WEBVTT 1 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.520 Wilkie, Saskatchewan, sits in the heart of Canada's prairie farmland, 2 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.960 about one hundred and sixty kilometers northwest of Saskatoon. It 3 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:56.280 was named after Daniel Robert Wilke, president of the Imperial 4 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:59.240 Bank of Canada, and was officially incorporated as a town 5 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:02.960 on the sixth of January nineteen eleven. The Canadian Pacific 6 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:05.799 Railway chose it as a hub for four branch lines 7 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.599 and nicknamed it the Pivot of the Canadian West. In 8 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.400 the years that followed, Wilkie became exactly what prairie towns 9 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:15.439 were meant to be, a place where farming families worked 10 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.159 the land and where neighbors helped neighbors bring in the harvest. 11 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.640 The railway brought prosperity, and grain elevators dominated the skyline. 12 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:26.319 Young Men left to fight in two World Wars, their 13 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.920 names edged on the cenotaph in Memorial Park. The dust 14 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:33.079 Bowl of the nineteen thirties tested the communities resolve, but 15 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.680 the town injured. By the early nineteen nineties, population had 16 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.680 stabilized at around fifteen hundred people. The railway had long 17 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:46.319 since scaled back operations. Agriculture remained the economic foundation as 18 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:50.920 it always had been. RCMP Corporal Terry Wasniak said of 19 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.319 the area, it's a very nice community. It's a very 20 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.959 tightly knit community. They all know each other. About a 21 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:01.200 half hour drive from the town at the Latimer Farm, 22 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.599 a sprawling twelve hundred and eighty acre operation where Robert 23 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:10.599 and Laura Latimer raised their four children. Their eldest daughter, Tracy, 24 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:14.840 was severely disabled and required constant care. On the morning 25 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.639 of Sunday, the twenty fourth of October nineteen ninety three, 26 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.719 Laura prepared to take three of the children to church 27 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:25.759 in Wilke. Robert stayed behind on the farm with Tracy. 28 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:29.039 He told Laura he had work to do. The family 29 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.039 left for church shortly before ten o'clock. It was around 30 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:37.039 eleven thirty am when they returned home. When they arrived, 31 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:42.639 Robert was their waiting. Everything seemed normal, nothing to suggest 32 00:02:42.919 --> 00:03:00.800 anything was wrong. Robert Latimer was born on the thirteenth 33 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.759 of March nineteen fifty three in the area around Wilke. 34 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.840 Farming was in his blood. In nineteen seventy six, when 35 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.120 he was just twenty three years old, he brought the 36 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:14.199 family form from his father. It was a sprawling twelve 37 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:18.360 hundred and eighty acre operation growing wheat and canola, located 38 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.639 about half an hour drive from the town of Wilkee. 39 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.800 The work was hard, the hours were long, but it 40 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:29.159 was honest work. In nineteen seventy eight, Robert married Laura, 41 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.639 a former teacher from British Columbia. She was intelligent, kind 42 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:37.919 and shared Robert's values of hard work and family. Together 43 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.080 they built a life on that farm. Their first child 44 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.879 arrived on the twenty third of November nineteen eighty. They 45 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:48.400 named her Tracy Lynn Latimer. She was born at the 46 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.479 hospital in North Battleford, around fifty kilometers from the form 47 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:56.520 It should have been a routine delivery, but something went 48 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:02.039 seriously wrong. During the birth. Tracy's heart stopped beating. The 49 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.159 hospital's fatal heart monitor, the device that would have alerted 50 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:09.800 doctors to Tracy's distress, was broken. By the time medical 51 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.800 staff realized what was happening, Tracy had been deprived of oxygen, 52 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:18.600 brain cells were dying. Damage was being done that could 53 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:22.160 never be undone. The doctors managed to revive her, but 54 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:25.959 Tracy began having seizures almost immediately. She was rushed by 55 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.519 ambulance to the Royal University Hospital, where specialists work to 56 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:34.279 reduce the swelling in her brain and control the seizure activity. Eventually, 57 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:38.720 with medication, the seizure seemed manageable. Robert and Laura took 58 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:42.600 