Nadine Catherine Beaulieu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine Beaulieu died February 21, 1996 after being placed in foster care. Her foster parents had no training and weren't properly screened for criminal records. They also were improperly supervised by an overworked CFS employee. An autopsy revealed Nadine's cause of death as "the application of force by an adult person to her abdomen," which caused a rupture and internal poisoning. “It appears she was struck with tremendous force. Her death was by no means sudden. It would have taken many hours for the digestive juices and partially digested food to seep out into her abdomen, causing the infection which killed her."

 

There were many other signs that Nadine was abused. Her little body had at least 75 fresh bruises on her face, scalp, chest, lower abdomen, back, buttocks and extremities. She had scattered roundish scars and small abrasions, inter-abdominal bruising on her stomach wall and connective tissue on the pancreas. She showed signs of dehydration, including sunken eyes and dry skin. She was also severely undernourished, with the ribs clearly visible and her buttocks emaciated. There was evidence of a broken right pelvis and three broken ribs, both of which were healing at the time of her death.

 

Nadine  began vomiting. Richard said the illness continued through the night, and was worse by morning. He told his wife to give her a bath while he called a cab. Richard claims he gave Nadine CPR in the cab, and that she was "rubbery" but breathing. He also claimed Nadine hit her head on the cab as he took her inside, but denied hitting or kicking her in the stomach. Richard also claims Nadine fell out of the top bunk of her bed and struck the floor two weeks before her death. He never took her to a doctor, even though she was walking unusual afterward. Nadine also fell twice the day before her death, and was jumped on by some other children while play fighting, he said.

 

Despite the abuse Nadine suffered, no one has ever been held responsible for her death. Nadine's foster parents, Clifford and Laura Richard, were charged with manslaughter and failing to provide necessities of life, but the case was thrown out of court because of RCMP mistakes in obtaining a statement from them. In a statement to police, Clifford Richard told investigators he hit Nadine in the stomach with a backhanded swing of his arm because he was angry she kept trying to get some fried chicken. The Richards both testified at the inquest and maintained they did nothing wrong. Richard testified that Nadine was a "handful." As a possible explanation for Nadine's injuries, he claimed Nadine was running up and down stairs and may have injured herself.

 

http://come-over.to/FAS/InquestNadine.htm