EDMONTON – A judge cited the man who murdered his two sons and then tried killing himself with contempt of court Tuesday.
Jason Cardinal was testifying at the fatality inquiry probing the deaths of six-year-old Caleb and three-year-old Gabriel.
After half a day of strained testimony on Monday, Cardinal decided he would not answer any more questions.
READ MORE: Fatality inquiry begins into double murder of 2 boys by father
A day later, the judge again directed Cardinal to answer the questions, but the prisoner refused and was cited with contempt of court.
Cardinal responded by saying, “I’m already doing 25 to life.”
Cardinal pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
On Dec. 19, 2010 Cardinal injected Caleb and Gabriel with morphine. He then strangled them.
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A police officer told the fatality inquiry Gabriel was strangled with a towel while Caleb was found with a Spiderman pillowcase wrapped around his neck.
Cardinal cut his wrists with box cutters but survived.
Officers found Cardinal lying on his bed with the two dead boys next to him.
The fatality inquiry is examining if anything could have been done differently in order to prevent similar deaths.
Alberta Children’s Services was also involved in this case.
Case workers worried about Cardinal’s ability to parent. He suffered from mental illness. Cardinal sometimes did not take his medication. There were reports of inappropriate physical discipline.
In early 2010, Cardinal and the boys’ mother agreed that Gabriel and Caleb would live with their mother, Andrea Badger, in Bonnyville.
Days after that agreement was finalized, Cardinal changed his mind and said he wanted his children back.
Children’s Services then successfully applied for an apprehension order and placed the children with their mother.
The inquiry heard from an assessor with Children’s Services who said she had concerns with Cardinal’s mental wellness and his honesty.
Wendy Morgan testified that when it came to Cardinal’s visits with his children, “I believed that… supervised access was absolutely necessary.”
The courts eventually allowed Cardinal unsupervised visits with Caleb and Gabriel. It was on one of these weekends that Cardinal murdered the children.
The inquiry has yet to hear what evidence led the courts to allow unsupervised visits.
The fatality inquiry is scheduled to wrap up at the end of the week.
In a separate court case, Andrea Badger is suing the province for $1 million. She claims Children’s Services should have ensured Cardinal did not receive unsupervised access to Caleb and Gabriel.
Those claims have not been proven in court.
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