Reprehensible Chiding Those Mourning Death of Child

"[The victim impact statements filed in this case were of] unusual number, breadth, scope and contact."

"[Several ... statements came from] aunts, uncles and cousins of the direct victims. [Several more statements were given by] friends of the family [portions of which were disregarded by the court as they] recounted dramatized details of the hospital scene or memorialized the deceased."

"Material that is irrelevant, inflammatory, prejudicial or otherwise [outside Criminal Code bounds] should be removed or excluded before the statement is presented to the sentencing court."

"Three of the cousins of Miss Victoria Desjardins, very young children themselves, presented statements speaking in their own age-appropriate manner, about the loss of their cousin. While it is clear that they have been impacted, it was also clearly very difficult, and concerning to this Court, for them to present their victim impact statements in such a foreign and adult environment as an open court proceeding."

Justice Indra Maharaj, Calgary Court of Justice

Victoria Desjardins, 9, died in hospital after her family’s vehicle was struck by a driver who police say was fleeing officers when he ran a red light on Dec. 26, 2024. CTV News

 

 

Victim impact statements, chided Judge Indra Maharaj, must comply with the law, and the Crown prosecutor must ensure that they do. The Crown erred in this case, stated the judge, by failing to order the Desjardins extended family and friends to condense their victim impact statements into one cohesive and brief statement. The occasion of this trial in Calgary was the death by vehicular homicide of a nine-year-old child who had been in the car her mother was driving when the driver of a stolen  vehicle ran a red light at an intersection at 170 km/hr.

 

That driver, named as Duane Nepoose, happened to be under the influence of drugs, attempting to evade police in the wake of his criminal act of violently taking possession of a car from its owner. The Dodge Caravan careened through a red light, smashing into the Desardins' vehicle, seriously injuring the driver, seriously injuring her 12-year old daughter by the sheer force of the impact, and causing the death of the nine-year old, Victoria Desjardins. Another woman in a different vehicle was also injured. 

 

The seasoned repeat criminal offender, Duane Nepoose, had pleaded guilt to robbery, fleeing police, dangerous driving and causing death, along with an additional three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. He was finally sentenced to ten years in prison. During the court hearing that was to address the man's sentencing, the judge's pique at the numerous victim impact statements was aired before the court, as she admonished Crown counsel.

 

The Reitmeier-Desjardins family seen in a supplied image. Mother Amanda and daughter Madison, 12, were sent to hospital after being involved in a five-vehicle collision in Calgary on Boxing Day 2024, while daughter Victoria, 9, was killed in the crash. Postmedia file

 

There are a number of guidelines in producing a victim impact statement that must routinely be made available to those committed to producing such a statement. They would be made aware of what is permissible and what is not, which the specific family member/statement writer must adhere to. If statements do contain forbidden claims such as suggesting a sentence, or making unproven allegations, or complaints related to the investigation, the presiding judge is free to make note of areas in a statement in violation of the rules.

 

In this instance -- of the death of a beloved child, sister, cousin, extended family member -- the complaint by the judge was not the content of the statements so much as it was what she considered to be the overwhelming number of impact statements presented to the court for consideration. The violent death of a child is devastating to a family on a human scale of emotional, irreplaceable loss. The court invites victim impact statements routinely, and it is beyond comprehension that a judge would take the position that too many people -- adults and children alike -- not air their bereft anguish at such a grievous loss.

 

Such disrespect and lack of understanding on the part of the judge preparing to sentence the individual responsible for that death in his cavalier disregard for the safety of the public through his pursuit of criminal activity, is breathtaking in its lack of empathy, underscored disinterest in the emotional anguish of such loss in the presented statements. It is they, collectively, who should be outraged at the judge's comments, particularly those respecting the appropriateness of children heartfully expressing the extent of their emotional trauma.  

"While I accept that these young relatives were genuinely affected, their statements largely addressed the broader family and community impact of the death. In my respectful opinion, that material could have been more appropriately and efficiently presented through a community impact statement by an adult."

"[A statement by a babysitter] was also heartfelt but tended toward a memorial [and it] could have properly formed part of a community statement by the extended family."

Justice Indra Maharaj  

Duane Nepoose, seen on bodycam footage from a Calgary police officer, admitted to dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, robbery and fleeing a police officer in the crash. CP24

 

 

 

The Horrors of Psychotic Impulse

"The accused came up from the basement and blood was observed on the accused's body and clothing."

"[The children went to the basement and] observed their father striking their mother with an axe repeatedly."

"The cause of death was multiple sharp-force trauma as a result of the accused repeatedly striking the victim in the neck with an axe."

Assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred 

 

"The definition of femicide is when a woman is killed by a man for no other reason than the fact that she's a woman."

"A relationship, such as husband and wife, for example, is that type of situation, and should not be diminished." 

Jennifer Dunn, head, London Abused Women's Centre 

A condolence note sticks out of a bunch of flowers laid in front of a house where a woman was killed on Friday night in London, Ont. (Amanda Margison/CBC)

There are no names to be put to those involved in this tragedy. That of two teen-age siblings, a boy and a girl, witnessing their father battering their mother with an axe with the intention of killing her. Their identities remain protected for the simple reason that the children involved not have their identities revealed. Their trauma and suffering and how they will be affected for the rest of their lives takes no psychological professionalism to imagine. 

 

They can, at the very least, be spared the notoriety that accompanies such gruesome and heart-rending acts of tragic dimensions, losing both mother and father under circumstances beyond imaginable. 

