Former custodial dad pleads guilty to strangling young sons to death during unsupervised visitation (Edmonton, Canada)

Another crazy @$$ father who was indulged by the authorities with all his "rights." Even when this dude ADMITTED he was "suicidal, depressive, and had sociopathic tendencies," he was still allowed unsupervised access to these kids. Sick but all too believable. Just another major f*** up by child protective services. Check out how long it took to get full custody away from this fruitcake. 

This sh** used total premeditation in these double murders. He drugged the kids before strangling them. He expresses no remorse. He gave ample warning as to his intentions at every step of the way. Even told the shrink he would kill the kids.Dozens of red flags. All ignored. 

When are mothers and kids going to get a right to life and basic safety and security? When are we going to stop catering to the crazy killer daddies and letting them run the show?

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Father+pleads+guilty+strangling+young+sons+death/7490434/story.html

Father pleads guilty for strangling young sons to death

BY RYAN CORMIER, EDMONTON JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2, 2012

EDMONTON - An Edmonton man who believed he was about to lose custody of his two young sons pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of first-degree murder for strangling them less than a week before Christmas.

Court heard that Jason Bruce Cardinal, 33, and the boy’s mother were involved in a custody dispute due to his mental health problems when he killed the children on the night of Dec. 19, 2010.

That day, Andrea Badger, the mother of the three- and six-year-old boys, was scheduled to pick them from Cardinal’s home after an unsupervised weekend visit. Cardinal was allowed such visits despite the fact he’d told Children’s Services earlier that year he was suicidal, depressive and had sociopathic tendencies.

When no one answered Cardinal’s door all day, police were called that evening, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Inside the Abbottsfield Road townhouse, they found Cardinal on his bed suffering from self-inflicted wounds to his forearms from a box cutter, with one dead child on either side of him. For a few moments, until they pulled back the covers, police thought Cardinal and the boys were sleeping.

One of the boys had a towel wrapped around his neck and the other a pillowcase. Tests later showed that Cardinal had sedated the boys with morphine before strangling them. Two empty syringes labelled with the boys’ names were found in the home.

Cardinal’s intent was to kill himself along with his sons, court heard.

“It is difficult to imagine a crime more heinous than killing your own child while they were at their most vulnerable, drugged and asleep,” Crown prosecutor Allison Downey-Damato told court. “A suicidal mind can be as devastating as a homicidal one.”

While still in hospital, Cardinal told police that what happened to his sons was the “right thing.” He could not live if his boys were taken away from him and they were now safe, he said.

Cardinal and Badger met in 2001 and were living as a common-law couple by 2002. By 2008, they had two sons and Badger had given primary custody to Cardinal so she could work in northern Alberta.

By January 2010, Badger was concerned about Cardinal’s mental state and his ability to care for the boys. The next month, in an agreement with provincial Children’s Services, the boys moved to Bonnyville with Badger so Cardinal could concentrate on his mental health. He told Children’s Services he had mental health issues, including obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression and anti-social personality disorder with sociopathic tendencies, according to court documents.

Cardinal admitted to Children’s Services that he was suicidal. He had a gun, he said, and if he did commit suicide he would shoot himself as both his father and grandfather had. That admission led to the boys being formally taken out of his custody.

Later in 2010, Cardinal was granted unsupervised weekends with the boys.

Investigators found farewell letters on Cardinal’s computer to his mother, uncle and Badger. His mother received the letters in the mail after the boys were murdered. There was also a will in the home.

Court heard that Cardinal started writing about his plan to kill his sons and himself on Dec. 5, two weeks before the boys were killed.

Police found several written notes around the home that revealed Cardinal’s plan and detailed the steps he took, the medications needed and where the boys would die. 

“Wait for boys to die or fall asleep,” one read. “Smother if needed.”

Badger dropped the boys at Cardinal’s on Dec. 17 for a weekend visit. The next day, Cardinal and his sons played games, put up their Christmas tree and went sledding. A family support worker drove them to Cardinal’s psychologist for an appointment, but did not notice anything was wrong.

In December 2010, Cardinal told a psychiatrist, “if they are not returned, I will die with my children.” 

In court, Badger read a victim impact statement in which she said they were once a happy, loving family.

“The only comfort I have is knowing my babies are in heaven and can’t be hurt or harmed ever again.”

Badger had no sympathy for Cardinal as he watched from the prisoner’s box.

“He is the weakest coward I have ever known and I wonder why he had taken my babies lives instead of just his own,” she said through tears.

Defence lawyer Alex Pringle told court that Cardinal’s mental health problems were not enough to absolve him of legal responsibility. “He was not psychotic. He knew what he was doing.”

Cardinal, a large man with a thin beard and glasses, chose to say nothing when given a chance to address the court.

 He will now serve a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

A fatality inquiry will be held into the two deaths, but it has not yet been scheduled.