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Rothesay mother who killed herself and 7-year-old daughter missed custody hearing
Just two weeks before the bodies of Louise Caissie and her seven-year-old daughter were discovered in a Rothesay apartment, Caissie failed to attend a custody hearing in Saint John, family court documents reveal.Louise Caissie, pictured here in 2003, was found dead in a Rothesay apartment with her seven-year old daughter, Solange. (Radio-Canada)Just two weeks before…
Just two weeks before the bodies of Louise Caissie and her seven-year-old daughter were discovered in a Rothesay apartment, Caissie failed to attend a custody hearing in Saint John, family court documents reveal.
Just two weeks before the bodies of Louise Caissie and her seven-year-old daughter were discovered in a Rothesay apartment, Caissie failed to attend a custody hearing in Saint John, family court documents reveal.
Caissie's estranged husband, Marcel Laflamme, a lawyer who used to practise in New Brunswick and now lives in Kamloops, B.C., was seeking unsupervised access to their daughter, Solange.
The trial was scheduled to last four days in Court of Queen's Bench, starting Dec. 16.
“Mrs. Caissie never showed up,” Laflamme's lawyer Martin Siscoe confirmed.
The bodies of Caissie, 43, and her daughter Solange were discovered in an apartment at 11 Sierra Ave. on Monday around 10 a.m.
The Kennebecasis Regional Police Force said Thursday its investigation determined the child's death was the result of a homicide and the mother's death was the result of a self-inflicted injury.
“I have no insight at all,” said Siscoe. “I can't understand and I don't think anybody can understand why somebody would take the life of their child.”
No red flags
Caissie's mental health was never at issue in the court proceedings, he said. There were no red flags. “None.”
Siscoe said the judge called Caissie on Dec. 16 from the courtroom, “which is unheard of.”
Usually a sheriff or the clerk will call, he said, but the judge called and left a voicemail message for Caissie, who was a lawyer and representing herself in the proceedings.
By 1:30 p.m., when Caissie still hadn't arrived, the trial proceeded without her, he said.
Caissie, who had full custody of Solange since the couple separated around 2015, maintained full custody. Laflamme never challenged that, said Siscoe.
But Justice Chantal Daigle granted Laflamme unsupervised access to Solange during specific times, including summer months, Christmas vacation and every second March break.
In the second year, she would have been allowed to travel outside New Brunswick.
Requests privacy
Solange is expected to be cremated Friday, and her father is making arrangements to collect her ashes, said Siscoe.
“Mr. Laflamme is in a difficult situation at this present time, and I've spoken to him and right at this moment he's just asking that his privacy be respected,” he said.
“Let him do what he has to do to get through this situation.”
Caissie's former lawyer Rita Godin declined to comment, citing confidentiality.
Although no charges are expected, police continue to investigate and are seeking information from the public.
Autopsies have been completed, but the causes of death have not been released.
The exact times of death have not yet been determined.
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