An Edmonton man who repeatedly sexually abused his 14-year-old special needs niece and sent her sex texts with photos was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday.

The 56-year-old former nurse, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban protecting the identity of the victim, pleaded guilty to sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and two counts of Internet luring of a child.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Mary Moreau said it was a case where the offender had lured and carefully cultivated a “very young and vulnerable child” into a “highly charged sexual relationship.”

Moreau noted that victim impact statements filed at the sentencing showed the “horror” the victim’s family has had to go through.

The judge ruled it was an aggravating factor that the offender had committed a breach of trust by his position as the victim’s uncle, that the victim was 14 and 15 during the time the illegal relationship occurred and that he knew of her severe learning disabilities.

She also found it aggravating that he sent the teen an “astronomical” number of Internet messages — more than 5,600 — he used illicit drugs and alcohol to “groom” her and he fostered an “exploitative” father-daughter sexual relationship.

According to an agreed statement of facts, the victim and her mother had moved in with the offender, his wife and their own special-needs daughter in the fall of 2015.

Crown prosecutor Diane Hollinshead told court that, over a six-month period, the offender sent the victim explicit sexual messages by text and on Facebook, including pornographic images and a photo of his penis, and he repeatedly sexually abused her.

After the teen disclosed the abuse to a school counsellor, police were called and an investigation began. A short time later, police arrested the man and seized his iPad and cellphone. He later gave a statement admitting the sexual abuse and telling a detective that he had given the teen “weed cookies” and alcoholic Jell-O shots.

Defence lawyer Alexandra Seaman told court her client had no prior criminal record and is very remorseful. She also said his wife of 38 years and their two daughters still support him. As well, she spoke of the man having substance abuse issues with both prescription drugs and alcohol.

He was given 13-months credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, leaving him with five years and 11 months still to serve. He was also placed on the national sex offender registry for life.

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An Edmonton businessman was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday after earlier being convicted of 33 counts of fraud following the longest jury trial in Alberta history.

Vimal Chandra Iyer, 41, was also ordered to pay a total of $2.3 million in restitution to more than 40 of his victims in the extensive land development investment scheme.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Andrea Moen rejected a defence pitch for a conditional sentence to be served in the community, saying it would have been “inappropriate,” and she noted that Iyer continues to deny his guilt, he has shown no remorse and he has not made any restitution.

“This offence was highly complex and required a significant degree of planning and deliberation by the offender,” said Moen. “This was not an offence of sudden impulse or passion. Rather, it was a calculated and deliberate offence during which the offender engaged in multiple layers of deceit.”

Moen ruled that the 11-person jury must have found that Iyer, the sole principal and director of Trident Properties Ltd., made deliberate false representations to investors and he consistently recruited new victims during the 2-1/2-year scheme between March 2007 and December 2009.

The judge also ruled Iyer recklessly used the money he received for his personal use, including buying an expensive home in his wife’s name, expensive luxury vehicles, clothing and cosmetic surgery for his wife and travelling extensively in an “extravagant” style. He was also a member of the Derrick Golf and Winter Club since 2013.

“Essentially, Mr. Iyer treated the Trident bank accounts and the Trident Visa as his own personal accounts,” said Moen.

“There is no evidence that Mr. Iyer was motivated by anything but greed,” said Moen in a 53-page written decision. “He intentionally convinced as many individuals as possible to invest in projects which he knew to be nonexistent.”

The judge ruled it was an aggravating factor that Iyer, who is from Fiji, had been in a position of trust and the fraud exceeded $1 million and involved more than 50 victims.

“The harm done to the large number of victims, both financially and emotionally, was significant,” said Moen, adding Iyer even blamed the victims, some of whom not only lost their savings, but suffered health problems and marriage breakups as well. Some also feared he would seek revenge on them as a result of the trial, she said.

Moen also pointed out the multiple frauds required a significant degree of planning and deliberation and noted Iyer “was clearly the leader of the fraudulent enterprise.”

