A Prince George woman was sentenced to two years house arrest Wednesday for her part in the death of her teenage son and the disposal of his body in a wooded area along the Nechako River slightly more than 10 years ago.
Thirteen-year-old Adam Williams-Dudoward's body was not found until four years after his death in January 2000 and only after his mother, Judy Elaina Williams, went to the RCMP in Oliver with her story.
She had remained "hidden in a trailer" on a rural property outside the Okanagan town for those four years, living in fear of her common-law husband, Lloyd William Cook, also implicated in the death, before one day in late October 2004 when she just decided to "sneak off."
"After four years of living in this environment, she did what many prisoners do and tried to escape," defence lawyer Jon Duncan said during submissions before sentencing and went on to argue that Williams "did the right things" upon gaining her freedom.
Williams led the police to the Adam's body and recounted a story to police that began in 1999, when she and her two sons - Adam and seven-year-old Bradley - moved into a home with Cook in the 7100 block of Glenview Drive in the Hart.
Cook had a "difficult relationship" with Adam, Crown counsel Iain Currie told the court.
"He was increasingly enraged at Adam, to the point where in early January of 2000, he in fact tied or chained Adam to his bed," Currie said.
Adam was underfed, missed school and there were allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
On Jan. 7, 2000, according to Williams's statements to police, they heard Adam yelling from inside the home. Cook went in, the noise stopped, and Cook went back outside.
About an hour later, they went back into the home and she found Adam laying on the floor with his hands and feet tied and having trouble breathing. They untied him, carried him to the bathroom where resuscitation was performed.
When Cook told her to leave the bathroom, Williams went into the kitchen "and he came out a few minutes later, saying Adam was gone," Currie continued.
Williams wanted to call ambulance and police but Cook persuaded her not to. "He was on parole at the time and told her, apparently, that he would go to jail and that she would as well," Currie said.
Adam's body was put on a blanket, tied up and put into the trunk of their car and what appeared to be a few weeks later they drove out to the wooded area. Bradley, who did not know what was going on, went on a walk with his mother while Cook took Adam's body from the trunk into the woods off North Nechako Road, covered the body and left it there.
Cook maintained Adam's biological father caused the death by sneaking into the house and giving him drugs, a story that Currie said made little sense.
What happened with Bradley was not stated in court, but Williams and Cook moved to the Okanagan and went missing. By that time, the Ministry of Children and Family Development had started investigating Williams and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
As it turned out, they had been living on a rural property Cook's brother owned but for all that time, neither the brother nor his wife ever saw Williams, Currie told the court.
"At first blush, that sounds absurd, but it appears to be backed up by the police investigation," Currie said, and noted the brother and his wife accompanied Williams to the RCMP detachment where she turned herself in.
"It's a difficult case and certainly tragic is an understatement," Currie said.
In passing sentence, provincial court judge Michael Gray largely concurred with Currie's recommendation of a two-year conditional sentence - effectively house arrest while still allowing her to work during the day - but ruled Williams should be subject to a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew for the entire length rather than just the first six months.
Williams must also take counselling when requested, perform 30 hours community work and neither consume alcohol nor enter a liquor store or bar over that time.
Gray, who called the situation an "unfathomable human tragedy," noted Williams had been subject to physical abuse in a previous relationship and was not in a place to protect herself let alone others.
Prior to sentencing, Williams expressed regret for what happened.
"I'm pretty sorry for what I took part in," Williams said. "I never meant to hurt my son, I never wanted any of this to happen and it's something I've lived with for a long time."
Williams's case had gone to a preliminary hearing, but after one day, she pleaded guilty. She was convicted of interference with a dead body while a charge of failing to perform legal
duty to provide necessaries was stayed.
In a controversial move, police did not make public that a body had been found until June 2009 when Cook was arrested. Police said at the time the public was in no danger.
Cook's case is currently in the pretrial stage in supreme court in Prince George. He faces charges of criminal negligence causing death, manslaughter, unlawful confinement and interference with a dead body.
The allegations against Cook have not yet been proven in court.