their daughter home, but the oxygen deprivation at birth had 59 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:47.560 caused severe cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy in itself isn't fatal, 60 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:51.639 nor does it worsen, but the diagnosis would divine Tracy's 61 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:56.040 entire life. Doctor Richard Snyder described Tracy as among the 62 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.079 ten percent of people who have the most severe form 63 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.959 of the affliction. Children with her severity of cerebral palsy 64 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:05.720 often die before the age of five, and only about 65 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.079 half are still alive by the age of ten. Tracy 66 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.920 would never walk or talk. She had little to know 67 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.600 voluntary control of her muscles. Her tiny body would remain 68 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:19.240 forever frozen in a state of dependency. She wore in 69 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:24.639 continence pants. She required constant care. Laura later said she 70 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:28.720 cried every night for the first five years of Tracy's life. 71 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:33.279 Tracy's intellectual development was also profoundly affected. By this time 72 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.079 she was twelve years old, Tracy had the mental capacity 73 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.680 of a three month old baby. She couldn't speak and 74 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.920 needed to be hand fed, but Robert and Laura didn't 75 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.360 give up on their daughter. They provided what her doctors 76 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.480 would later describe as excellent care. They learned to read 77 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.959 Tracy's needs, to interpret her expressions, to understand what brought 78 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:59.240 her comfort and what caused her distress. They adapted their 79 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:03.000 lives around her care, lifting her, bathing her, feeding her, 80 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.639 loving her in the only way they knew how. The 81 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.680 family doctor, Kissing Barrow, said of Tracy she could smile 82 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:14.519 at times. He'd been their doctor for ten years, but 83 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:18.360 said he wasn't sure if Tracy ever recognized him. In 84 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.199 nineteen eighty three, the Latimers had a second child, a 85 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.720 son they named Brian. In nineteen eighty five, they welcomed 86 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:29.000 their third child, Lindsey, and in August of nineteen ninety three, 87 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:33.120 their fourth child, another son named Lee, was born. While 88 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:35.759 Laura was pregnant with Lee, Tracy stead at a group 89 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.079 home for the summer. The respite care helped to take 90 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.720 the pressure off Laura, who gave birth a few weeks 91 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.279 before Tracy came back home. One of the social workers there, 92 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.560 Cathy Johnson, suggested that Tracy be placed in the group 93 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:54.160 home permanently, but Robert refused. She later recalled he didn't 94 00:06:54.199 --> 00:07:09.000 feel it was urgent. Back at home, the household was busy, 95 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.360 and Tracy was at the center of it all, requiring 96 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:16.480 more attention, more care, more patience than any of her siblings. 97 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.759 Tracy attended school regularly in Wilkie, enrolled in a developmental 98 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:25.720 program alongside her brothers and sister. She traveled on the 99 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:29.800 school bus in a specialized wheelchair. Teachers and aides who 100 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.920 worked with Tracy described her smile, her love of music, 101 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:36.759 her reaction to horses at the circus. Those who knew 102 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.839 her said she responded the visits by her family, her 103 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.279 face lighting up, looking happy to see them. She loved 104 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:48.680 special days and events at school. She enjoyed aquatics, pet therapy, bombfires, 105 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:53.199 watching television, especially the hockey. She spent time outdoors with 106 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:58.120 her peers, enjoying walks, sleigh rides, and waener roasts. Those 107 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:00.879 who knew Tracy said she showed her life and dislikes, 108 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.600 and smiled and laughed with others, But beneath those moments 109 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:10.319 of joy led a dark reality. Tracy lived in constant pain. 110 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:15.639 She had seizures, breathing and swallowing difficulties. She went through 111 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:20.079 a stage of vomiting every single day. During her life, 112 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.439 she underwent multiple surgeries when she was for her muscles 113 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:26.959 and tendons in her hips were cut into and she 114 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:29.839 was left with a flail limb she could no longer move. 115 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.000 The purpose was to strengthen them, but Tracy could only 116 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:37.360 move her head in one arm. Other surgeries were to 117 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.080 grex severe scoliosis, in which two stale rods were inserted 118 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.000 into her back to stabilize her pain. That surgery allowed 119 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.639 Tracy to sit up, but only in a rigid position. 