'Mommy, don't,' Bridgewater girl pleaded in last moments of life

[Praxius]

Penny Boudreau sobbed as she apologized in court Friday. She was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 20 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Karissa Boudreau, 12, was a Grade 6 student at Bridgewater Elementary School.

Penny Boudreau sentenced to life in prison for strangling daughter to death
'Mommy, don't,' Bridgewater girl pleaded in last moments of life

A Nova Scotia woman has been handed a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 20 years for strangling her only child after she was given an ultimatum by her boyfriend.

Penny Boudreau, 34, pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder in the death of 12-year-old Karissa Boudreau.

The girl's frozen body was found on the outskirts of Bridgewater on Feb. 9, 2008, about two weeks after her mother reported her missing.

Boudreau, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, told the court, "I'm sorry."

When asked about the apology, Paul Boudreau, Karissa's father, said bluntly: "Crocodile tears."

"Justice has been served," he added.

Justice Margaret Stewart, who handed down the sentence at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Bridgewater, said Boudreau can no longer call herself mother.

Karissa's relatives sobbed loudly as Crown attorney Paul Scovil read out the grim details of the girl's final moments in an agreed statement of facts.

The court heard that Boudreau's boyfriend, Vernon Macumber, told her she had to choose between him and her daughter if she wanted to save their relationship.

Carried body to river

It was dark and snowy on Jan. 27, 2008, when Boudreau drove the girl to a remote spot on William Hebb Road in Hebbville, near Bridgewater.

They got out of the car and argued. Boudreau tackled her daughter, knelt on her chest and strangled her with a length of twine.

Boudreau could feel the girl's hands digging into the ground as she struggled.
Karissa's last words were, "Mommy, don't."

Boudreau then put the body in the car and threw away the twine in a coffee cup.

She drove to a spot along the LaHave River, and as she dragged the body, pulled down Karissa's pants to give the impression the girl had been sexually assaulted. She then rolled the body down an embankment.

Boudreau later tossed several pieces of Karissa's clothing in the garbage can at the local swimming pool.

When she got home, she told police her daughter had run away. She also called friends and teachers to spread the story.

Paul Boudreau is still trying to comprehend what happened. Karissa was living with him at one point but moved to Bridgewater to be with her mother.

"I can't call it anything other than a senseless act," said Boudreau, adding his ex-girlfriend had options.

"Had I known this was going to happen I would have never let her go back. But what parent is going to say, 'No, you can't go back and see your mother,'" he said.

Penny Boudreau was charged with first-degree murder in June 2008. At the time, police said they believed Karissa knew her killer.

Scovil said he agreed to the lesser charge of second-degree murder to give the family some closure and avoid a trial.

Murder carries an automatic life sentence. Both the Crown and defence recommended parole eligibility after 20 years.

"All in all, it was the right thing to do," Scovil said.

As for Macumber, Scovil said there was no evidence he wanted his girlfriend to kill her daughter. He said Boudreau made it clear that she was solely responsible.

"We suspected very strongly that he must have had an idea. But there was no evidence to suggest that he either had concrete evidence or assisted in any way," Scovil said.

Undercover police investigation

The grim truth of what happened to the girl came out as a result of an undercover police investigation.

Boudreau gave the details to officers posing as organized crime bosses, who said they could help her destroy evidence held by police.

Karissa's story has gripped the small Nova Scotia community ever since her mother made a tearful plea at a news conference for her daughter's safe return.

Boudreau said they had had a fight in the parking lot of a grocery store, and when she came back to the car, Karissa was gone.

Several searches of the area turned up no sign of the young girl.

Two weeks later, a passerby discovered Karissa's frozen body on the bank of the LaHave River.

Paul Boudreau said he had suspicions about his ex-girlfriend from the moment Karissa was reported missing.

"Any parent knows their child, and when a child does something way out of character, you know from Day 1 it's not true," he said.

Penny Boudreau can apply for early parole after 15 years under the faint-hope clause.

