A Lac La Biche teen pled guilty to the Dec. 21, 2009 second-degree murder of 36-year-old blind man Hector Cardinal.
The Crown Prosecutor’s Office of St. Paul confirmed that the 16-year-old, who was 14 at the time of the murder and can’t be named under the Young Offenders Act, submitted the guilty plea in the St. Paul Court of Queen’s Bench on Oct. 31 at what was to be the start of his trial. The second teen charged in the murder, also 14 at the time, is expected to appear in the same St. Paul court Jan. 16 – 24.
Cardinal, who had two glass eyes, was found dead in a back alley behind homes on 101B Avenue in the Hamlet of Lac La Biche. Police say Cardinal died from blunt force trauma. That same night, police found a second man lying only a block away, also badly beaten but still alive in front of homes by Central Elementary School. He was flown by air ambulance to Edmonton, where he was put in a medically induced coma. Two different men were charged in that assault.
Both victims and the two teens had been at a house party at the now-demolished rooming house on 104 Street that was known as the “drug house.” Police say that Cardinal was walking in a back alley around 11:30 p.m. when the two youths allegedly attacked him in an attempted robbery.
RCMP used a police dog to find one youth – who was well known to police – that same night. The second youth was arrested on Christmas Eve, the day after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The teen that pled guilty is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 13 for a pre-sentence report.
