Quebec father charged in killings of two children remains unable to appear in court as he awaits trial
JOSEPH CHARLES, accused of killing two children in the Lower Mainland in 2012, was forced to remain jailed in solitary confinement while waiting for his trial in May.
As he awaits a trial date set for October 2017, Quebec’s Court of Appeal unanimously decided Thursday that it is in the public interest to keep Charbonneau pending the trial.
The Appeal Court ruled that Charbonneau should be allowed to remain in prison while he awaits trial.
The court issued a mandate requiring the Quebec government to place Charbonneau, now 67 years old, under the supervision of the Correctional Service of Canada and to provide him with all necessary care.
Charbonneau was found guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of two children, Léo and Gérard, in his flat on May 12, 2012.
According to court testimony, Léo was just 3 and Gérard was 2 when they died from strangulation and suffocation, respectively, in Charbonneau’s home.
The men were found by their mother in Charbonneau’s two-bedroom apartment.
Charbonneau had told police Léo and Gérard were his sons with a previous partner.
In 2015, Charbonneau was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of killing the two boys.
Charbonneau’s lawyer has said Charbonneau will try to get permission for his lawyer to visit him in prison when his case is heard.
Charbonneau, a former hockey coach, remains in prison in the Quebec town of Gatineau. The maximum-security facility houses more than 700 inmates.
“It is essential that Mr. Charbonneau’s case be adjudicated before the Court of Appeal is convened, and that his lawyers have access to him in order to prepare for and litigate his case,” Charbonneau’s lawyer, Jacques Saillant, said in a statement.
“The family has