莫名堂观察：一桩谋杀案

上周初，位于加拿大多伦多风景如画的小镇Oshawa发生了一起凶杀案，一家四口被杀、一人重伤，另外一人外出幸免于难。当时我只是略微看了一下报道的标题，心想，这也就是one of those things，而没有特别关注。周末的时候，关于这个事件的进一步报道出来了，副标题就让我产生了兴趣：

Police say Mitch Lapa wounded his sister, killed her husband and 3 of their kids

原来是家族恩怨，弟弟杀了姐夫，三个侄子，姐姐重伤！这个叫Mitch Lapa的人，一路驱车从温尼伯来到Oshawa，目的就是灭门。屠杀完成之后，此人Police say after shooting his sister's family, Lapa fatally shot himself.

到底是什么原因让凶手对自己姐姐一家有这么大的怨恨？原来，是已故父亲的一纸遗嘱：

Before his death in 2019, Matthew Lapa made it clear in his will that his son Mitch would not receive much of his wealth. The will was signed on Sept. 25, 2015. It makes no mention of why his son wouldn't benefit the way his daughter would. In April 2018, Matthew transferred sole ownership of his North Kawartha, Ont., cottage to Loretta, according to land registry documents. After he died in January 2019, his will also stated she and her four children would receive the proceeds of the sale of his Oshawa home. It sold in March 2020 for approximately $430,000. She was also entitled to other financial assets under the estate.

As for Mitch, the will stated he would receive only $30,000. It also indicated that if he tried to challenge the will, he would be cut out entirely.

简单地说，姐弟二人的父亲Matthew去年去世，按照他所立的遗嘱，他把大部分财产留给了女儿，包括自己位于Oshawa的房屋的出售所得约43万，全部留个女儿及其子女，此外，女儿还将享有他的其他财产。至于儿子，也就是凶手，仅仅得到3万元的财产。更绝的是，在父亲的遗嘱中写道，如果儿子胆敢对该遗嘱说三道四，那么什么都将得不到。

至于父亲为何如此决绝，恐怕只有天晓得了。关于此案的更多细节，警方还在调查之中。

消息传来，平静的小镇十分错愕，亲朋好友、熟人邻居纷纷前往吊唁。“路边社”（words on the street）传言，一听到这一消息，人们普遍认为这就是他（兄弟）干的，Some people that grew up with him say they immediately suspected he was involved when word of the killings spread. 凶手的一位熟人回忆：None of us were surprised he could have done this," she told CBC News. She said Lapa was intelligent but abusive. She described how Lapa once invited people over to the family home for a party, then shot fireworks at them later that night. A young woman at the party was badly burned as a result, she said… Lapa was a "disgusting person" who often bullied or victimized others violently.

原来这家伙打小就有暴力倾向，曾经邀约朋友到家里玩耍，到后来居然朝他们扔鞭炮，并造成一位女士严重烧伤！还有他的同学回忆，他曾携枪在街上四处游荡，恶毒且残暴。

我们可以推测，正是这个冥顽不化的恶人让他父亲对他厌恶已极，所以到死都只给他留了一笔小钱。但是，父亲对女儿的倾斜并没有给女儿一家带来幸福，相反，却是无妄之灾。这不由得让人感慨那些老话---钱能带来一切，good and bad；人为财死……父亲可能做梦都没有想到，在他带有惩罚性的遗产分割中，五条人命瞬间没有了！这难道是他想见到的吗？作为旁观者，也不由得你不去想：换成你（是那个父亲），你该怎么做呢？家家都有一本难念的经Every family has a skeleton in the cupboard，即使做不到最好的安排，但避免最坏的结局，应该还是可以期待的吧！