A man from Cape Breton, NS, has been convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and leaving his seven-month-old daughters to fend for themselves for three days in a crib.
Dwight Austin Isadore is expected to serve 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of Cassidy Jean Bernard and abandoning his twins.
Isadore admitted that he hit Bernard with his fists, hitting her on the neck, back and stomach. He thought he hit her 10 times harder than he could.
“I’m very happy that my daughter is doing justice and that the girls are doing justice,” Cassidy’s mother, Mona Bernard, said outside the room. “I just [have] to learn to live without it. It was very hard. I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat. I lost many things; I lost is what I was. “
On Wednesday, members of Bernard’s family made statements about the impact of the victims to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Isadore is not welcome in We’koma’q
We’koma’q’s boss, Annie Bernard-Daisley, spoke in the courtroom on behalf of her community, saying her cousin’s death left them devastated. Bernard-Daisley also warned Isadore that he would no longer be welcome in We’koma’q when he was released.
“We’koma’q was a place of peace,” he said. “We’koma’q was wounded, saddened, shocked and robbed.”
Another woman said she now suffers from PTSD, a panic and anxiety disorder after finding Bernard’s body and children in the crib next to him.
Cassidy Bernard was the mother of two girls. (Facebook)
Associate Chief Justice Patrick Duncan said the damage in this case “does not end” with Bernard’s death.
“All of these people had to find ways to deal with this trauma, that life-altering experience,” he said. “And we hope they can find their peace.”
Duncan said he hopes Isadore will be able to improve before returning to society. He accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and the defense that Isadore received a 15-year sentence for manslaughter and a three-year consecutive sentence for abandoning minors, with credit for time spent in pretrial detention.
Luck saved the twins
Crown attorney Peter Harrison said only “through good fortune, not good planning” did Bernard’s twins survive, noting that Isadore received one of the harshest sentences imposed on Canada for abandonment of children.
“[It] acknowledges the significant aggravating factors that were present in this case, ”Harrison said.
Isadore was initially charged with second-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge last month.
He was arrested just over a year after Bernard’s death after a six-month sting known as Operation Mr. Big in which Isadore introduced himself to several undercover agents who played various roles within a simulated criminal organization.
Although this evidence was not proven at trial, Crown attorneys say they are confident it would have been admissible in this case.
Isadore’s lawyer said his client regrets what happened, but acknowledged that nothing will return to Cassidy.
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