Iyer, who turned down an opportunity by the judge to speak before being sentenced, had 44 letters of support submitted on his behalf, including one from a person who has a criminal record.

He was given 30-days credit for time he spent in pre-trial custody.

Iyer was convicted by the jury Aug. 10, following a nearly 11-month-long trial, and both the judge and two Crown prosecutors handling the case said it was believed to be the longest jury trial yet in Alberta. It had initially been scheduled for nine months.

Related

• Edmonton jury settles in for nine-month fraud trial
• Longest jury trial in Alberta history over $2.4M fraud case ends with conviction

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An Edmonton woman who beat her husband to death with various items, including a broken curtain rod, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Friday.

Nyuk Len Hwang, 55, was charged with second-degree murder for the Aug. 25, 2013, killing of Teck Hwang, 56; however, the Crown accepted her plea to the lesser and included offence.

Hwang had tried to enter a guilty plea to manslaughter last week at the start of her jury trial, but the Crown refused to accept it then.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Hwang repeatedly hit her husband of 27 years with the shower curtain rod, a two-by-four piece of wood, a stone pestle, a yellow wooden stick and a red metal broom handle during a protracted argument over his gambling problem throughout the day at their northeast Edmonton home.

And when the victim was unconscious, Hwang bit him on the inner thigh in an attempt to wake him.

“During the argument, and at various locations throughout the residence, (Hwang) intentionally struck Teck numerous times and with a great amount of force,” says the agreed statement of facts.

Hwang maintained the argument was over how her anxiety problem was made worse when Teck ran away and did not respond to her attempts to contact him, and how she had told him that many times.

She also maintained his gambling and constant lies were a problem and their house had to be re-mortgaged twice because of his gambling.

According to the statement, the couple’s then-16-year-old son, Reuben, now 19, was at home on the day of the killing, but mainly stayed in his room with his headphones on.

Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., Reuben observed his father bleeding while sitting on the toilet in the home’s main bathroom. He had cuts on his legs and bruising on his legs and arms. Hwang was also in the bathroom and Reuben helped her move Teck to the shower and clean off the blood before returning to his room.

Reuben returned to the bathroom to check on his parents five times within an hour and then assisted his mother in moving the victim to his bed. He also observed her calling 911 and was asked by her to clean up the blood in the hallway.

Before emergency personnel showed up and took Teck to hospital, where he was pronounced dead early the next morning, Reuben observed his father lying unconscious in the hallway.

According to the statement, an autopsy determined Teck suffered blunt trauma to his head, thorax, abdomen, arms, legs and back. The assault also caused his heart to be bruised, which led to cardiac arrest, and that, along with blood loss, caused his death.

In an opening statement at the start of the trial, Crown prosecutor Maya Inuzuka told the jury the Hwangs had moved to Canada from Malaysia 23 years ago and said court would likely hear Reuben paint a picture during his anticipated testimony of a “difficult home life.”

Inuzuka also told jurors that Hwang had told a 911 operator that she and her husband had a “big fight” and she was “really nervous.” She also said Hwang told the operator: “I hit him so bad and he cannot talk … and he … breathe … I need help.”

The jury also heard that Hwang was “emotional” when police were present and she said: “I tell you. I hit my husband very bad today.”

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6.

An Edmonton man admitted in court Monday to fleeing after hitting his longtime girlfriend with a van and driving over her — leaving her badly injured — following an argument outside a north-side casino.

Jahanbakhsh Ahmadi, 51, pleaded guilty in Court of Queen’s Bench to failing to stop at the scene of an accident and offer assistance, knowing that bodily harm had been caused, with intent to escape civil or criminal liability.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Ahmadi and Samina Jalal — who had been in a relationship for approximately 12 years and have a 13-year-old son together — were at the Century Casino at 13103 Fort Rd. on the night of April 19, 2015.

Court heard the couple left the casino a little after midnight and walked to Ahmadi’s 1997 Pontiac Trans Sport minivan, which was parked, facing the casino, along the southwest side of the building.

