On Friday, a judge in Calgary ruled that two parents were guilty of murdering their diabetic son, stating that the 15-year-old boy had “died as a result of bacterial sepsis brought on by extreme starvation. His physical condition at death was not a sudden or quick occurrence but rather took place over months and possibly, probably years.”
Justice Karen Horner stated that Emil Radita, 60, and Rodica Radita, 54, were both equally guilty of murdering 15-year-old Alexandru, and sentenced the two to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
According to the Edmonton Journal, Alexandru was one of the Raditas’ eight children, and weighed less than 37 pounds when he died in 2013 “of complications due to untreated diabetes and starvation.”
Testimonies at the trial recounted how Alexandru was enrolled in an online school program that he never finished, suggesting his confinement and the deterioration of his health. While Alexandru had an Alberta health insurance number, there is evidence that he never even saw a doctor despite his desperate medical condition.
“The evidence underscores that the Raditas were well aware how ill Alex was and still refused to treat his medical condition with proper insulin protocol and medical care,” Justice Horner said on Friday.
Additionally, Horner stated that Alexandru was wholly dependent on his parents, who unlawfully confined him and knowingly denied him sufficient insulin. According to reports, neither parent appeared to show emotion at the trial.
Patricia MacDonald, the B.C. social worker who actively fought to have Alexandru taken away from the Radiatas, praised the verdict, calling it “justice for Alex,” and described the Raditas as “empty” and “void of any kind of emotion” or “any kind of feeling.”
As DeadState reported back in June of 2016, the Raditas were devoutly religious and allegedly chose prayer over medical care.
…the devout Christian couple prayed for two hours before their son’s death as he lay suffering and in need of medical attention. Suspicions that the Roditas routinely resorted to prayer over medical care were confirmed after medical investigators relayed what they saw at the Rodita home when medical services were finally called.
“They said they went to church at, I think it was after 1800 hours, and they came home at about 2000 hours and that’s when the father said that he wasn’t breathing, so they prayed and they didn’t call EMS until sometime around 2200 hours,” medical investigator Shauna Mitchell told the National Post.
“I’ve never met parents like them in my life,” MacDonald said at the trial.
Justice Horner’s decision comes roughly four years after Alexandru’s death. The Radiatas allegedly responded to their son’s death in 2013 by going to church and claiming their son had been “resurrected” by God.
Watch a report on the story from the Calgary Herald in the video above.
Featured image via YouTube
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