120 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:53.639 She suffered extreme pain because her hip kept dissocating. Each 121 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:58.000 operation brought its own recovery period, its own agony. By 122 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:02.480 nineteen ninety three, Tracy's right hip had become dislocated. It 123 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:05.919 had been now a place for months, causing excruciating pain. 124 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:10.840 Her only way to express pain was to cry. Her 125 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.879 orthopedic surgeon, doctor Druce, would later recall what she observed 126 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:19.559 during Tracy's medical visits. She recalled seing Laura holding Tracy's 127 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.440 right leg in a fixed flexed position with her knee 128 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:25.960 in the air. Any time anyone tried to move that leg, 129 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:29.960 Tracy would cry out in pain. The problem was that 130 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:34.759 Tracy couldn't take painkillers. The anti seizure medication she required 131 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:38.440 to control her violent seizures meant that standard pain medication 132 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.320 was off the table. Combining the two could lead to 133 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:48.159 renewed seizures, stomach bleeding, constipation, aspiration, and aspiration pneumonia. Her father, 134 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.519 Robert would later say the family wasn't aware of any 135 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.240 medication other than taylan All that could be safely administered 136 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:58.519 to Tracy. Doctors had suggested inserting a fading tube into 137 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.679 Tracy's stomach. It might have allowed more effective pain medication 138 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.559 to be administered. It might have improved her nutrition and health, 139 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:10.039 but Robert and Laura found the idea too intrusive, so 140 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:14.399 they declined. Then, in October of nineteen ninety three, doctor 141 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:20.600 Druce delivered more difficult news. Further surgery was necessary. Tracy's 142 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:24.679 disslocated right hip had to be addressed. Depending on the 143 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:27.320 state of her hip joint, the procedure might be a 144 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:32.519 hip reconstruction, or it might involve something more drastic, removing 145 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:35.720 the upper part of her thigh bone entirely, leaving her 146 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:39.039 leg connected to her body only by muscles and nerves. 147 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.679 The anticipated recovery period was one year. Doctor Druce warned 148 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:48.440 that the post operative pain would be incredible. The only 149 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:51.200 short term solution would be an epidural to uneas the 150 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.840 tize the lower part of Tracy's body while she was 151 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:59.720 still in hospital. After that, Tracy would face months of agony, 152 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:02.960 and the doctor made it clear this wouldn't be the end. 153 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.759 Further surgeries would be likely required in the future to 154 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:11.720 address pain emanating from various joints throughout Tracy's small body. 155 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.720 The surgery was scheduled for the nineteenth of November nineteen 156 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:19.919 ninety three. Robert and Laura faced an impossible choice. Their 157 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.960 daughter was in constant pain. The upcoming surgery promised only 158 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.799 more pain, more suffering, more mutilation of her small, broken body, 159 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:32.159 and at the end of it all, Tracy would still 160 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:36.559 be trapped, still unable to walk, talk, or live independently. 161 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.799 She would still be suffering. Laura would later say she 162 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.919 told Robert she thought that Tracy would be better off 163 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:48.360 if she died. She even mentioned doctor Jack Ofvorkiane, the 164 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.320 American pathologist known for assisting terminally ill patients in ending 165 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:57.360 their lives. She recollected she was just sitting in her 166 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.960 wheel chair, slumped all the time. She had lost interest 167 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.679 in what was going on around her. I never saw 168 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:07.039 her sleep. The Latimers knew that children with Tracy's condition 169 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:12.080 typically had a short life expectancy. Doctor Kemp, the family doctor, 170 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:15.759 believed that Tracy could live into her four days, but 171 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:30.480 the quality of her life was another matter entirely. On 172 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.320 the morning of Sunday, the twenty fourth of October nineteen 173 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.759 ninety three, Laura prepared to take Brian, Lindsay, and Baby 174 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.159 Lee to church in Wilkie. It was a routine Sunday. 