Crown prosecutor Bertrand Malo told court that witnesses heard the couple arguing for about 15 minutes and then Ahmadi walked away from the van and back toward the casino entrance.

Malo said Jalal proceeded to follow Ahmadi and he then turned back towards the van, got in on the front passenger side and closed the door, leaving Jalal standing outside of the vehicle. She then walked around the back and up to the front driver’s side window.

Court heard Ahmadi backed the van out of the parking spot and then drove forward as Jalal walked towards the front of the van.

The van struck Jalal, causing her to fall to the ground, and Ahmadi then drove the van over her body, running over her with both front and back tires. He then turned east, proceeding out of the casino parking lot, and drove north on Fort Road.

Video surveillance footage obtained by police shows Jalal being struck by the front-left corner of the van and the impact of the front tire caused her to be dragged under it. The footage also shows the van rising and falling twice as the vehicle drives over Jalal.

A witness tried to speak to Jalal, but she did not respond, and he called 911 from the casino and she was taken to hospital.

Court heard Jalal suffered numerous injuries, including a laceration and contusion to her liver, internal hemorrhaging, rib fractures, a bruised lung, a left shoulder-blade fracture, a separated right shoulder, a broken collarbone, fractured ankles, knee ligament damage, a fractured wrist, spinal fractures, a pelvic fracture, a sacrum fracture and dental pain.

As well, Jalal suffered mental anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

After undergoing a number of surgeries, she continues to be an outpatient at the Glenrose Hospital and is unable to work.

Ahmadi was also charged with aggravated assault, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace, that being the minivan. However, those charges were expected to be withdrawn at sentencing.

A pre-sentence report and a psychiatric assessment were ordered and a sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 18.

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A Spruce Grove businessman admitted in court Tuesday to stabbing his wife and assaulting one of their daughters after drunkenly accusing his spouse of cheating on him.

Balwinder Singh Jassal, 55, pleaded guilty in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench to a reduced charge of assault causing bodily harm and one count of common assault.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Balwinder Jassal and Parvinder Jassal are married and have three daughters, who were 14, 16 and 21 at the time of the Aug. 11, 2014, incident, and were all living at the family home in Spruce Grove.

Court heard that on Aug. 10, 2014, the entire family were out for the evening in Edmonton celebrating an Indian holiday. The three daughters returned home early and were all in bed when their parents returned to the house about 2:30 a.m. the next day.

Balwinder Jassal was intoxicated and began arguing with Parvinder Jassal and accusing her of having an affair with one of their employees, an allegation which she denies.

The woman went into their youngest daughter’s bedroom, which was on the main floor, and asked the teen to call 911, court heard.

The then-14-year-old followed her mother out of the bedroom and observed her trying to push her father out the front door of the home. She also heard her dad accuse her mom of having an affair.

The teen then saw her father run from the front door to the kitchen and grab a knife and then run back towards his wife with the knife in his hand. The teen stepped in front of him to try to keep him away from her mother, but was pushed out of the way by him.

The girl then noticed that her mother had been slashed and stabbed and was bleeding. Meanwhile, the other two daughters came downstairs from their bedrooms and one of them tried to get the knife away from their father while the other pushed him and kept him away from their mother as her sisters helped her to the couch.

He also continued to accuse his wife of having an affair.

Police and Emergency Medical Services responded to the home and took the mother to University Hospital, where she was treated for stab wounds to her left hand and stomach. She required two separate surgeries for the wounds.

Court heard six tendons in the victim’s hand were damaged; however, the surgery was successful and she appears to have retained almost a complete range of motion. She also needed an urgent laparotomy to stop the bleeding in the penetrating wound in her abdomen, but no internal organs were damaged.

Balwinder Jassal was initially charged with attempted murder; however, he was ordered to stand trial on a reduced charge of aggravated assault after a preliminary hearing. He was then allowed to plead guilty to the lesser offence of assault causing bodily harm.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 17.

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An appeal by a convicted Edmonton sex offender who argued a judge refused to grant him an adjournment to get medical evidence on his injured penis has been tossed out.

