A Calgary father accused of murdering his young children before driving their bodies to a police station, where officers say he called 911 and confessed, made a brief court appearance today and will remain in custody for the foreseeable future.
A publication ban imposed at the father’s first appearance before a justice of the peace last week protects the identities of the three- and five-year-old children, which means the 37-year-old also can’t be identified. CBC news will identify him by his initials, MM.
Senior defence lawyer Clayton Rice appeared in court Monday morning on behalf of MM who also appeared, via CCTV from the Calgary Remand Centre wearing a blue, jail-issued jumpsuit.
MM, who faces two charges of first-degree murder, didn’t speak except to acknowledge he understood the proceedings.
The case was put over for a month to allow Rice to receive and review disclosure documents. In the meantime, MM will remain in custody.
Although the bodies of the children were discovered Thursday, April 30, the offence date listed on the court documents suggests police believe they were killed the day before.
MM picked the children up on Wednesday, April 29, around 5 p.m., and was supposed to drop them off within a couple of hours. When that didn’t happen, their mother called police, who tried unsuccessfully to contact MM.
On Thursday, according to homicide unit Staff Sgt. Mark Rahn, MM drove to the District 3 station before “the accused contacted 911 and stated that he had killed his children and gave his location.”
Police found and arrested the man near the district office before they located the vehicle in the middle of 14th Street at 45th Avenue N.W.
The bodies of the children were discovered in the back seat.
“He was brought back to our investigative building where he was interviewed and he provided a statement confessing to what had occurred,” Rahn said.
MM and the mother of the children had been in a six-year common-law relationship.
They broke up last year and had shared joint custody of the children, according to police.
Over the course of the relationship, police were called to the former couple’s home four times but charges had never been laid.
