A mother’s tough decision to show son’s suicide video

Sheila Fynes couldnt sleep most nights this summer, wondering whether she made the right decision in allowing a public inquiry to view a 34-minute military police video of her sons lifeless body hanging from a chin-up bar in his barracks.

The graphic, disturbing images of Corporal Stuart Langridge were never released to the news media, but the commission investigating the militarys handling of his suicide played it in public as part of a series of hearings last spring.

His mother and stepfather, Shaun Fynes, wrestled with the question of showing the video almost up until the day it was played.

There are times when I think Ive shared the most personal thing about Stuarts life and I hope I hope it wasnt for nothing, said Ms. Fynes in an interview from her Victoria home.

Cpl. Langridge hanged himself on March 15, 2008, and his body was left in place for four hours while investigators documented and searched through everything in the room.

The video sometimes zoomed in on his head and face. Federal lawyers representing the Defence Department argued in advance that if the video were to be shown, it would have to be in its entirety.

Ms. Fynes said that at first, we said: No, we dont want anybody ever to see that.

But then [after] discussions with our lawyer [and] between ourselves, we decided there would be no better way for the chair to understand our allegation of the total disrespect shown to Stuart in his death, than for him to see it.

After a pause, she added: Was it the right decision? It keeps me awake at night.

Neither Ms. Fynes nor her husband were present when the video was played for the commission.

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A mother’s tough decision to show son’s suicide video