Roger Bilodeau handed 10-year sentence for manslaughter in deaths of Métis hunters
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Roger Bilodeau, the person who initiated a high-speed chase that led to two Métis-Cree hunters being shot to demise on a rural highway northeast of Edmonton, was sentenced to 10 years in jail Friday.
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However Courtroom of Queen’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin gave Bilodeau credit score for a little bit greater than 1,600 days of time served within the Edmonton Remand Centre, counting extra time as a result of harsher circumstances in custody throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, Bilodeau will serve roughly five-and-a-half years in jail.
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The sentence got here after the household of Jacob Sansom and Maurice (Morris) Cardinal gave sufferer affect statements, many bringing images of the 2 males, killed on March 27, 2020.
Roger Bilodeau was convicted this yr of manslaughter of their deaths, whereas his son Anthony Bilodeau was discovered responsible by a jury of second-degree homicide and manslaughter for killing Cardinal and Sansom, respectively. The youthful Bilodeau’s sentencing listening to is anticipated to start Nov. 17.
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Sansom’s youthful sister Gina Sansom mentioned she introduced footage to be entered into the courtroom file as a result of she needed to verify each Bilodeaus noticed the fullness of her household, and the love, kindness and pleasure that they had.
The day they had been killed, Sansom, 39, and his uncle Cardinal, 57, had been moose searching close to Glendon. A while after dusk, they briefly pulled into the doorway of Roger Bilodeau’s driveway. At trial, Bilodeau and his son Joseph — simply 16 on the time — mentioned they fearful the occupants of the truck had been thieves.
They chased the automobile, reaching 152 km/h, and Roger Bilodeau known as his older son Anthony, who lived on an adjoining farm, and advised him to deliver a gun. He later told an RCMP officer that he believed “these sons of bitches are coming to steal or do one thing.”
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Roger Bilodeau pulled in entrance of the lads’s pick-up and compelled it to decelerate, ultimately stopping. Then, after Anthony arrived, Crown prosecutors mentioned video surveillance exhibits lower than 30 seconds handed earlier than he shot Sansom as soon as within the chest, adopted by three photographs at Cardinal, considered one of which struck him within the again.
Bilodeau claimed Cardinal was armed, however the firearm police present in Cardinal’s truck the subsequent day was unloaded and mendacity on the backseat.
The Bilodeaus left the taking pictures scene with out calling police or an ambulance. Anthony Bilodeau later destroyed the gun used within the shootings and lied to investigators about having a rifle of that calibre.
At instances on Thursday, Gina Sansom immediately addressed the Bilodeaus.
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“You’re thieves of our happiness and joys. You’re thieves of our futures and recollections promised. You had been the one thieves current that evening, and on this courtroom immediately,” she mentioned.
“You stole a lot from us in just some moments.”
The household described how Sansom and Cardinal had been information keepers for his or her Métis and Cree cultural heritage, and the way shedding each on the identical time has had a devastating ripple impact throughout generations of their household. They mentioned they’re haunted by the ideas of Sansom and Cardinal, who they knew as protectors and suppliers, being left for lifeless on the highway.
The Métis Nation of Alberta has known as the killings a “stark illustration of the discrimination and contempt skilled by lots of our residents, particularly in that space of the province.”
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‘Now it’s vindication’
Throughout trial this yr, the defence claimed the Bilodeaus had been on edge and acted in self-defence due to a surge in rural property crime — although the Crown later revealed neither Roger nor Anthony had ever known as police to report a break-in.
The Bilodeaus claimed that when the autos got here to a cease, Sansom smashed their passenger-side window together with his fist and tried to seize Joseph whereas shouting about “skinning” them.
Macklin mentioned in his determination Friday that Roger Bilodeau jumped to an “unfounded conclusion” that Cardinal and Sansom had been doing one thing “nefarious,” and the 2 hunters “will need to have developed an excellent worry” whereas they had been being pursued.
No matter occurred throughout the confrontation after the automobiles stopped, Macklin added, the circumstances recommend Sansom was performing solely to defend himself.
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Sansom’s spouse Sarah Sansom mentioned afterwards that these phrases imply greater than the size of the jail sentence.
“We’ve been attempting to inform the world these boys had been harmless, and we all know that. And now it’s vindication. They had been harmless victims.”
Roger Bilodeau briefly spoke in courtroom, at instances by tears, earlier than the sentencing determination.
“I had no intention of wounding anybody and I’m sincerely sorry for my actions and the hardship I’ve triggered,” he mentioned. “I pray for these two misplaced souls on a regular basis and for his or her household.”
On the finish of the courtroom proceedings, relations mentioned that was the primary expression of regret they’d seen, however they bristled on the males being described as “misplaced.”
“Our boys weren’t misplaced souls,” mentioned Irene Forsyth, a relative of Sansom and Cardinal who grew up with each like they had been her brothers.
“If anyone was a misplaced soul, it was positively (Roger Bilodeau) and his son for doing what they did.”
— With information from Jonny Wakefield
masmith@postmedia.com