Well there's the conclusion.... I hope she rots.

 

[TenPenny]

Yup. She is a disgrace to humanity.

 

[TenPenny]

I appreciate the fact that the Crown decided that a guilty plea and life sentence for 2nd degree murder is as effective as a trial and then life sentence for 1st degree. This way, the family is saved the trauma of a trial. Truly, a sad, sad event.

 

[JLM]

That story is so sick- the stupidest thing that happened in the Canada justice system was when P.E.T. abolished the death penalty. In most cases I don't agree with it, but this is one case where it is definitely warranted, depending on how conclusive the evidence is.

 

[Praxius]

Some more local information on the Subject:

Penny Boudreau appears at a news conference in January 2008 to appeal for her daughter Karissa to come home. Ms. Boudreau pleaded guilty Friday to Karissa's murder.

Penny Boudreau strangled Karissa with twine to keep boyfriend
Mom confesses to murder - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

BRIDGEWATER — Karissa Boudreau looked into her mother's eyes and struggled to breathe as the very hands that had cradled her as a baby tightened the twine around her neck and strangled the life out of her.

The last thing Karissa saw was the eyes of the woman who was supposed to treasure and love her above all else, but instead pinned her to the cold ground and pulled the twine taut until she struggled no more.

Karissa cried: "Mommy. Don't."

Penny Boudreau admitted in Bridgewater provincial court this morning to killing her daughter, then dumping the 12-year-old's body by the LaHave River — but not before dropping by Tim Hortons to throw out the incriminating twine.

And she did it because she didn't want to lose her boyfriend.

"I would do anything for Vernon. The thought of losing him was worse than the thought of losing her," she told an undercover agent.

Nice.... great mother when she holds priority of a boyfriend over her own flesh and blood.

Ms. Boudreau pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder — she had originally been charged with first-degree murder in her daughter's death.

She was sentenced to life in jail and cannot apply for parole until June 20, 2028, which is 20 years from the date of her arrest. However, under Canada's "faint hope" clause, she can ask a jury to consider her early release application in 15 years. If a jury finds in her favour, she may then apply to the parole board. She is also banned from possessing firearms for the rest of her life and must provide a DNA sample.

The murder was motivated by Ms. Boudreau's "selfish desire for a love life that had no room for a child," Justice Margaret Stewart said during the sentencing.

She said the woman "was capable of manipulation" and "was articulate in doing so."

When asked if she had anything to say to the court, Ms. Boudreau, who was crying, said "I'm sorry" and quickly sat down. Her words could barely be heard inside the hushed courtroom.

She kept her head down and appeared to be sniffling throughout the proceeding. She was wearing a black shirt, jeans and scuffed shoes.

The mood inside and outside the courtroom was subdued, unlike a June 2008 hearing when onlookers jeered and taunted Ms. Boudreau.

However, some of the 60 people present in the courtroom openly sobbed when they heard Karissa's final words. About a dozen police officers were also present.

Only handful of people were outside the courthouse. Most did not anticipate the guilty plea and were taken by surprise at the events.

They said they had come "to be there for Karissa" and talked about how sad it was.

Paul Scovil, the Crown attorney, said the change in plea came about after Ms. Boudreau told the agent during an elaborate police set-up what she had done.

Mr. Scovil said Ms. Boudreau had been thinking about killing her daughter for a couple of days because her boyfriend, Vernon Macumber, told her things just weren't working out in their small two-bedroom apartment on Jubilee Road. He told her she had to make a choice.

The thought of losing him sent her into a panic and she said she had to do something, although she knew Mr. Macumber never meant for her to kill her child.

Karissa died Sunday, Jan. 27 – the day her mother told police she thought her daughter had run away.

Ms. Boudreau did take Karissa for a drive in her red Neon, as she told police. But it was to take her to her death; not to try to talk to a sulky teen, which was what she told authorities.

They went to Sobeys, just as Ms. Boudreau initially told police, but then the story changes. She phoned Mr. Macumber to say Karissa was missing and that she was going to look for her.

