THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME

DISPUTE PRECEDED SUICIDE, GROUP SAYS

Feb. 5, 2003
Kamloops Daily News

A Kamloops man who recently committed suicide was angry and disheartened after a bitter custody dispute over his two-year-old son, says a group advocating rights for non-custodial parents.

Mark Edward Dexel, 42, was found dead in a Kamloops motel Jan. 24. It�s believed he hanged himself.

Todd Eckert, president of Parent and Child Advocacy Coalition, said a suicide note was found with Dexel. In it, he outlined his concerns with family court and �the adversarial system of justice�.

Eckert explained it had been more than a year since Dexel had seen his young son. In fact, just days before taking his own life was the one-year anniversary.

�I stand no chance of seeing (my son) �.this is too much for me,� Dexel wrote in his suicide letter.

The couple had been in and out of court for more than a year, after Dexel�s girlfriend applied for sole custody. Eckert said he ended up consenting to the court order because he was tired of the system. �He wanted to be a father all along. He wrote her letters after that asking for some access and was denied,� Eckert said, adding an application for mediation was denied.

�The stresses of the adversarial system on justice, the harassments of the courts and the absence of his child combined to form a lethal mixture of depression that enticed him to take the quick exit�, he said.

Coroner Ian McKichan is awaiting the results of toxicology tests to confirm whether alcohol also played a role in Dexel�s death.