‘You took her daddy’s life’: Prince Albert stabbing incident results in five year sentence

At one point during the night, an argument took place between Madden and his girlfriend, and Madden would push her to the ground.

The group would decide to drive to a residence in the west flat and drop off Madden. On the way there, the argument continued between Madden and his girlfriend, prompting a second argument to take place between the two men sitting in the back seat. Bird had spoken up against the way Madden was acting.

Upon arrival at the residence, the verbal argument escalated into a consensual fist fight between Madden and Bird, ending with Bird on top throwing punches. He would get off and go back to the vehicle, upon Madden’s girlfriend intervening.

“The accused called out to the victim asking if he wanted to get stabbed,” Amyotte said.

Bird then exited the vehicle and approached Madden, only to get stabbed once in the abdomen.

“The stabbing of the victim by the accused was a deliberate act,” Amyotte stated.

Upon being stabbed Bird went back to the vehicle, climbed back into the back seat and they drove off. Madden in turn fled on foot and disposed of the knife. All the while, residents hearing the commotion, called 911.

The vehicle would eventually get pulled over by police in the 1400 block of Sixth Ave. W., and Bird ultimately was transported to hospital by ambulance, arriving around 12:30 a.m.

“Despite extensive life saving attempts, he was pronounced deceased at approximately 7:09 a.m.,” Amyotte read.

The autopsy that was performed the following day, revealed the cause of death was a single stab wound that had pierced the liver.

The Prince Albert Police Service later identified Joseph Curtis Madden as their suspect, and issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest. Madden was subsequently arrested on Jan. 22 at a residence in Saskatoon.

Madison Rene Bird Simaganis. (Facebook)

Victim impact statement

Present in court was Bird’s grandmother who described the emotional impact of having to tell Bird’s then five-year-old daughter that her daddy was not coming home.

“It’s a saving grace that she doesn’t understand death,” she wrote.

The grandmother went on to explain the young girl does does not know the circumstances of her dad’s death, but will want to know one day and that’s the day the family is dreading. At the time of his death, Bird had sole custody of his daughter.

“You took her daddy’s life,” Amyotte read.

While the victim impact statement was read, Madden listened with his head down.

Defence statement

Rebbecca Crookshanks explained Madden had started drinking at the age of 16 and it was his drinking that led to his involvement with the law.

She added Madden had taken responsibility for his actions and had expressed to her his remorse. She also noted how Madden did not incur any further offences while on remand and had not caused any trouble for correctional staff.

The five year sentence represents a joint submission by the Crown and Defence. Crookshanks explained sentencing for manslaughter can be complicated, as incidents range from a mere accident to mere murder and fall within four to 12 years.

She said its important to consider a number of factors including what weapon was used, the degree of force, existence of gratuitous violence, what provoked the attack, and what was the chance of death. In this instance, Crookshanks explained the degree of violence was not extensive.

“It was a very limited interaction and one that happened after a consensual fight,” she said.

Crookshanks went on to explain it was also not a complex act and one that happened after Bird came back.

“When you look at that group of factors I’d suggest it helps us understand that this should be on the lower end of sentence when you are looking at that four to 12 manslaughter range that’s typically presented to the court,” she said.

When give the opportunity to speak, Madden stood in the prisoner’s box and apologized.

“I’m sorry for what I did and I’m gonna have to deal with this the rest of my life,” he said. “I hope I can be forgiven.”

Decision

Justice R.C. Mills said he agreed the statement of facts clearly showed this was a charge of manslaughter, and not murder.

While offering his own condolences to the victim’s family, Mills also explained the proposed sentence had been seen often in the court, adding his job was to ensure this specific one would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

“I do not find this proposed sentence does that,” he said.

Mills also made note of Madden’s history with alcohol and said the incident appeared to be between two guys trying to prove who was the tough guy.

“You decided you were going to be the tough guy and look where it got you,” he said.

Noting that Madden had two children and had family in attendance for all his court appearances, Mills encouraged to him to consider the impact of his actions and the time he was spending away from them as a result of his decisions.

“It’s time you repaid that,” Mills said.

With credit for time spent in remand, Madden has roughly three years left on his sentence (1,107 days). Upon his release, he’ll also be prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm for a period of ten years.

Outside the courtroom, Madden’s mother, Brenda Cummings told paNOW she was okay with the sentence.

“I was going to try and give my apologies to the family but they don’t want to accept it,” she said.

The victim’s grandmother was not available for comment.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

‘You took her daddy’s life’: Prince Albert stabbing incident results in five year sentence

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