Travis McLand showed violent tendencies early in their relationship, the woman says. “He is just very violent. He does not hesitate. He does not care who is around – he will scream, he will shout, he will hit you. He will say horrible, horrible things … He is just a very, very vicious man,” he said. McLeod is now wanted on three counts of second-degree murder and arson after the bodies of his 32-year-old wife and their two children – a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy – were found in a house in Portage la Prairie last Sunday morning. by fire crews. Shortly after the fire, McLeod was arrested and charged with assaulting another family member, but was released. At the time, the RCMP did not have enough evidence to hold McLeod in custody in connection with the killings and fires. Police are now looking for McLeod and say he was located in Winnipeg just Tuesday. McLeod’s ex-partner told CBC she had a protection order against him and her and one of her children. He no longer lives in Manitoba. The CBC does not name the woman because she is a victim of domestic violence. The two met in Portage la Prairie when they were 17 years old. At the time, McLeod was living with his family in Oakbank, Mann, a short drive from Portage la Prairie. He told CBC McLeod had violent outbursts that were often triggered by alcohol. “[It] “It was almost as if he was allergic. When he drank alcohol, you could see his true side,” he said. “Everyone would be afraid of him, even his own family … His father, his mother, everyone would be afraid of Travis as soon as he started drinking.”
I felt “like I was a boxing bag”
Shortly after they started dating, the couple had their first child. At the time, they were living with the McLeod family. “He was hitting me, shouting at me in front of my family. No one would ever stick to me,” he said. “It made me feel awful, as if I was extinguished. As if I were nobody. As if I were their puppet. As if I were a boxing bag.” The couple eventually moved to Alberta, where McLeod began working more as a freelance drywall. It was at that point that the violence also increased. “He was sweeping the whole house, breaking things; all the chaos he would leave would be a constant reminder that he was here and that it could happen again.” In a particularly violent incident, McLeod broke the back door and chased her with a knife, the woman said. Her two sons were there. The older one had to lock the door to protect herself and the younger child. Asked how many times she thinks McLeod attacked her, she said “a lot”. “He would beat me very badly, and we would end up going in and out of women’s shelters. And then I would come back because I had nothing,” he said. “He can get away from a wet paper bag. He has that kind of narcissistic personality where, you know, he sounds very believable and very tender and after the next minute … he’ll put you.” He speaks now because the deaths at Portage la Prairie could have been prevented, he says. “Someone has to talk about these two kids and [his wife]and I’m willing to do it, “he said. “My heart aches to the core; for these little ones.”
