Allyson McConnell (née Meagher, November 1978 – September 2013) was an Australian resident in

Millet, Alberta Millet is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Alberta's capital city of Edmonton. History The Town of Millet was named in honour of August Millet, who was believed to be a canoeist for Father Lacombe. (Another po ...

, Canada who, in 2010, killed her sons by drowning them in a bathtub. She was convicted of manslaughter and deported to Australia. An appeal of her conviction, seeking to return her to Canada for a retrial, was scheduled, but she committed suicide before this could happen.

Early life

Allyson Meagher was born sometime in November 1978 and originated from

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Throughout her life she had engaged in suicide attempts.

Marriage with Curtis McConnell

In 2006 she met Curtis McConnell at the Delta Ski Resort in

Kamloops, British Columbia Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the administrative centre ...

; both were employed by the resort and she was on a working holiday. She married him in January 2007 while the two were in Australia. In July of that year Connor McConnell was born while they were in that country. The couple later purchased a house in Millet. Their second child, Jayden, was born in March 2009; at that time Allyson McConnell had started a job in

Leduc, Alberta Leduc ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. History Leduc was established in 1891 by Robert Telford, a settler who had bought la ...

. She later stated in court that she did not plan to have a second child. Allyson McConnell worked for an oil company, while her husband worked in a hardware store. Their marriage encountered problems in the fall of 2009. Curtis McConnell began living in the house's basement. Allyson became upset and depressed as her marriage unraveled. Curtis filed for divorce in December of that year and moved into his parents' house. At first Allyson McConnell had an amicable relationship with her ex-husband's mother, but then McConnell ended contact with her. The ex-husband and ex-wife entered into a custody dispute; she wanted the children in Australia while he wanted them to remain in Canada. A judge had ruled that the children should remain in Canada.

Murder

Allyson McConnell, 33 at the time, drowned both of her children in a bathtub. Connor was two and a half years old and Jayden was ten months old. It is not known when the children were killed. She then drove to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and, after having a meal, jumped from an overpass, and landed on a road. She had multiple broken bones. On February 1, 2010, a police officer in Edmonton called Curtis McConnell, informing him of his wife's injury. The officer was not aware of the location and status of the children. Curtis McConnell returned to the house to check on the welfare of the children and used a knife to open the locked bathroom door. He discovered the children's bodies floating in the bathtub and a wedding ring on the toilet seat. Curtis McConnell later, citing the placement of the wedding ring, expressed his belief that Allyson McConnell killed the children as a form of revenge against him, stating he initially did not believe this but later re-evaluated his understanding of the case.

Aftermath, legal outcome and death

Allyson McConnell survived her suicide attempt and was placed in the hospital; she said she had no memory of the incident after waking up. After hospitalization was over, she was moved to psychiatric care at Alberta Hospital Edmonton. She served fifteen months there. The boys' funeral was held five days after the discovery of their bodies. Family members on both sides were mentioned, but the mother was not. Crown Prosecutor Gordon Hatch tried the case. McConnell was convicted of manslaughter in 2012. Justice Michelle Crighton stated that McConnell did not have sufficient intent for a murder charge; this was given on the grounds that she did not remember the crime and was depressed. McConnell was originally sentenced to six years of prison, but this was later changed to sentenced to 15 months of confinement; she was eligible for release due to the time she spent at the psychiatric hospital. She was scheduled for deportation to Australia. The Alberta government unsuccessfully tried to block her deportation. Alberta Minister of Justice Jonathan Denis criticized the sentence, saying it was too light, and stated that he would take efforts to have McConnell brought back to Canada for another trial. Updated November 18, 2013 Hatch stated that he planned to file an appeal and that the McConnell family was not satisfied with the decision. Curtis McConnell also filed a civil suit against Allyson McConnell for $940,000

Canadian dollars The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used for distinction from other d ...

($903,000

Australian dollars The Australian dollar (currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar, dollar-denominated currencies; and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official ...

). After her conviction, McConnell was deported to Australia on April 10, 2013, arriving at Kingsford Smith International Airport. At the time prosecutors in Canada were still attempting to succeed in their appeal and have McConnell returned to Canada to face harsher penalties. The appeal hearing was scheduled for October 30 of that year. In September 2013 a person found Allyson McConnell's body under the Brian McGowan Bridge in

West Gosford West Gosford is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for ...

, New South Wales, Australia. Her lawyer, Peter Royal, stated that she had committed suicide. Alberta Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk posted a tweet stating that McConnell's death was a "Sad end to what already was a tragedy".

References

External links

Allyson McConnell
- index of articles by the ''

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