Vanessa Burns had a 15-year relationship & 5 kids with Myles Sanderson

The weekend he killed 11 (incl. her Dad) at James Smith Cree Nation, he tried to kill her too. He'd beaten her for years

She no longer wants to be a victim. Via diaries & hours of talking, here's her story🧵

Vanessa met Myles when he was 17 & she was 21. A couple of months in, he started assaulting her. Her Dad saw one of them; he hated Myles & tried to protect his family

Myles was arrested for assaulting Vanessa 7 times - she thinks it was more like 100, but she never called police

She got pregnant at 23. More kids followed

Their relationship grew volatile. Myles played “mind games” with her, accusing her of being with other men. He’d call her a “whore.” He’d body-shame her. He cheated on her & left her for other women.
She stayed. She wanted a family

In 2015, Myles tried to stab Vanessa's parents, Earl and Joyce, to death after she tried to leave him. He'd had one of his daughters in his arms & a knife in his pocket

Her parents survived. She went to a shelter. But she grew lonely & she kept in touch with him in prison

When he got out, she was waiting. But the assaults didn't stop. They had another child

Vanessa says Myles was diagnosed as bipolar. She thinks he might've been schizophrenic too

“He saw things that I didn’t see. He was paranoid, he thought people were following us all the time”

Vanessa's diaries are a whirlwind of self-doubt, yearning for Myles & uncertainty over how to care for her family - amid Taylor Swift lyrics & 'Vanessa loves Myles' doodles

Incredibly brave for her to share these with the world - she hopes to help others in violent relationships

Just before the murders, Vanessa says she & Myles had broken up because he was cheating on her again & he was fathering a child with someone else

But he showed up at her house in late August asking her to help him sell cocaine at James Smith, to raise money for them

She did it. For 2 weeks - but she wasn't just his chauffeur, she was contacting the addicts too. Then, Myles turned on her. He left her with 2 black eyes, lumps on her head & a scar under her chin & then tried to run her over

She fled back to Saskatoon 2 days before the murders

During the murders, he attacked her parents again. Earl died, but Joyce survived (just)

“Mom said he had a cigarette in his mouth & he just looked like a zombie'

Vanessa believes he came for her later - when she got home there was a condom on her door & her mail strewn around

After 39 days in hospital, Joyce was finally released

She's recovering slowly - but I've just heard she's back in hosp with an infection. She will need long-term care

Vanessa is struggling to heal, too. She's started going back to JSCN. She wants to clear up the rumours

Vanessa wants something positive to come out of this, somehow. She wants to become a worker in a women's shelter. She wrote in her diary about becoming a parole officer or a youth worker

She wants to 'break this cycle'

Her full story is here:

globalnews.ca/news/9232740/j…