4 - Friday, April 11, 1967 — North Snore News

Emotions surface in courtroom

From pane 3

with them,” he said, adding he wrote the hitter
letters to Roxburgh because “she broke our fam
ily apart.”

Bellows also tore into Caouerte’s theory that
on July 13 he wanted only to take his own life and
not harm others. The searing memory of their
father’s suicide would have caused great emotion-
al harm to the children, Bellows suggested, anid
would have been especially hard on Danielle, who
the day betore had celebrated her birthday. “Did
it not occur to you that this would be a horritic
memory for the rest of their lives? These are the
children you told the jury you loved so much.”

But Caouette insisted: “My brain was fixed
with killing myself.” He said he was not thinking
clearly that morning and only became aware of his
sleeping children when he was standing over
them warching the carpet “change color.”

“I felt surprised when I saw the children
there,” he testified. *...¢ was almost robotic.”
But Bellows listed a series of incidents thar appear
to show Caouette was aware of his actions.

The prosecutor pointed out that Caouette lett
no note or money for his children. “You knew
your children were going to be dead along, with
you,” Bellows suggested as the reason. The court
heard that Caouette had saved $1,700 on the
morning of the attack. He had placed the money
in an envelope stamped and addressed to his sis-

NVD

ter, who had paid for his lawyer.

Bellows questioned why Caouette did not
feave his children tokens of love, “not even five
bucks”, if he was planning to kill himself and
spare them, “I just nad my mind fived on paving
ny sister,” Caouette said,

“You didn’t leave a note because vou knew
you Were going to kil them,” Bellows countered.

Furthermore, said Bellows, Caouerte:

Bhad the presence of mind to make a 9-1-E call
at 8:07 a.m.;

B rushed downstairs to throw out correspon-
dence he had written and cto mail a letter;

B managed to dress neatly in casual slacks, match-
ing striped shirt, black belt, black socks and
leather shoes;

% was thinking clearly enough to carry with him
his wallet and keys while he waited at his apart-
ment steps at 130 West Sth Street for police to
arrive;

MWrecited from memory the telephone number of
his lawyer just a few minutes after he was arrested
by North Vancouver RCMP.

Caouette had clearly “snapped out” of what-
ever mental condition had affected him when the
children’s heads were smashed with an axe,
Bellows said.

Caouette, speaking in a clear and calm voice
through most of his evidence, began to break
down when Bellows pounded hiny with allega-
tions that he was callous for not going to his chil-

dren’s aid on the fateful morning.

Yhe father has testified that after calling 9-1-1
he could nor bring himself to return to the bed
room Where the children lay bleeding from mas-
sive head wounds because the “sounds were
going ight through me; it was hurting me.7

But Bellows said a parent would surely have
returned to the room and tried to help. “Any lov-
ing parent would ar least have done that,” he said
as Caouette wiped away tears.

Denying that he was an uncaring, parent,
Caouette shot back: “I did care. Otherwise [
wouldn't have phoned 9-1-1.”

His voice cracking, he added: “I couldn’s ge
back in there, [ just couldn’s.”

In testimony Tuesday at the B.C. Supreme
Court trial, Caouette said he was nor aware of the
children that morning as he carried our the
arrangements for committing suicide. “Maybe |
was in a fog,” he said in reply to a Crown sugges-
tion. Stopping occasionally to wipe his face,
Caouette also described a pleasant July 12 cele-
brating Danielle’s birthday on the North Shore.

He said the three went to Lonsdale Quay,
Park Royal Mall, had hunch at the Bread Garden
and then went on to the Swiss Chalet restaurant
tor supper. Later, they saw a movie at Park and
Tilford cinemas before heading home for a late-
night pizza snack and then going to bed about
10:30 p.m. Caouette said all three slept in die
bedroom of his shared apartment, the children in

council to address tree removal

From page3

operator digging trenches had safety con-
cerns.

Sangha originally thought the lines
would be placed near the middle of the
property and not near the trees.

Sangha said he planned to replant the
trees and do landscaping. The removed
trees, including a hedge, were planted there
by a previous property owner.

“It is upsetting for us toe. We are not
happy to have had to cut chem down... It's

BC TEL

not an issue that we didn’t like the wees or
didn’t want to keep them,” said Sangha.

North Vancouver District Coun, Trevor
Carolan referred to the incident as a “chain
saw massacre” after he looked at the proper-
ty on Wednesday.

Carolan said that one of the reasons
council aliowed the higher house to be built
was because the property was heavily treed.

He said the bigger house would have less
impact on neighboring homes because of ill
the trees,

“LT voted for (Sangha’s development vari-

ance) under duress,” said Carolan.

Carolan said Sangha’s proposal to build
the larger house drew neighborhood contro-
versy from the start.

The district councillor acknowledged that
the trees were on private property and rela-
tively small in’ size, but Carolan said: there
was a “public interest” to protect them.

Carolan said the mayor and district coun-
cil would meet today to discuss the develop-
ment

Carolan plans to fobby to revoke
Sangha’s development variance permit.

sleeping bags on the fleor and he in his bed.

Iris the following morning that Cavuerte said
he has difficulry remembering. He said he was
thinking only of killing himself that day and wane-
ed to wait until the children were picked up by
Roxburgh, who had arranged to collect them in
the morning.

Caouette admined buying an axe at
Lumberland bur said he was planning to use it to
smash open his wrists because it would be faster
than using a knite.

Bellows, however, said it made no sense for a
man to use an axe with a heavy head and at feast
2 19-inch handle to cut his wrists. To illustrate, he
asked Caouerte to demonstrate his planned sui-
cide technique using a cardboard roll the same
size as the axe he bought on July 7, 1995.
Caouerte gripped the roll about one-third up
trom the bottum and showed the jury how he
intended to bring it down on his uprurned wre.
Bellows, noting Caouerte had to “choke up half
way” on the roll, suggested a hatcher or Exacto
knife would have been more suitable. But the
“axe was perfect to attack your children with.”

“Ridiculous,” Caouette muttered. Bellows
questioned why Caouertte, who admitted slicing
his wrists in a 1994 suicide attempt, would this
time choose an axe.

“IT thought the axe would be faster,” he
explained, adding: “I wasn’t thinking about the
children when [ bought the axe.”

The court heard Caouette intended to hack
his wrists and then hang himself from some hooks
mounted in the bedroom ceiling. He thoughr of
suicide whenever he was away from the children:
“T felt like the kids were keeping me alive.”

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

CRAIG Delahunt is not happy with a neighbor
who chopped down some trees.

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