Robert Allen Cote, 60, was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault with a weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon and uttering death threats.

However, Cote — who testified in his own defence that he could not have sexually assaulted the victim as he was “incapable of getting an erection” — appealed the 2014 conviction, saying he was denied an opportunity to present medical evidence on his injury.

In a decision issued this week, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal of Alberta dismissed the appeal after ruling the judge’s denial of an adjournment was reasonable in the circumstances.

The panel noted there was no information before the provincial court trial judge as to a specific witness who could give a medical opinion being identified, nor was there an estimate of a reasonable time when such a witness could be made available.

Defence lawyer Derek Anderson had argued during the Dec. 1 appeal that the expert medical evidence could have provided an opinion at the trial as to whether Cote’s penis injury could have had an impact on his ability to obtain and maintain an erection.

However, the panel also noted Cote’s defence lawyer at trial had told the judge during sentencing submissions that doctors were unable to give an opinion on the subject and that there was no application at the appeal for fresh evidence that would suggest otherwise.

According to the defence appeal factum, Cote suffered second- and third-degree burns to his penis in a 2005 industrial accident where he slipped while holding a high-pressure washing wand that was spraying industrial chemicals.

During the trial, the victim testified Cote could get an erection, although he could not maintain it throughout the sexual assault.

The judge accepted Cote was not capable of “getting a complete erection,” but ruled he did force the victim to both perform oral sex on him and to engage in sexual intercourse with him.

Court heard at the time that Edmonton police had responded to a report of a naked woman wandering along the street in the area of 97 Street and 81 Avenue about 8 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2012.

The woman told officers she had been at Cote’s nearby apartment that afternoon consuming alcohol and crack cocaine and he had stripped her naked, threatened her with a knife and took photos of her performing forced sexual acts upon him.

The woman also told officers she had escaped the suite, but said she had left her clothing and belongings there. The officers went to Cote’s suite and arrested him after finding her things there. During the arrest, Cote uttered threats that he was going to kill her.

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An Edmonton driver who killed a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk has been banned from driving for 90 days, despite pleas from his lawyer to reduce the ban to allow him to drive to work.

Robert Rowsell, 40, was also fined $1,700 after pleading guilty Wednesday in provincial court to a charge under the Traffic Safety Act of failing to yield to a pedestrian, 55-year-old John Herder.

Defence lawyer Adam Klassen had sought a $2,000 fine with a 60-day driving ban because Rowsell’s boss was only able to drive him to work for two months; however, Judge Janet Dixon ruled the maximum 90-day driving ban was more appropriate.

Dixon noted the fatal collision was a “sad accident;” however, she told Rowsell that it is a “privilege”‘ to drive and he would have to take the bus to work if no one was available to drive him there.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Rowsell was stopped at a red light at 111 Avenue and 127 Street in his 2015 GMC Sierra on March 8. When the light turned green, Rowsell turned left onto 111 Avenue to head west.

While making the turn, Rowsell saw what appeared to be the back of someone’s head and an elbow by the hood of his pickup and immediately applied the brakes. He then realized he had struck Herder as the man was walking north across 111 Avenue in a marked crosswalk on the west side of the intersection.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Rowsell failed to ensure that the intersection was clear of pedestrians before turning left. Alcohol, lighting, obstructions or road conditions were not a factor.

After hitting Herder, Rowsell backed up his truck and exited the vehicle to check on him, and noticed the victim was breathing strangely and convulsing while holding his hands up to his face.

Rowsell called 911 to request an ambulance and told the operator that he had “bumped a guy.” He then waited at the scene for the ambulance and police to arrive.

Herder suffered serious head trauma in the collision and died from his injuries 10 days later, after being taken off life support.

The victim’s sister told court the family holds no grudge against Rowsell, who apologized before being sentenced. Court also heard he has been going to counselling since the collision and has been on medication after being diagnosed with depression.

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A Grande Prairie man who stabbed another man 17 times in a hotel parking lot — killing him — was handed a 20-year prison term Wednesday.

