said in a release.

According to Delbert, Graham shot and killed Aubichon and then himself.

Delbert said he tried calling his sister around 2:40 p.m. after his mom told him she had a suspicion Graham was with Aubichon, but got her voicemail. A while later, he got a phone call from his cousin who was at the campground that she had been killed.

“I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it,” he said.

“I wish so many times that I could’ve stopped it somehow, prevented it. That part kills me.”

Aubichon’s older sister was also injured in the incident and was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Police do not expect to lay charges.

As upset as Delbert says he is about what happened to his sister, he also feels for Graham’s loved ones.

“I still feel for his parents, siblings, they probably did not ever expect him to react like this ... The fact that my sister is gone and I’ll never get her back, I still pray and hope that his family has peace because I’m sure they’re hurting probably just as much as mine.”

Delbert said he hopes this creates awareness and helps other people dealing with domestic violence.

“Don’t be scared and please reach out to your loved ones, family and ones that care about you. Find the help that you need, talk to the RCMP, talk to whoever you need to talk to.

“Don’t do it alone, even if you think you’re doing the right thing. My sister always thought that way, she always thought ‘I’m just doing the right thing, I’m trying to keep my family together,’” he said.

“I don’t want anything to ever happen in this world again what happened to my sister, what happened to my family, what happened to both families, the tragedy, the hurt and the pain.”

Delbert said he’ll continue to remember his sister as the loving person she was.

“My family, community, everybody hurting, it just goes to show that the effect that my sister left on all of us, all of her love and her goodness and her good heart. That doesn’t disappear and that’s one thing that that guy cannot take away from us. And that’s going to live on inside of us.”

Do you have a story idea or news tip? Email us.