Concerned neighbours may never find out – at least officially – what happened three weeks ago at the home of Susanne and Trevor McNally.
Despite obvious public interest in the high profile case, police confirmed on Monday that they will not release any more information about the McNallys’ deaths on Nov. 20.
Detective inspector Andy Raffay told the Advertiser on Dec. 7 that police consider providing further details “a re-victimization of the families.”
Raffay, the case manager with the Wellington County OPP Crime Unit, was responding to several Advertiser requests for more information, after police provided next to nothing in the two weeks following the deaths.
“That’s all the information we’re going to release,” Raffay said. He refused to answer any questions about the fire or the cause of the deaths, and repeated there is no public safety threat related to the incident.
When asked simply if the investigation was completed or not, media relations officer Marylou Schwindt replied “the investigation is not concluded,” before once again stressing police “will not be releasing any further information.”
Autopsies were performed on Susanne and Trevor McNally two days after emergency crews responded to the couple’s home on Lowrie Lane in Eden Mills on Nov. 20 for a call about a house fire “with people trapped” inside.
No major damage was visible from the exterior of the house, but Susanne and Trevor McNally were pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Within two hours of the fire call, a police detective on the scene told the Advertiser the site was considered “a crime scene.”
The next day police stated the Wellington County OPP Crime Unit and OPP criminal investigations branch were investigating the incident, along with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.
But since a Nov. 21 press release identifying the McNallys, police have offered no details at all about the incident.
