Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
Barrie
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
on October 2, 2006. Canadian prosecutors argued that she wanted to get revenge on her ex-husband and was afraid he would receive custody.
Background and crime
Elaine Campione originated from
Coles Island, New Brunswick
Coles Island is a settlement and an island in New Brunswick, Canada. The island itself is located in the Canaan River
The Canaan River is located in the southeastern portion of New Brunswick. The river drains into Washademoak Lake, in turn dr ...
, living there until she moved to Ontario for work reasons at around age 20. She had attended home support classes at a
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
for one year.
Christie Blatchford
Christie Marie Blatchford (May 20, 1951 – February 12, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster. She published four non-fiction books.
Blatchford was Canada's first female sports columnist, reporting on sports betwe ...
of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' wrote that she had "a normal enough childhood". She went to Ontario to work as a
nanny
A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
and she had other jobs.
Elaine and then-husband Leo Campione, whom she met in 2000, lived in
Bradford, Ontario
Bradford is the primary country urban area of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, in Canada. It overlooks a farming community, known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe.
History
The easter ...
. The two parties divorced and Leo moved out of the house. The victims, Serena and Sophia, were three years and nineteen months old, respectively, at the time of their deaths.
At the time of the incident, Campione lived with her children in the Coulter Glen Apartments in northern Barrie. Blatchford wrote that Leo and Elaine Campione were "engaged in a nasty divorce and custody battle." Leo accused Campione of giving the girls substandard conditions at her apartment and asked the authorities to have more access to the children and the appointment of a children's lawyer about one week before the deaths; Leo stated that there was a "mental health breakdown" on the mother's part.
On October 2, 2006, Campione killed the girls by immersing them in a bathtub in their house, causing them to drown. She filmed a video addressed to her ex-husband with segments before and after her daughters died. Jessica Owen of
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
with a minimum tariff of 25 years. Leo Campione read a
victim impact statement
A victim impact statement is a written or oral statement made as part of the judicial legal process, which allows crime victims the opportunity to speak during the sentencing of the convicted person or at subsequent parole hearings.
Overview
One ...
.
Campione filed appeals against her conviction in 2010. In 2015 some of them were denied. In 2019 the
Parole Board of Canada
The Parole Board of Canada (french: Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in ...
allowed her to have escorted absences from prison.
See also
Cases of filicide in Canada:
*
Allyson McConnell
Allyson McConnell (née Meagher, November 1978 – September 2013) was an Australian resident in Millet, Alberta, Canada who, in 2010, killed her sons by drowning them in a bathtub. She was convicted of manslaughter and deported to Australia. An ap ...
Cases of filicide attributed to revenge against an ex-spouse:
*
John Battaglia
John David Battaglia Jr.Pence, / ISBN 9780786032372 (2012 edition), Chapter 2, Google Booksbr>PT20(first page of chapter).See Google Books search query, "His Grandfather Battaglia, an Italian immigrant, lived in Brooklyn, New York .. (August 2, ...
Aaron Schaffhausen
Aaron Schaffhausen is a man who murdered his three daughters in their house in River Falls, Wisconsin in 2012.
Background
Aaron and Jessica Schaffhausen married in 2000 and both filed for divorce in 2011; the divorce was finalized in January of ...