Justin Kenneth Sandquist, 26, had been charged with murder for the Dec. 18, 2013, slaying of Aaron Cote, 25; however, he earlier pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sterling Sanderman said it was an aggravating factor that “incomprehensible gratuitous violence” was involved and bemoaned the fact that many young people these days choose to settle disputes with weapons, rather than with fists.

“You just shake your head,” said Sanderman, adding it was also an aggravating factor that Cote was “truly defenceless” at the time and was “completely blameless” for the altercation that led to him being attacked “without warning” by the armed Sandquist.

According to an agreed statement of facts, both Sandquist and Cote had been at Diamonds Gentlemen’s Club on Gateway Boulevard. Cote was there with his cousin, Ivan, and Sandquist was with a group of friends.

In the early hours, the two groups were in the club’s parking lot when a verbal altercation broke out. Sandquist climbed into his girlfriend’s Ford F150 pickup and drove it toward the Cote cousins, who were crossing Gateway Boulevard on foot.

The truck struck Ivan Cote in the left shoulder, brushed his leg and ran over his left foot; however, the pair made it to the other side of the road and ran into the Travelodge hotel parking lot.

Sandquist did a U-turn and pulled into the parking lot, jumped out of the moving truck and stabbed Aaron Cote 17 repeatedly with a long knife. After the attack, Sandquist drove off. The truck was later found, burned out, just outside of Grande Prairie. In the back, a burnt knife with a 17-1/2-cm blade was discovered.

Aaron Cote’s mother, Felicia, tearfully read out a victim impact statement in which she described her son as a music-loving family man who loved life and “never had a bad bone” in him.

“My heart did not break; my heart shattered and remains shattered as of today,” she said. “I live every day of a parent’s nightmare.”

Aaron Cote’s father, Aaron Ledoux, said no parent should have a child that dies before they do and called his son a “sweet and thoughtful” man.

Sandquist’s mother, Michelle, also tearfully read out a statement apologizing to the Cote family for the “heinous act” her son had committed. She said she is “utterly devastated” by what had happened, but believes her son is “redeemable.”

Sandquist, who declined an opportunity to speak at the sentencing, was given 13-months credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, leaving him with 18 years and 11 months still to serve.

Sandquist also faces charges stemming from when he was nabbed in October while on bail for the killing during a drug investigation in the Sylvan Lake and Red Deer area. Police seized a MAC-11 subcompact machine pistol from his home, along with a silencer and two extended clip magazines.

A 70-year-old Edmonton man who killed an elderly woman when he ran over her while backing out of a downtown parking stall was fined $1,500 Thursday.

Reginald Roger Williams also surrendered his driver’s licence after being banned from driving for 45 days.

Williams had been charged with careless driving for the deadly April 7, 2015, collision, but was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser Traffic Safety Act charge of failing to back up safely resulting in a death.

Provincial court Judge Donna Valgardson told Williams he should have checked behind him better before backing up. She also noted the fatal collision was in a downtown area with many pedestrians.

“Drivers ought to be aware of pedestrians and exercise the required caution,” said Valgardson.

Court heard Williams had parked his Jeep Grand Cherokee in one of several parking stalls outside of the Métis Capital Housing Corp.’s Renaissance Tower at 9505 105 Ave.

About 3 p.m., Tai Shui Leung, 88, was walking slowly along the west sidewalk of 95 Street, pulling a cart behind her.

As Leung stepped off the sidewalk and began walking west on 105 Avenue, just behind a line of parked vehicles, Williams, who had three passengers in his Jeep, began to back out of his stall.

“Mr. Williams struck and ran over Miss Leung as he backed up,” said Crown prosecutor Aaron Pegg, adding Williams’ view through his rear window was “partially obscured” and witnesses said he had looked at both his right and left rear-view mirrors.

Court heard bystanders banged on the side of the Jeep to alert Williams to the collision and he then drove forward, off of her.

Leung died later that night as a result of blunt force injuries.

