For lighting his family home on fire with his wife and two children still inside, a provincial court judge sentenced Andre Richard to 10 years in federal prison on Tuesday.
Richard, 45, showed little emotion, keeping his eyes on the judge, after being sentenced to 10 years for arson, minus 18 months for time already served. His ex-wife, step-daughter and eight-year-old son sat in the front row listening to the judge hand out the jail term. Judge Peder Gulbransen said Richard "committed the most serious offenses in the Criminal Code."
"To call [Richard's actions] callous is an understatement," said Gulbransen. "His family not only have physical scars but emotional ones."
He went on to say he can't imagine what emotional damage has been done after the two children, who witnessed their mother covered in blood and suffering a seizure on the ground on a neighbour's front step that fateful night, April 2, 2014. He sentenced Richard to 10 years for setting his Willowbrook home on fire, knowing that his injured wife, step-daughter and young son were still inside. He was also given six years for two counts of aggravated assault on his wife and step-daughter. He was given four years for breaking into their home when he smashed the sliding glass door that night.
But all sentences are to be served concurrently, so in total it amounts to 8.5 years. While in jail, Richard is banned from trying to have any contact with his family. Gulbransen said the sentence should send a message that the courts denounce domestic violence.
"We must send a message that vicious attacks against spouses and children will be punishable," he said. He added that the court recognizes that society finds violence against spouses and children "repulsive."
In this case, Richard's actions not only devastated a family emotionally, but financially as well. Richard's ex-wife is still having to pay a mortgage for a home that no longer exists.
After the sentence, Crown counsel Mike Fortino said the length of the sentence is "significant." Crown had asked for 10 years.
"The impact on the family is tremendous and ongoing," said Fortino. "This is a very emotional day for them."
In December, he pleaded guilty to breaking into his family home, to two counts of aggravated assault against his wife and step-daughter and to arson, knowing people were still inside. At one point, Richard was charged with attempted murder.
Defense counsel asked that Richard serve five to six years.
"A part of each of us died that night," said his ex-wife, as she cried reading out her victim impact statement at his sentencing hearing last month. "You have stolen our children's innocence. This will forever leave an imprint," she said.
She said her scars on her body are a constant reminder of what happened to her life.
"I'm emotionally consumed by this. My life is one medical appointment after another," she said of the serious injuries he caused her.
The arson destroyed their family home. This not only forced them to move but insurance has not paid anything, so she is still forced to pay a mortgage for a home that is no longer there, while also paying rent and buying groceries. She is not able to work because of the physical injuries he caused her.
Richard had been married to his wife for nine years, but it was often violent. At one point, their children were taken away by the ministry of children and family development, because of the violence in the home caused by Richard.
Police were called to the home on many occasions. In February of last year, he was arrested for assaulting his son. He was released on bail with a promise to not contact any of his family.
He went to live with a co-worker. But his whole world was his family, the court learned. From the outside world, they seemed like a normal family. They went to church and Richard coached his son's hockey team.
The day prior to the attacks and arson, Richard was served divorce papers and provisions not to contact his family.
Distraught, he sought out several people he knew from his church and from his son's school that day to talk about these divorce papers, but was told to seek help and pray.
The judge said his actions were out of rage, because he knew his marriage was over.
"He didn't act on impulse. It was a cool and calculated rage," he said.
Richard was arrested in Fernie the day after his wife and her two children managed to escape their burning house on Wakefield Drive in the Willoughby area.
The three were asleep when Richard, wearing goggles, broke the sliding glass window to gain entry into the home around 1 a.m. on April 2. It was learned in court that he went upstairs to his wife's bedroom carrying a mallet and jagged drywall knife. The daughter heard her mom's screams so she ran to see her stepdad hitting her mom in the face, first with his fist and then with the mallet.
The daughter tried to intervene when Richard punched her in the shoulder and slashed her with the knife, cutting her chest open. He continued his vicious attack on his wife, beating her with the mallet and slashing her in the face, chest,neck and arms, while she was lying in a fetal position. His wife yelled to her daughter to press the panic button on the alarm system and to call 911. Her daughter managed to press the panic button. That's when Richard fled the bedroom.
He went down to the living room and poured accelerant on the floor and lit it on fire, and then fled.
His wife and daughter managed to get the seven-year-old boy. The three went downstairs to see the living room fully engulfed in flames. They fled out the front door and to a neighbour's house. The neighbour answered the door to find both the wife and daughter covered in blood. The fire spread quickly, completely destroying the family home and all their personal belongings.
All of the family members were rushed to hospital. Richard's wife suffered a punctured lung, and received stitches for a two-inch gash on her forehead and gashes on her neck and cheek, arms and hands. She suffered blunt force trauma and spent two days in hospital.
Her daughter had to have stitches for gashes to her chest and skull. She also had soft tissue injuries to her upper body and shoulder, caused by Richard.