Police in Victoria have released the names of four adults and a 6-year-old boy who were found dead early Tuesday inside an upscale home in the seaside neighbourhood of Oak Bay, B.C. All five were victims of a murder-suicide, a coroner has said.

The dead are Victoria restaurateur Peter Kyun Joon Lee, 38, his wife Yong Sun Park, 32, their son, Cristian, 6, and Park's parents, Moon Kyu Park, 66, and Kum Lea Chun, 59, said police in Saanich, B.C.

Peter Hyun Joon Lee, seen in an undated television image, was under court order to stay away from his wife and home.
(CBC)

The bodies were found after police responded to a 911 call early Tuesday from a house at 310 King George Terrace, which is located in Oak Bay, about a ten-minute drive outside Victoria.

What they found inside the home has kept blood spatter experts and forensic investigators busy for almost two days.

Court documents show Lee and Park had been embroiled in a bitter marital dispute. They had been fighting over ownership of their home, which was listed for sale for more than $1 million, court documents show.

Lee was also facing charges after Victoria police said he deliberately drove his Land Rover into a pole on July 31, leaving his wife with a broken arm and other injuries. Lee was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm and aggravated assault, among other charges.

"Our investigators believed the accident was actually a deliberate attempt by the driver to injure or kill the passenger," Sgt. Grant Hamilton told CBC News.

Released on bail

A judge released Lee on bail, with expectations that he would return to court to enter a plea on Sept. 12. In the interim, the judge ordered Lee not to return to his home, contact his wife or possess knives. He was also to report to a bail supervisor.

Hamilton said police had hoped Lee would be denied bail and kept in custody.

"We felt the victim, in this case, would still be in danger if the suspect were to be released," he said, noting police also feared the family would be in danger.

Police also told CBC News that they had investigated a case of a boy from the household being left in a car.

The incident occurred outside a home the couple lived in before moving to their Oak Bay house a few months ago, police said.

Adrian Harrison said he and his wife called police when they saw the child locked in a hot car in front of the house. Harrison said he believes the act was done as a form of discipline, but that has not been confirmed.

"We thought that wasn't proper," Harrison said. "A little boy in a hot car, screaming. The police came around and sorted it out."

'I just heard a lot of screaming and yelling'

Harrison's wife, Joyce, said she often heard the couple fighting.

"One time I heard pots and pans being thrown," she said. "Domestic unhappiness, I suppose, is the word."

Another neighbour also recalled the couple fighting.

"I just heard a lot of screaming and yelling, inside and out, especially with the little boy about," Gayle Fairfield said. "There was a lot of noise."

The five bodies were found in different rooms of the house Tuesday at about 3 a.m. PT.

Regional coroner Rose Stanton, who confirmed the incident was a murder-suicide, said the assailant had entered the house early Tuesday with the intention of setting a fire.

"There was an accelerant used that compromised the safety of the scene for the first respondents,'' she said.

Stanton did not release a cause of death, but said there was blood spatter and no gun was involved.

It was not until late Wednesday afternoon that all the bodies were removed from the house.