175 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:44.720 Robert stayed behind on the farm with Tracy. He told 176 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.720 Laura he had work to do. The family left for 177 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:52.080 church shortly before ten o'clock. Laura settled in to appew 178 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:55.399 with the three children, Baby Lee quiet in her arms. 179 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.000 The service proceeded as it always did. The congregation movie 180 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:04.000 through prayers and songs of richeal. They performed countless Sundays before. 181 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:09.480 Back at the farm, Robert remained alone with Tracy. Round 182 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:13.399 eleven thirty, Laura and the children returned home. The drive 183 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:16.720 from Wilkie took about thirty minutes, the truck bumping along 184 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:21.279 the rural roads When they arrived, Robert was there waiting. 185 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:26.120 Laura busied herself in the kitchen preparing lunch for the family. 186 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.840 The children played. Baby Lee needed attention. It wasn't until 187 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.919 later that Laura went to check on Tracy. She walked 188 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:40.200 into her daughter's bedroom and approached the bed. Tracy was 189 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:45.399 lying there, perfectly still, too still, Laura reached out to 190 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:50.600 touch her. Tracy's body was cold. Laura's scream brought Robert 191 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:55.120 running together. They stood over their daughter's bed, staring at 192 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:00.120 the small, motionless form. Tracy appeared peaceful, as if she'd 193 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.919 simply slipped away in her sleep. There were no signs 194 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:09.279 of distress, no indication of struggle. Their eldest daughter was gone. 195 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:14.120 They called paramedics and police detectives arrived at the family's 196 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.720 farmhouse to speak with Robert. He was emotional as he 197 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.679 explained what had happened. Tracy must have died in her sleep. 198 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.919 He said she'd been in her bed all morning while 199 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.519 the family were at church. When Laura checked on her 200 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:33.200 after they returned, she had already passed away. It was tragic, 201 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:38.440 but perhaps not entirely unexpected. Tracy's condition had been severe, 202 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:44.159 her life expectancy was uncertain these things happened, especially with 203 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:49.240 children as medically fragile as Tracy. Robert then made two requests. 204 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.960 He wanted to have Tracy cremated as quickly as possible, 205 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:57.679 and he asked that an autopsy not be performed. Constable 206 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.240 Nick Hardle listened carefully. Something didn't sit right with him. 207 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:08.159 Those requests were unusual. The circumstances felt off. He couldn't 208 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.720 put his finger on exactly what was wrong, but his 209 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.600 instincts were screaming at him. He began to suspect that 210 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:17.559 Tracy had been killed by her own father in a 211 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.600 mercy killing. Robert was informed that an autopsy would need 212 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:25.279 to be conducted. There was no way round it. When 213 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:29.120 a child dies suddenly at home, an autopsy's standard procedure, 214 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:33.639 even if that child was sick. The Constable then warned 215 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:36.240 the coroner to be aware of the possibility when examining 216 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:40.440 Tracy's body, to look for signs to be thorough. The 217 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.840 autopsy was performed on the first of November. The RCMP 218 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:50.159 received the toxicology reports. Tracy hadn't died in her sleep, 219 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:54.799 She had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Her blood was 220 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:59.720 eighty percent saturated with carbon monoxide. A fifty percent saturation 221 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:03.320 is life life threatening. Tracy's level was far beyond that. 222 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:09.799 The sudden death investigation was reclassified to homicide. Whatever had 223 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:12.919 happened on that Sunday morning, while Laura and the children 224 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.360 were at church, whatever Robert had done while he was 225 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:19.919 alone with his daughter, the truth was about to come out. 226 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:34.960 On the fourth of November, a week after Tracy's death, 227 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.440 two planes closed RCMP officers knocked on the door of 228 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:43.519 the Latimer farmhouse. Sergeant Comlin and Sergeant Lyons asked Robert 229 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.320 to come back to North Battleford with them for questioning. 