‘I will carry this for the rest of my life’

The murder of Gerald Dawson was not a cold-blooded killing, says Karen Rodrigue's lawyer, and the court should bear that in mind when sentencing her.

The murder of Gerald Dawson was not a cold-blooded killing, says Karen Rodrigue’s lawyer, and the court should bear that in mind when sentencing her.

On Saturday, a Yukon Supreme Court jury found Rodrigue guilty of the second-degree murder of Dawson.

This morning, Deputy Justice John Vertes heard recommendations from the Crown and defence counsels as to how many years she should serve before being eligible for parole.

Both sides agreed she should be given a bail hearing after 10 years, four of which she has already served in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre and the Edmonton Institution for Women.

To bolster her bid for the minimum sentence, defence lawyer Emily Hill described experiences in Rodrigue’s life that preceded her descent into cocaine and alcohol addiction, including the day she saw her father fatally shoot her brother.

She was nine years old. The death tore her family apart, Hill said.

At 20, her marriage to Jimmy Rodrigue “was marred by violence and drinking,” Hill told the court, and led to her only prior conviction for a violent crime.

“It is fair to say the violence was going both ways,” Hill said of the incident.

To Rodrigue’s credit, Hill said, the 39-year-old Gwitchin woman abstained from drinking while she was pregnant with all three of her children, in spite of the fact she was, by her own admission, an alcoholic.

Since her arrest, Hill said, Rodrigue has “made full use of her time,” attending daily group sessions aimed at overcoming addiction and anger.

She has also graduated from high school while in custody and was elected president of the Native Sisterhood, a first nations women’s group in the Edmonton penitentiary.

“She took responsibility (for the crime) and offered a plea of guilty of manslaughter,” Hill reminded the court.

After Hill had made her submissions, Vertes asked if Rodrigue would like to address the court.

She stood, and, in a shaking voice, apologized to the court and to Dawson’s family.

“The remorse I feel is unbearable at times. I accept the verdict…now I just want to ask for forgiveness.

“I will carry this for the rest of my life.”

Vertes was scheduled to make his final judgment on sentencing at 1:30 this afternoon.