How the N.S. mass shooter controlled, exploited women around him

The gunman who would kill 22 people across Nova Scotia in a mass shooting had controlled and abused women around him for years, including his longtime partner and others who were in vulnerable situations.

The public inquiry into the mass shooting is examining what happened on April 18-19, 2020, when Gabriel Wortman destroyed several homes and killed neighbours and strangers across the province — including a pregnant woman — while driving a mock police car.

Documents released by the inquiry include accounts from his common-law spouse Lisa Banfield about his years of emotional and physical abuse, and women who had sexual relationships with the gunman or met him briefly while partying in his garage.

Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich, a spokesperson for Women's Shelters Canada, said one of these interviews, from a woman dubbed EE in inquiry transcripts, caught her attention. 

EE lived near the gunman's Portapique cottage, and first met him around 2014. She told police she'd do odd jobs around the gunman's property, cleaned his cottage, and helped build the large garage that would eventually house his police paraphernalia.

She had a small place with no running water. EE said she relied on the gunman for everything from firewood in the winter to food and liquor, since she didn't have a car or job at the time.

"He'd take me up to his house and run my tub for me and put out all nice warm towels and he always had a little special soap for me, it was all done up pretty and stuff and then he'd feed me," EE told police.

"At that point in my life … he was like a miracle to me."

EE said they were always good friends, and also had an ongoing sexual relationship.

Geiger-Bardswich said the situation is concerning and fits a larger trend of the gunman's predatory behaviour with women.

"He was a smart person. He knew that there was this power dynamic. He knew that he could use and exploit women's vulnerabilities and their needs, their basic needs to get what he wanted," said Geiger-Bardswich. 

EE described one time when she and the gunman had group sex with a young woman who was a patient at his denturist clinic in Dartmouth, N.S. 

The gunman would focus on patients who were on social assistance or lived on "the streets," EE said, and he would bring them back to his cottage and "treat them like queens."

The Department of Community Services has confirmed the Atlantic Denture Clinic, which the gunman owned, received provincial funds to deliver services to clients receiving Employment Support and Income Assistance, and those in the Disability Support Program.