230 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:52.679 When confronted with the toxicology report, Robert Latimer confessed. He 231 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.919 said he had killed his daughter at around ten thirty 232 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.200 in the morning. Robert said he had carried his twelve 233 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.879 year old daughter from her warm bed, Tracy Wedge just 234 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:05.480 thirty eight pounds, her small body led in his arms. 235 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.240 He took her outside and placed her in the cab 236 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:11.759 of his Chevy pickup truck, the same truck that had 237 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.279 taken her to school countless times, to camping trips, to 238 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.039 medical appointments. He propped Tracy up with some old rags 239 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.440 he had taken from his storage shed. Then he closed 240 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:27.119 the door. Robert had spent the previous days preparing. He 241 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:31.680 had considered other methods a volume overdose, shooting her in 242 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:34.640 the head and burning her body, but he settled on this. 243 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.640 He attached a hose to the truck's exhaust pipe and 244 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.440 fed it through a narrow opening in the CAB's rear window. 245 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:46.240 He then started the engine. In seconds, the enclosed space 246 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:50.799 began filling with carbon monoxide. Robert climbed into the truck box. 247 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.000 He sat on a tire in the back and watched 248 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.440 through the rear window. He watched his daughter for at 249 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:02.200 least thirty minutes, timing it carefully. He later told police, 250 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.200 I was timing all this stuff. I was sitting there 251 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:08.880 watching through the back window. He said the detectives that 252 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.599 if Tracy had started to cry, he would have taken 253 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:16.079 her out, but she didn't. In his words, she just 254 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:21.160 fell asleep. Tracy Latimer died from carbon monoxide poisoning while 255 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:24.920 her mother and siblings sat in church pews singing hymns praying, 256 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.839 unaware that everything was just about to change. When Robert 257 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:32.279 was certain that Tracy was dead, he turned off the 258 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:36.559 engine and disconnected the hose. He carried Tracy's body back 259 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:39.759 into the farmhouse and placed her in the bed, positioning 260 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.240 her carefully so it would appear that she had died 261 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:46.759 in her sleep. He put away his paraphernalia. The hose 262 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:51.079 would later be burned. Then he waited. Later that morning, 263 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:54.880 Laura and the children returned from church. Laura made lunch, 264 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:59.079 and then she found her daughter dead in bed. Laura 265 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:02.079 believed that Tracy had died in her sleep, a tragic 266 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:06.079 but perhaps merciful and to years of suffering. She had 267 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.160 no idea what her husband had done, no idea that 268 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:13.039 their daughter had been killed. Robert told detectives that his 269 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:16.160 actions were motivated by love for Tracy and a desire 270 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:19.440 to end her pain. He described the medical treatments that 271 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:23.160 Tracy had undergone and was scheduled to undergo as mutilation 272 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:27.799 and torture. He asked, with the combination of a fading tube, 273 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.759 rods in her back, the leg cut and flopping around, 274 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.400 and bed sores, how can people say she was a 275 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:38.440 happy little girl. RCMP Sergeant Bob Conlin had heard from 276 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:42.000 almost everybody who knew the family that Robert dedicated his 277 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.759 entire life to his daughter. He told him cry if 278 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:50.880 you want, it's okay, and Robert did cry. At the 279 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:53.400 end of the confession, he turned down offers of counseling. 280 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:56.799 He then drew a sketch of an elaborate series of 281 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:00.000 pipes and hoses used to vent the truck's exhaust fumes 282 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:04.359 into the cab. After the confession, detectives returned to video 283 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:08.079 of the crime scene with Robert present. He pointed out 284 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.960 the truck, the rags, and how he positioned his daughter. 285 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:15.240 He then broke down as he said, my priority was 286 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.799 to put her out of pain. I'm much happier for 287 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:28.720 her now. The next day, Robert was charged with the 288 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:33.079 first degree murder of Tracy. His defense attorney applied for Baale. 