WARWICK, Qc - Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Warwick, Quebec, a town of 5,000 about 150 km northeast of Montreal.

Michel Brunet of the SQ said the bodies belong to a father and two children, but would not give out the names of the deceased.

However, they appear to be that of Jocelyn Marcoux, 47, and his son Lindsey, aged 11 and daughter Karen, 13.

Much of the drama was spelled out in Facebook posts, as the dead father had posted an anti-court screed, while the mother also expressed her feelings of dread just prior to receiving confirmation that her children had been found dead.

Monday night on his Facebook page, Marcoux posted a two-page letter outlining his concerns about an upcoming custody battle over his children.

He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a child-custody hearing with his ex-wife Nadine Brillant.

In the letter Marcoux wrote that he has two judgments in his favour from family court and from the Department of Children Welfare for sole custody of his children. He expressed concern that he had to return to face another court battle.

The letter denounced the justice system as corrupt and claimed that the system makes no effort to verify whether what is said in court is actually true.

Marcoux went on to accuse his ex-wife and her new spouse of mistreating his children and wrote that as a father, he cannot allow that to happen again.

On her Facebook page Brilliant wrote that she had been informed by the SQ not to attend the court hearing and that no judgement concerning custody had taken place yet.

On Tuesday morning Brillant took the time to post on her Facebook page that police were on their way, with grim news, she suspected. Some of her friends attempted to reassure her with notes in response, but there was to be no good news for the mother.

Jocelyn Marcoux's Facebook page also received notes of reassurance after he was found dead Tuesday.

“Your children will always be with you now… your act is not very excusable, but understandable… rest in peace with your angels,” one person wrote.

Fire began shortly before 3 a.m.

The bodies were found after firefighters were notified at 3 a.m. about a raging fire on Richardson St.

Some neighbours reported having heard explosions and when firefighters arrived, they found the garage, separated by several metres from the main house, engulfed in flames.

A spokesman for the Warwick fire department said firefighters found that four propane tanks from a BBQ and a camping trailer had been removed and placed in the garage.

When the fire was extinguished they discovered three bodies.

“The bodies were found in the garage only after firefighters contained the fire,” said Ronald McInnis, a representative of the provincial police SQ.

An autopsy, to be completed within a few days, should shed more light on the events.