In a victim impact statement, Jennifer Leung said her grandmother lived in the Chinese Seniors Centre and was very independent and liked to collect bottles to stay active, despite not needing the money.

“Her mind was sharp and her heart was kind and generous,” she said, adding her grandmother had four sons, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and still prepared family meals.

She also said the victim’s death was difficult to handle for family both here and in Hong Kong as a result of the “gruesome” way she died and because they were unable to properly say goodbye.

A 70-year-old fraudster who “bamboozled” $315,000 from five Albertans, including a disabled Wetaskiwin woman who ended up losing her home, was put behind bars Thursday.

Gary Richard Walker was sentenced to three years in prison after earlier pleading guilty in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench to five counts of fraud relating to bogus investment schemes.

And — for what is believed to be the first time in an Alberta fraud case — Walker was handed a $295,300 fine in lieu of forfeiture, which went along with a restitution order for the same amount. What that means is he has three years once his sentence expires to pay the fine and, if he doesn’t pay it, he faces being imprisoned for an additional four years. Any money paid towards the restitution order will be reduced from the fine.

Justice Larry Ackerl ruled Walker “bamboozled” his victims into giving him money and then converted it to his own use, and he slammed him for his “predatory targeting of vulnerable victims” which led to them suffering a “devastating” financial impact.

Ackerl said it was particularly aggravating that Walker “insinuated” himself into the lives of the three female victims and then “moved on” once he had “drained” their financial resources.

“His conduct was continuous, calculated and callous,” he said.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Walker moved from Ontario to Calgary in 2008 after meeting Vickie Hill, 67, on the website Classmates.com and presenting himself as someone that Hill knew from school.

Hill did not recall knowing Walker from school, but she agreed to let him move into the basement of her home.

Walker convinced Hill to give him money to invest in the stock market, after telling her the stocks he was investing in were a “surefire win” and she would “quadruple or more” her investment.

Crown prosecutor Megan Rosborough told court Hill give Walker nearly $35,000 to invest on her behalf. Later, he told her the stocks did not pan out. She also loaned him $9,500 which he never repaid.

Court heard Walker left Hill to live with Theresa Edelman in her Wetaskiwin home after meeting her on the Plenty of Fish dating website in 2009. She was divorced at the time and a victim of a motorcycle crash that left her with one leg and a brain injury.

The pair had a romantic relationship. Rosborough said Edelman, 57, was on pain killers at the time, which caused her to have difficulty with decision-making, and Walker was aware of that.

Walker told Edelman he had worked for an investment firm and convinced her to give him money to invest for her. Over six months, she gave him $201,000 to invest, after cashing in about $100,000 in RRSPs and taking out a $150,000 line of credit on her home.

He later told her he had lost all of the money playing stock options. Edelman lost her home and had to move in with her elderly parents.

Court heard Walker also defrauded businessmen Wilson Lam, 35, and David Yee, 58, of $10,000 and $5,000 in 2010, after getting them to have him invest money in stocks on their behalf.

As well, Walker defrauded Antoniette Smith, a 61-year-old Edmonton woman he met on Plenty of Fish, of nearly $65,000 between Oct. 1, 2010, and April 15, 2011.

Walker, who court heard has been jailed for fraud in the past and has a long list of health problems, apologized in court and vowed to never commit a crime again.

An Edmonton man was fined $250 Friday after admitting in court that the remains of a bear he had hunted and killed ended up on city streets.

Robert Eric Johansson, 38, pleaded guilty in provincial court to a charge under the Alberta Wildlife Act relating to a prohibition against the spoilage of skin and edible flesh.

According to the legislation, a person who has killed or is in possession of the skin of a fur-bearing animal, bear or mountain lion shall not allow the skin to be wasted, destroyed, spoiled or abandoned.

Crown prosecutor John Watson told court Fish and Wildlife officers were alerted on May 22, 2014, that the remains of a black bear, including the hide and skull, were found in two black garbage bags on 199 Steet near 30 Avenue.

