 |
| Mrs. Joseph Lacas with her grandchildren just hours before they died |
Madeleine quit school at the age of 14 and worked as a maid for a measly $1.50 per week. By age 23, in 1945, Madeleine was earning $22 per week.
Madeleine's employer introduced her to a young man and the two had a fling, resulting in her first out-of-wedlock child, Jean born on 31 July 1946 in Quebec City.
The young man took off, leaving Madeleine to raise the boy on her own. She followed her mom to Chicoutimi where Mrs. Joseph Lacas toiled as a cook in a convent.
Madeleine found her first love in Chicoutimi. "I sincerely loved a young man from a good family and we were supposed to marry. But his father opposed it. I'm convinced we would have been good together, we loved each other so much," she said.
 |
| Mourning mom Madeleine |
Madeleine and her mom Mrs. Joseph Lacas then returned to Montreal penniless. Madeleine worked as a freelance seamstress while they moved from place to place due to their extreme poverty.
"It was a terrible life. My little ones were sick a lot and I never had enough money," said Madeleine
In October 1949 management of the Eastward Tennis Club at Notre Dame and Viau (4590 Notre Dame E) took pity on Madeleine and gave her a free place to stay in a small shack on their premises.
"I could make ends meet with $10 per month government hand outs while my mom got $35 per month," Madeleine said.
"I decided to place my sons in a foster home so I could find a job and save money and get a more comfortable place. When I announced my decision to my mom, she was pained by the news. For three days she didn't say a word," said Madeleine.
On Wednesday evening, 18 January 1950, Madeleine left the kids with her mom as she went out at about 7 p.m.
Mrs. Joseph Lacas, dressed her grandchildren and put them in a stroller and brought the two little lads - likely on a bus - to the top of the island at the edge of the back river at Pie IX.
 |
| Killer granny |
Mrs. Joseph Lacas, then aged 51, walked into the police station near her home on Notre Dame and confessed that she had drowned her two grandchildren in the St. Lawrence River. She explained that she couldn't bear seeing the children taken away and put into foster homes.
Police were unsure if the story was true so they arrested her and charged her with kidnapping as they attempted to locate the children.
Madeleine arrived home at about 10 pm and found her mom and her children gone. She frantically searched around and then went to the police station where she saw her mother.
 |
| Mrs. Joseph Lacas during the trial |
Piere-Paul's body turned up in the river at Sorel on 20 April. The remains of the older child Jean were found mid-stream at the foot of Desmoreaux Street in Montreal on 24 June 1950. His body was badly decomposed and still clad in his little snowsuit and sweater.
Crown Prosecutors charged Mrs. Joseph Lacas with murder. Her defence counsel urged the jury to acquit her or find her guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Mrs. Joseph Lacas told the court that she had been forced to send Madeleine to a foster home as a child and couldn't fathom seeing it happen to her grandsons. The jury found Mrs. Joseph Lacas guilty of manslaughter on 18 September 1950.
"I loved my mom deeply and could never believe she'd hurt my children. Poor mom. She just suffered miseries in life and I'd do everything to help her," said Madeleine.
Madeleine subsequently went by a different name and worked as a maid in a good home. She would be about 99 years old if still alive today.
Sad story….some people refuse to see alternatives…there are possibilities for a happier destiny if one can open their mindset….out of multiple possibilities can a probability be found….not always easy but entirely possible.
ReplyDelete