Aurora -- Man murdered his children to keep them out of foster care

Man murdered children to keep them out of foster care

http://www.yorkregion.com/article/66515

Aurora
Jan 11, 2008 04:00 PM


By: Patrick Mangion, Staff Writer
After killing his estranged wife for dating another man, John Lafleche
told police his rage turned to compassion when he bludgeoned his two
young children to death with an aluminum baseball bat to spare them the
same troubled childhood he endured.

After beating Wendy Lafleche to death, he decided the only way to
control the destiny of his seven-year-old daughter, Victoria, and
three-year-old son, Jesse, was to kill them as they slept.

To view a video of the family's reaction, click here.

It was the only way to prevent them from being taken into provincial
custody and placed in foster homes, just as he had from the time he was
nine until he was 16.
Friday, a contrite John Lafleche received a mandatory 25-year life
sentence from Justice Michael Brown in a Newmarket court.

Mr. Lafleche will serve at least 19 years behind bars before he is
eligible for parole in 2025.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of second degree murder last December.

Wearing a white sweater and blue dress shirt, with unkempt hair tied
back in a pony tail and a long frizzy beard, Mr. Lafleche sat
emotionless in the prisoner’s box.
He stared forward blankly until Justice Brown asked if he wanted to
address the court before being sentenced.

He spoke for less than five minutes, often weeping and rambling through
a barely audible apology.

“There’s no excuse for what I’ve done. I did it. I took the life of my
wife and my two children,� he said.

Friends and family of the victims could be heard crying in the courtroom
as Mr. Lafleche spoke.

“I wish there was an excuse for it. If it wasn’t for the alcohol, it
wouldn’t have happened. There was no plan for what I did. I can’t
explain why it happened, but it happened.�

With his wife out for dinner and drinks with her friends and family, Mr.
Lafleche babysat his two young children while Ms Lafleche’s teenage son,
from a previous marriage, stayed at a friend’s house.

He drank 24 beers in 24 hours as he passed the time and tried to keep
himself awake for a night shift the following day where he worked as a
garbage truck driver, the court heard.

His heavy drinking forced him to make several trips to the bathroom next
to Ms Lafleche’s bedroom.

During one trip, shortly after she arrived home at 2 a.m., he overheard
her having a sexually explicit phone conversation with a man she had met
online.

Before leaving, shortly after 5 a.m., he went upstairs to Ms Lafleche’s
bedroom to confront her about the telephone conversation he overheard a
few hours earlier.

The argument quickly became heated and Mr. Lafleche smashed his wife’s
head and upper torso with a baseball bat until she stopped moving, the
court was told.

Next, he entered his children’s rooms and beat them with the same bat,
even stopping to check their pulses.

“I just wanted it done,� he later told police.

Despite being an alcoholic and suffering physical and psychological
abuse at the hands of several foster parents when he was a child, Mr.
Lafleche was a doting father, Justice Brown said.

Three months before her murder, Ms Lafleche asked Mr. Lafleche to leave
the family home while he struggled with alcohol abuse.

He rented an apartment a short distance from his wife and three children.

His routine included driving his children to school each morning after
finishing his night shift and sleeping for a few hours before picking
them up at the end of the school day.

Just hours after committing the murders, Mr. Lafleche called 911 twice
to report the grisly scene at his family’s home.

He called from his car on a cellphone, telling the dispatcher, “You’ll
only get this once ... do you hear me? 15407 Yonge Street, Aurora ...
you got a three-year-old dead boy, you have a seven-year-old dead girl
and you have a 41-year-old dead woman ... Bye.�

When he called back, he asked that his stepson be prevented from
entering the home and finding his family dead.

Mr. Lafleche then left a message for his boss, informing him he wouldn’t
be coming in for work again since he “off’ed� his family.

Followed by a call to his landlord to say he had “dissolved� his
family’s lives and, therefore, he was free to rent out his apartment.

A few minutes later, he was spotted by police, leading officers on a
chase north on Hwy. 400 that eventually ended in Barrie after police
deployed a spike strip.

Ms Lafleche’s older brother, Scott Brisbourne, sat alongside his
parents, Robert and Jeanette, to hear his sister’s killer’s sentence.

“This has hurt me deeply. The pain is still there daily,� said Mr.
Brisbourne, adding he hopes to forgive Mr. Lafleche one day.

His father was satisfied with the sentence, adding it won’t fill the
crater left in the family.

“You’ve lost three members of your family. This is something you never
get over. We had five grandchildren, now, all of a sudden, we have three
grandchildren. It’s pretty devastating.�






CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...