289 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:35.880 He provided the court with an affi David from the 290 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.000 family's doctor, saying that he was mentally well and not 291 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:42.880 a danger to his family. His wife also provided one, 292 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.680 expressing her wishes for her husband to return home. His 293 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:50.119 defense attorney, Richard Gibbons, said that while some people might 294 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:53.440 conclude that Robert was a monster, that wasn't the case. 295 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:56.680 He said that Robert wasn't trying to be a murder 296 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.440 and pointed out that a person facing first degree murder 297 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:02.680 charges could be convicted of the less serious charge of 298 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:06.160 second degree murder. He refused to refer to the case 299 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:08.960 as a mercy killing and said he hadn't discovered a 300 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:13.720 similar case in Canada. He said the subtle and complex 301 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:18.960 human issues have been overlooked. He said specifically, people should 302 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.039 realize the strained stresses and tremendous pressure experienced by a 303 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:27.960 family caring for a person with multiple handicaps. He revealed 304 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:30.400 as well that much of the Wilkie community was supporting 305 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:34.119 Robert in the family, each person had their own personal 306 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:38.119 views of the ethics and morality of the situation. Then, 307 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:41.119 on the thirteenth of November, Robert was released from jail. 308 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:44.279 He was required to put up ten thousand dollars worth 309 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:47.599 of property to the court. This is similar to posing 310 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.680 a cash bond, which is then forfeitted if the person 311 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.960 doesn't return to court the next week. Gibbons quit as 312 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.640 Robert's defense attorney and he hired Mark Breefort. He said 313 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:01.839 that Robert but was going to plead not guilty and 314 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:05.240 elect for a trial by jury. He said that if 315 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:09.039 hypothetically the case boiled down to the accused killed his 316 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:12.319 daughter because she was literally in a vegetive state and 317 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:16.279 was undergoing tremendous pain. There wouldn't be a lot of 318 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:20.359 president law to help a judge or jury. He then said, 319 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.039 what superficially might appear to be a crime may not 320 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:27.240 be once twelve jurors sit down and apply their common 321 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.880 sense to it. Robert spoke with Star Phoenix the next month, 322 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.240 and he thanked the community for their support. He said 323 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:38.079 that people had been offering financial support as well. He said, 324 00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:41.319 I'm not surprised with the emotional support because a lot 325 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.400 of people were aware of the situation. Robert also spoke 326 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:50.119 with CBC radio reporter Amy Joe Ellman. He detailed all 327 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.759 of Tracy's problems and said that she was in constant pain. 328 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.279 When he was asked whether when he goes to bed 329 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:00.000 at night, he wished it were a year earlier before 330 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:04.759 for his daughter's death, he replied, no, I wish. I 331 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:09.440 definitely wish her condition wasn't what it was. Preliminary hearing 332 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:11.400 was held in May and it was determined that there 333 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.319 was enough evidence for Robert to stand trial for the 334 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:29.640 murder of his daughter. The case sparked widespread interest from 335 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:33.279 advocates for the disabled and thrust Robert into the center 336 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.559 of a national debate that was already raging across Canada. 337 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:41.400 The timing couldn't have been more significant. Just twenty four 338 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:45.319 days before Tracy's death, the Supreme Court of Canada had 339 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:48.200 delivered its decision in one of the most closely watched 340 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.720 cases in Canadian history, Rodriguez versus British Columbia, dealt with 341 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:55.799 the question of whether a terminally ill person had the 342 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:00.480 right to physician assisted suicide. Sue Rodriguez was a forty 343 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:05.240 two year old mother from Victoria, British Columbia. In August 344 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:09.079 of nineteen ninety one, she had been diagnosed with amiotrophic 345 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:14.440 lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or leu Gering's disease. 