CALGARY — The defence says a reduced sentence should be given to a woman who confessed in her diary to killing her infant son.
Stacey Joy Bourdeaux, 34, pleaded guilty last summer to manslaughter in the death of her 10-month-old son, Sean Ronald Fewer, and to the attempted murder of her five-year-old.
Bourdeaux admitted in her diary to both attacks in messages to her husband Ted, who had died a few years earlier.
Bourdeaux’s lawyer told court that Bourdeaux expressed remorse in her journal entries.
Katherin Beyak says the courts have recognized the diminished responsibility of parents going through a major depressive episode.
But Justice Terry Semenuk noted that Bourdeaux’s silence on her crime for six years is an aggravating factor and could be significant when the final sentence is handed down.
The Crown is asking for a sentence of 18 years while the defence has said the sentence should be in the eight- to 10-year range.