Watson said Johansson had killed the bear in 2011, but the hunting tag used at the time was found on the discarded hide.

The prosecutor told court Johansson might not have been the person who disposed of the bear’s remains, but, as the one who had hunted and killed the animal, he was responsible for those remains.

Johansson told the judge he had left the bear hide with his father so he could skin the animal for him and it had been in his freezer.

He did not know how the bear remains ended up on the street, but said he thinks it had been thrown out with other rotten food that had been in the freezer.

Johansson did not have his hunting licence suspended.

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An Edmonton mother accused of killing her five-year-old daughter was denied release Friday in a bail hearing full of shocking, never-before-released allegations in the tragic case.

Lauren Lafleche, 29, faces charges of second-degree murder and assault with a weapon in connection with the October 2015 death of her daughter, Shalaina Arcand.

LaFleche was arrested and charged this October as the result of a lengthy investigation by the medical examiner’s office.

Defence lawyer Peter Royal sought Lafleche’s release on bail after noting the cause of death in the autopsy report was not conclusive and his client, who has no previous criminal record, had been at large in the community for more than a year.

Royal said there is “some real doubt” as to the cause of the head trauma that led to the victim’s death.

“This is certainly a very weak case of murder,” said Royal, adding that it could end up with a finding of manslaughter.

“This is not one of those heinous crimes that puts the community at risk,” he said.

However, Crown prosecutor Laurie Trahan painted a very different picture, detailing allegations of prior child abuse against both the victim and her two siblings, conflicting versions given to police as to what happened and an attempted escape at the time of arrest.

Trahan also spoke of the victim being found in an “emaciated” and “malnourished” condition and allegations that the little girl used to forage at night through the garbage at home looking for food.

The prosecutor told court the autopsy report was delayed 13 months because the medical examiner sought a second opinion from a neurologist in Ontario.

She said the report noted the victim suffered “extensive blunt force trauma” to her head, which is believed to be the cause of death, and contusions to her body, with some so deep they injured her liver.

Trahan said the medical examiner investigated various theories relating to the cause of death as suggested by Lafleche, which included the victim falling out of bed and hitting her head on a dresser, an earlier fall that night in another room or being injured in a playground fall four days earlier.

However, Trahan said the report says that, while the other possible causes can’t be completely ruled out, they are believed to be “highly unlikely,” and “inflicted trauma” is the more likely cause.

The prosecutor told court the victim was found by emergency medical personnel with a “large purple goose egg” on her forehead and extensive bruising was found on her arms, neck, chest and legs. She also had red marks and bruises on her back and buttocks.

“Her entire forehead was swollen and bruised,” she said.

Court heard a radiologist also found evidence of older injuries on the victim’s body.

Trahan noted Lafleche didn’t call 911 for 90 minutes and her other daughter, who was 11 at the time, said she helped her mother give the victim a bath and put her in clean clothing during that time. Court heard Lafleche was also cleaning her apartment then.

Trahan said the 11-year-old and her then four-year-old brother told authorities that their mother used to hit both them and the victim with a belt and a spatula. The older girl also said Lafleche used to restrain the victim to a bed with a belt and strike her in the head.

The prosecutor told the judge that when Morinville RCMP went to the Alexander Band reserve to arrest Lafleche for the killing, she first denied who she was, then fled from the home before being nabbed running across a field.

She also spoke of Lafleche’s involvement with child welfare and said the three children were earlier taken away due to allegations of alcohol and crack cocaine abuse and incidents of verbal and physical abuse involving the children.

Court heard the children were later returned to her, but there were still concerns about anger management issues and possible abuse.

After hearing the submissions by Royal and Trahan, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Ken Nielsen denied Lafleche bail, saying it was a “serious” and “grave”  offence and he was concerned about the public losing confidence in the administration of justice.

No  publication ban was issued on the evidence presented at the hearing.

Court has heard paramedics responded to a residence near 116 Avenue and 124 Street during the early morning of Oct. 13, 2015, and took the victim to the Stollery Children’s Hospital. She died three days later after being taken off life support.

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