Cadotte case could rekindle compassion killing debate ahead of sentencing
MONTREAL — The sentencing hearing for a man convicted of manslaughter in the death of his ailing wife could renew the debate over so-called compassion killings in Canada, and whether a killer motivated by mercy deserves a more lenient sentence than any other, experts say.
Michel Cadotte’s lawyer described Jocelyne Lizotte’s illness as a “tsunami” that ravaged her family, friends and loved ones and eventually led to her death at the hands of her husband, who smothered her to death in the bed of a long-term care facility.
Late last month, a jury found Cadotte guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Lizotte, 60, who was in the last stages of Alzheimer’s disease. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder.
Cadotte’s lawyers argued their client was in a disturbed state of mind and acted impulsively on Feb. 20, 2017, seeking to end his wife’s suffering. Outside the courtroom, the crime had been framed by the defence and the media as a compassion killing — an offence that doesn’t exist in the Criminal Code.