Accounts of past abuses relevant, murder trial told
CALGARY The Crown wants to call evidence to show Alexandru Radita’s treatment by his parents when he was a young boy is similar to their neglect of him leading to his death, court heard Friday.
Crown lawyer Susan Pepper said testimony from doctors and social workers from B.C. will establish a motive for why Alexandru was isolated from the outside world.
“At the end of his life, Alexandru’s parents fostered a complete dependence on them by isolating Alex from school and from other forms of community,” Pepper told Justice Karen Horner.
“This isolation was necessary to allow the Raditas to treat Alexandru’s diabetes in an idiosyncratic and dangerous way,” she said.
“The relationship between Alex and his parents is not unlike an abusive domestic relationship where the abuser isolates the abused in a bid to establish total control over the victim.”
Emil Radita, 59, and Rodica Radita, 53, are both charged with first-degree murder in connection with the May 7, 2013 death of their 15-year-old son.
The teen died from bacterial sepsis caused by neglect and starvation related to his diabetic condition.
Pepper said evidence of how the two accused mishandled the boy’s initial diagnosis, which led to him being hospitalized three times and nearly killed him, is relevant to the murder case.
“The facts in B.C. relate squarely to intent to commit murder,” she said. “The accused knew what they were doing when they failed to provide Alex with enough insulin, nutrition and medical care.
“They had the training to treat him, they had done it successfully in the past, and they knew what would happen if they didn’t do it,” she said. “They knew every day, as they watched Alex deteriorate, what the consequences of inaction would be.”
Pepper said the B.C. evidence would also go to establish a motive for the parents’ behaviour.
“It appears clear throughout the Raditas’ many interactions with medical professionals, that they did not want to treat Alex with sufficient insulin,” she said.
“The B.C. (evidence) also provides evidence of the element of confinement necessary for firstdegree murder.
“The Raditas knew that Alex would be removed from them if they didn’t care for him properly. At some point, they (knew) that keeping him away from society was necessary to avoid this removal.”
Horner is expected to hear the evidence next month before ruling on its admissibility.