Marielle Houle is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

woman who helped her ailing son Charles Fariala commit suicide in September 2004 as he struggled with the early stages of

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

The suicide

On 28 September 2004, Fariala summoned his mother to his home to complete the death pact he had researched and refined over several months. After thanking her for not abandoning him in his last hours, Fariala consumed a mixture of pills and medication. He lay down in his bed and had Houle restrain his hands with leather cuffs. When he was in a deep slumber, Houle placed a mask over his face and slipped a plastic bag over his head. After he had stopped breathing, she called the police and confessed her part in the death of her son.

The sentence

Houle pleaded guilty to a charge of helping her son commit suicide, thus liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years, under the provision of s. 241(b) of the

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

. By the decision of

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec (french: Cour supérieure du Québec) is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Qu ...

, she was spared jail time and was sentenced to three years of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

on 27 January 2006. Justice Maurice Laramée motivated his sentence by the emotional, psychological (

borderline personality Borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, distorted sense of self, and strong ...

) and physical fragility of the accused. He insisted that the sentence is not set to serve as a general model in other cases and warned others who might consider emulating Houle that assisted suicide and mercy killing remains a serious crime in Canada for which the law has no tolerance.

External links

The decision in ''R. c. Houle'', 2006 QCCS 319 (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houle, Marielle 21st-century Canadian criminals Canadian female criminals Living people Year of birth missing (living people)