Superior Court Justice Joseph Perfetto oversaw court proceedings in London, Ontario when the 55-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The Assistant Crown Attorney summed up the evidence related to the case; its immediate discovery and observations by the authorities involved. Although the family had lived at the address where the murder took place for some thirteen years, they were not known by their neighbours but for a passing recognition. 

The children, horrified witnesses to their father's deadly attack on their mother, had left the house by the time authorities arrived. The boy had called 911 to report the ongoing attack; his mother's screams heard in the call's background. The police arrival was within mere minutes of the call. The father was taken into direct custody at the scene, his blood-covered appearance speaking vividly to what had occurred.

 

It was reveled at the hearing that the man was convinced his wife had had intimate relations with another man. Before he committed the lethal act of murdering his wife, suspicion had been building in his mind for months. He felt doubtful that he had fathered his own son, attributing the boy's paternity to another man. He had earlier examined all his wife's electronic devices containing her personal data with the intention of discovering clues that would cement his suspicions of her.

 

This all culminated on the evening of March 12, 2022. At 6:10 the man and wife were in the house basement. The son, on the main floor, heard his mother call her husband's name followed by "thumping". The daughter heard her mother calling out, and when the children descended to the basement, they saw the nightmare of intimate murder unfolding. The children left the house following the call to 911.

 

When the police arrived at 6:28 p.m. and arrested the man, he conveyed the message that he wanted to speak to a lawyer, and translation would be a requirement. When two of the officers went into the basement they found the woman lifeless on the floor, severe injuries to her neck, and the blood-covered hatched near her body. 

Although the two officers made an effort at providing life-saving measures in the hope of reviving the woman, the injuries to parts of her upper body, head and neck proved to have been lethal. She was pronounced dead at the house. 

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence. But in Canada a 'life-sentence' is set at a maximum 25 years, with eligibility for parole decreasing time served, and sometimes by quite a margin. If there is ever a hint in even such cases of savage murder that the perpetrator suffered from a mental illness, they could be found not guilty of intent to kill, and/or of a state of mind unable to recognize the severity of their actions. 

The man's eligibility for parole relating to the length of his incarceration has yet to be determined. Parole eligibility can range between ten to 25 years. His wife will be  dead forever. His children's future with that memory seared like a phantom injury into their minds guaranteed to impact in both predictable and unpredictable ways. Yet Canadian law and Canadian courts are more attuned to the needs of the guilty than to their victims and how they have been impacted by the most serious of human rights crimes.

A man and woman bought this home in 2009. On Friday, the man was charged with second-degree murder in the death of the woman. (Amanda Margison/CBC)

Beware The Deadly Power of Unreasoning Racist Hatred

"You came to inflict terror, to take innocent lives, and to shatter a community that had done nothing but stand for kindness, unity and love."

"You slaughtered fathers, mothers, sons and daughters." 

"Now, as you begin the rest of your life locked away, remember this: your mission failed."

"You did not divide this city, you strengthened it. You did not silence its voice, you made it louder. You did not instill fear, you inspired unity."

"El Paso rose, stronger and braver."

Judge Sam Medrano, Texas District Court 

El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius, 21, from Allen, Texas, accused of killing 22 and injuring 25 arraigned,in El Paso, Texas, U.S. October 10, 2019. Mark Lambie/Pool via REUTERS/

The racist attack in El Paso on August 3, 2019 represents one of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of the United States, which has experienced more than its share of such events and all too frequently. The gunman, responsible for the deaths of 23 people at an El Paso Walmart years previously, on Monday pleaded guilty to capital murder.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty, and for no other reason?" asked Judge Medrano. "Yes, your honour", came the quiet response.

 

The killer, now 26 years of age, agreed that he had deliberately targeted Hispanics when he opened fire in a Walmart store crowded with shoppers for the weekend in the border city' shoppers who originated in both the United States and Mexico. Local prosecutors had taken the death penalty out of contention, to enable Crusius to plead guilty in his shockingly deadly death spree. Wearing a striped jumpsuit, shackles and a protective vest in court, Crusius is to be automatically sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole.

 

The reason the death penalty was set aside, relates to the compassion expressed by a number of relatives of the victims. They simply wished for the case to be concluded and out of their lives forever, according to County District Attorney James Montoya. One of Crusius' lawyers explained that his client had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, sometimes marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings. That he had suffered most of his life from debilitating mental illness.

 

El Paso Times

For his part, Crusius offered no explicit regret or apology for having ended the lives of 23 people and wounding 22 others. Those that died that fateful day ranged from a 15-year-old high school student, to elderly grandparents; immigrants, city bus driver, teacher, tradesmen, and Mexican nationals on a routine shopping trip over the border into the United States.  The hundred or so family members of the victims were given the opportunity to deliver victim impact statements; dozens of whom had expressed emotional statements at an earlier opportunity.

 

Crusius, never having expressed remorse, nor asked for forgiveness had been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms at the federal level when he pleaded guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges. He was 21 years old, when he drove to El Paso from his home near Dallas, a 1,100 kilometre distance, after posting an online racist rant, warning of a Hispanic "invasion". Arriving at the Walmart he opened fire with an AK-style rifle both inside and outside the store.   

"[Crusius] became consumed by extreme ideologies found online."

"He brought violence and terror to a place of peace. He shattered lives and forever changed the landscape of El Paso..."

"We offer our deepest condolences."

"Patrick will leave prison only in a coffin on God's time."

Joe Spencer, a Crusius lawyer 

Memorial, El Paso Times