346 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.640 It was a death sentence delivered in slow motion. The 347 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.319 disease causes progressive muscle paralysis, stealing control of the body 348 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:27.680 piece by piece. She knew what awaited her. She would 349 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:33.599 lose the ability to swallow, speak, walk, and move without assistance. Eventually, 350 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:36.720 she would be unable to breathe without a respirator or aid, 351 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:41.240 except through a fading tube inserted into her stomach. She 352 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:43.759 had been told she had between two and fourteen months 353 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:47.000 to live. Sue didn't want to wait for the disease 354 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:50.079 to claim her life. Neither did she want to commit 355 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:54.000 suicide prematurely while she was still physically able to do 356 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:57.039 so on her own. She wanted the right to choose 357 00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:59.960 the timing of her death with the assistance of a physician. 358 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:04.119 In a videotaped address to Parliament on November twenty fourth, 359 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:07.119 nineteen ninety two, so he asked a question that would 360 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.000 resonate across the country. If I cannot give consent to 361 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:15.839 my own death, whose body is it? Who owns my life? 362 00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:18.640 Her case challenged section two four one BAY of the 363 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:21.920 Criminal Code, which made it a criminal offense to assist 364 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:25.599 a person to commit suicide, punishable by up to fourteen 365 00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:29.039 years in prison. She argued that the law violated her 366 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:32.880 constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 367 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:37.319 specifically her right to life, liberty and security of the person. 368 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:40.799 On May twentieth, nineteen ninety three, her case was heard 369 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:44.920 by the Supreme Court of Canada. On September thirtieth, the 370 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:48.799 court delivered its decision in a narrow five to one ruling. 371 00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:53.400 The Supreme Court rejected Sue's arguments. The majority held its 372 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:57.640 society's obligation to preserve life and protect the vulnerable outweighed 373 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:02.400 Sue's individual rights. However, the closeness of the decision suggested 374 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:08.680 considerable support for decriminalizing medically assisted suicide. Several judges even 375 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:12.200 suggested that Canada's laws might need to be changed to 376 00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:17.079 help people like Sue. Sue refused to accept defeat. On 377 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:19.920 the twelfth of February nineteen ninety four, with the assistance 378 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:23.319 of an anonymous doctor and in the presence of n 379 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:27.640 d P m P. S Van Robinson, who had championed 380 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:32.599 her cause, Sue ended her life. The Sue Rodriguez case 381 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.559 had dominated headlines for months. Most of the debate about 382 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:40.200 euthanasia had revolved around whether a doctor could help a 383 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:44.480 terminally ill person die, someone who could give informed consent, 384 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:48.880 someone who had mental capacity to make that decision themselves. 385 00:26:50.119 --> 00:26:55.359 Tracy Latimer's case was fundamentally different. Terresey was twelve years old. 386 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:58.240 She had the mental capacity of a three month old baby. 387 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.599 She couldn't give consent, and she couldn't speak. She couldn't 388 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:06.799 express a wish to die. This wasn't euthanasia or physician 389 00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:11.640 assisted suicide. This was a father deciding unilaterally that his 390 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:16.000 daughter's life was not worth living. For disability rights advocates, 391 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:20.519 the Latimer case represented their worst nightmare, the dangerous idea 392 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:23.759 that people with disabilities were better off dead, that their 393 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:26.519 lives had less value, that killing them could be an 394 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:31.119 act of mercy rather than murder. The Council of Canadians 395 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:37.119 with Disability and People in Equal Participation immediately mobilized. They 396 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:41.880 sought and were granted intervener status in Latimer's legal proceedings. 397 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:46.119 They argued that killing a disabled child like Tracy was 398 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:49.119 no different from killing a non disabled child and should 399 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:53.519 carry the same penalty. To do otherwise, they insisted, would 400 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.880 devalue the lives of disabled people and increase the risk 401 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:02.119