Canadian Father Jailed for Murder of His Disabled Daughter

By Liz Townsend

A Canadian father who murdered his 12-year-old disabled daughter in a so-called "mercy killing" will spend at least 10 years in jail, according to a January 18 Supreme Court decision. The Canadian high court, in a rare unanimous decision, refused to overturn the country's mandatory sentence for second-degree murder of life imprisonment with no parole for 10 years, rejecting arguments that the prison time constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."

Tracy Latimer, a 12-year-old little girl with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, died on October 24, 1993, when her father Robert placed her in his truck, connected a hose to the exhaust pipe and put it through the truck's window, and watched while she died.

According to a case summary in the Supreme Court decision, Mr. Latimer initially told the police that Tracy died in her sleep, but he soon confessed to killing her, adding that "he had considered giving Tracy an overdose of Valium or 'shooting her in the head.'"

Latimer and his wife, Laura, lived with Tracy and three younger children on a farm in Wilkie, Saskatchewan. Tracy, who suffered neurological damage at birth, underwent numerous operations in her short life, and was scheduled to receive surgery to help relieve pain in a dislocated hip in November.

Although she could not walk or talk, she could recognize family members, play music on a radio using a special button, and communicate "by means of facial expressions, laughter and crying," the Supreme Court decision stated.

Since Tracy's death, Latimer has insisted he acted as a "mercy killer," protecting his daughter from "torture, mutilation, forced feeding just so that some poor little child can survive a few more days," according to the Canadian Press.

However, as the Supreme Court wrote, "the accused had at least one reasonable legal alternative to killing his daughter: he could have struggled on, with what was unquestionably a difficult situation, by helping [Tracy] to live and by minimizing her pain as much as possible or by permitting an institution to do so."

Latimer was convicted of second-degree murder in two separate trials, in 1994 and 1997. After his second conviction, Judge Ted Noble gave Latimer a "constitutional exemption" from the mandatory minimum sentence, calling Tracy's death "compassionate homicide" and ordering Latimer to prison for one year and then confinement to his farm for one more year. Latimer appealed this second conviction, asking for yet a third trial.

In arguments before the Supreme Court in June 2000, Latimer's lawyers sought to enshrine the defense of "compassionate homicide" in Canadian law, insisting that Tracy was in such pain that her father "believed he had no reasonable alternative but to kill his daughter," the Ottawa Citizen reported. "This is simply a most tragic case of a man who loved his child too much," attorney Edward Greenspan argued. "It is not a case of open season on the most vulnerable in society, as some would say."

Prosecution lawyers painted a very different picture of Tracy's life. "Evidence shows that there was more than just uncompromised pain," attorney Kenneth McKay told the Supreme Court. "She was a human being, she had a life to live and a life to make of what she could. She could smile, she could laugh, she could express her pain and she could cry."

The Supreme Court rejected all of Latimer's arguments, stating that "the appellant has not succeeded in showing that the sentence in his case is 'grossly disproportionate' to the punishment required for the most serious crime known to law, murder." The court upheld his conviction and restored the mandatory minimum sentence.

Latimer began serving his prison term on January 18 at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, and will be transferred to the Prince Albert Penitentiary in northern Saskatchewan for the remainder of his sentence, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix reported.

Greenspan told the Star Phoenix that he expects to apply for a pardon from federal authorities after Latimer has served Judge Noble's original sentence of two years.

Advocates for the disabled welcomed the Supreme Court decision. Not Dead Yet, a U.S.-based disability rights group, said in a press release that "a reduced sentence for Robert Latimer would send a message that the lives of people with disabilities have less value than those of nondisabled persons." The group called the court ruling "real justice in the murder of Tracy Latimer."

However, many Canadians have expressed support for Latimer and consider his actions "mercy killing," an opinion that some commentators view as a sign that the country has lost respect for life.

"Public support for leniency for Mr. Latimer is just one more indicator that Canadian society has unthinkingly wandered down the trail that leads only to a culture of death," Susan Martinuk wrote in the Vancouver Province.

"There is no consistent stand for life - - its value is not absolute, but dependent on situation and circumstance," she continued. "We kill unborn children for convenience, and we dabble with giving doctors the right to kill patients so as to protect a false understanding of human dignity. When life is assessed with such a fickle spirit, why not kill those who are inconvenient?"