She also bought juice and bacon, which she threw in the trunk, where she found some beige twine which she put in her pocket.

She then went back to the car and drove Karissa around until dark, ending up at William Hebb Road in Hebbville, where they got out of the car. It was snowing. Then she described how she pushed her daughter down, pinning her daughter's hands under her.

When she was sure the child was dead, she heaved her daughter's body into the front seat of her Neon. With the girl's body slumped down in the passenger seat, Ms. Boudreau drove to Tim Hortons, where she put the twine in a Tim's cup and threw it in the garbage.

Then she drove along King Street to the outskirts of town. Karissa's hoodie came off as she dragged her child's body across the empty lot and dumped her on the Irving-owned property high on a riverbank in Conquerall Bank.

The woman also arranged her daughter's body to make it appear that she had been sexually assaulted, by pulling down the girl's pants.

Nearly two days later, Ms. Boudreau made a tearful plea for her daughter's safe return. She went on national television, pale and tears streaming down her face as she clenched a tissue in her left hand, and begged for her daughter to come home.

She said they had argued so she took her daughter for a drive to try to get her to talk without walking away and slamming the door.

“I was just trying to reach out to her as a mom and set some things straight.”

Yeah some mom, friggin b*tch.... get your damn head checked.

 

[Twila]

I can't believe that a mother could do such a dispicable thing to their own child for a man...

She is disgusting.

 

[Praxius]

More Local Information:

Neighbour: Mother partied after killing daughter
Neighbour: Mother partied after killing daughter - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

BRIDGEWATER — Scott Saunders lit candles in the windows of his third-floor apartment every night Karissa Boudreau was missing.

Inside, he felt sick because he knew what most people didn't. He knew Karissa wasn't coming back.

Day and night, he listened to a drunken Penny Boudreau in the apartment next to his, fighting with her boyfriend. Bodies banged against the thin walls, he heard yelling and screaming.

Then one day, he heard Vernon Macumber yell, “I can't believe you did that to her. I can't believe you killed your own f...ing daughter!”

“It was all in my gut,” Mr. Saunders said, and the weight of what he was hearing was too much. He called the police, and what he had to tell them helped build the case against Penny Boudreau.

In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle Herald, Mr. Saunders said he was to be a prime witness in the case against Ms. Boudreau. He has given video and audio taped statements to major crime investigators, but with her guilty plea today, his evidence is no longer needed.

Mr. Saunders said he listened to the fights and relayed to the police what he was hearing as it was being said. Because of that, police were able to get a wiretap on Ms. Boudreau's phone which added to the evidence they were gathering.

“From the very minute Karissa went missing, I had no doubt, absolutely no doubt in my mind, that this woman would be held responsible for this.”

Funny, so did I.... and I live an hour or so away..... fancy that.

Mr. Saunders said that's because Ms. Boudreau's behaviour completely changed once Karissa disappeared. Up until then, she wouldn't acknowledge him in the hallway. She just kept her head down when he said hello.

Their apartment was always quiet.

But on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, the day she told police her only child had disappeared, Ms. Boudreau started partying. And she didn't stop for days.

“Her child was missing and she was carting alcohol into the house, partying, there was noise, banging, screaming, hollering, partying. There was definitely a change in her personality there. . .They were partying up until two days after the body was found. It was a 24/7 party.”

She brought in lobster and carried up blue bags filled with alcohol. Mr. Saunders said he could hear “large amounts of sexual activity” going on in the apartment, and there were times the pot smoke was so strong, he put a towel across the bottom of his door.

The slamming against his walls was so bad, his wall vibrated and cracked, Mr. Saunders said.

He said Bridgewater police were called to their apartment “numerous times.”

The phone in Ms. Boudreau's apartment was on the other side of Mr. Saunders' bedroom wall, and he could hear their conversations. One night, he heard Mr. Macumber crying on the phone to a male relative.

“They're blaming me for the whole thing, I don't know what I'm going to do,” he wept. “They're going to blame me, I don't know why she won't just tell them.”

Mr. Saunders said he could plainly hear what was being said as the couple fought, so he called the police. “As I was hearing them, I repeated word for word to the major crime unit what they were saying. I'd say, 'He just said this,' then I'd say, 'He just said that.'”

Mr. Macumber now lives with relatives in New Ross and still drives the red Neon that once held Karissa's dead body.

Mr. Saunders, who spent time working with child drug addicts in Africa, said this was the most traumatic experience of his life. “Every night that kid was missing, I lay in bed saying, 'God help me. God help me.' There has to be justice.”

He only ever met Karissa once. It was about a week before she went missing and she was looking for a missing cat. There were posters all over town.

“She was desperately looking for this cat to return. She said, 'Please, if you see this cat I don't want the $500 reward. I just want to find the cat and return him to his owner.'”

She was worried about the cat being out in the cold. “We're going to find this cat before he dies in the winter,” she said.

Three weeks later, her frozen remains were found on the bank of the LaHave River just a couple of kilometres from her home.

Mr. Saunders credits police with doing an “awesome job” proving who killed Karissa. “These were dedicated people out to get to the bottom of this and they were not giving up; not giving up.”

Good for him for doing the right thing.... I hope she had enough partying, drugs, drinking and sex after killing her daughter, cuz she's going experience a totally different approach to much of that in prison...... if she's lucky. :angry3:

 

[Praxius]

That story is so sick- the stupidest thing that happened in the Canada justice system was when P.E.T. abolished the death penalty. In most cases I don't agree with it, but this is one case where it is definitely warranted, depending on how conclusive the evidence is.

^ Check the above report I just posted and you'll see how detailed the evidence is against her sorry ass.

 

[Said1]

I can't read it.

 

[tracy]

Unfortunately, it's hardly the first time and it won't be the last.

 

[Praxius]

I can't read it.

You sure? It's right up there, just use your scroll wheel a couple of clicks.

 

[Said1]

I cant read it because it's too sad and disturbing. My daughter is 11, I can't imagine how sick I would have to be in order to do something like look her in the eye and take her life, due to my sick, demented, self-interests.

 

[Zzarchov]

You know whats really ****ed up? A man for tax evasion goes to a max prison for 2 years, which is very much like your prison movie environment, beatings, rapes, hardship.

Women, most of whom are child murderers (their own) and not in a postpartum way go to houses with drywall, wooden furniture, with no dress code, and pizza day and chinese food day (delivery) and counsellors.

Why the hell are women so molly coddled in our justice system?

 

[Twila]

Why the hell are women so molly coddled in our justice system?

Because mostly we want to be treated equal ONLY when it's to our benefit. When it's a responsibility , we suddeny become shrinking violets.

 

[tracy]

I can't say I've ever been to a woman's prison or a man's prison to compare the two.

 

[lone wolf]

Why isn't the boyfriend being charged as an accessory if she was so weak-minded to choose him over her daughter?

 

[Praxius]

I cant read it because it's too sad and disturbing. My daughter is 11, I can't imagine how sick I would have to be in order to do something like look her in the eye and take her life, due to my sick, demented, self-interests.

I sorta figured it might have been something along those lines..... not that that's a bad thing, it's just a normal thing.

 

[Zzarchov]

I can't say I've ever been to a woman's prison or a man's prison to compare the two.

I've been a contractor at them. I also have more than a few guard friends. Apparently thats a big disgust to those who have worked at both mens and womens. Apparently its quite a shock.

 

[tracy]

Short of making women prisonners beat and rape eachother like the men supposedly do, I don't see much that can be done to change that.

 

[Diarygirl]

What I can't grasp besides the fact that you could do something so heinous....especially to your own flesh and blood....if she was so desperate to keep this guy friend, is why didn't she let her daughter go back to her biological father????? God...what that poor child had to go through....knowing her own mother was killing her...ending her life!!!