‘I will hate you forever’: Triple homicide case results in life sentence

By Nigel Maxwell

Shirts that read Justice for Bentlee and bore the face of a smiling, blue-eyed young child were scattered throughout a Prince Albert courtroom on Wednesday as dozens of family members came to see the end of a court case that has spanned more than two years.

Nathaniel Carrier received a life sentence for the murders of his parents and young son, and the attempted murder of his young daughter in late March of 2020. Guilty pleas were entered in January.

According to the statement of facts read, Carrier had met a woman online the previous week and together they entered into a suicide pact, agreeing they would drive head-on into a loaded logging truck.

But prior to driving to La Ronge on March 28, 2020, Carrier was staying the weekend at his parents’ house and, as per a custody agreement with the mother, had been looking after his two children since the previous Thursday. The weekly arrangement had been ongoing for a number of years.

However, on this particular Saturday afternoon, Carrier did the unspeakable. Disabling a security camera, he first went to his mother’s room and left her lying dead in a pool of blood. He then went to the garage and killed his father. Both had their throats slashed and there were signs Carrier had beaten his dad with a metal bat.

Carrier then went into the bedroom where his children were and slit their throats. All four victims were in the house for nearly a day before a co-worker and friend of Carrier’s mother, Sandra Henry, came to check on her, and found the door locked. With the help of a family member, she was able to gain entry.

Bentlee, seven, was found lying on the floor deceased. He also showed signs of being strangled.

Kendrah, who was five years old at the time, had been napping in her bed. She also had her throat cut but was conscious with her blue eyes wide open when help arrived.

“He believed she was dead,” Crown prosecutor Douglas Howell said, commenting on why Carrier went to kill Bentlee while Kendrah helplessly watched.

Suffering from shock and unable to talk, Kendrah was rushed to hospital, only to be later transferred to Edmonton’s Stollery Hospital. She would remain there for 53 days, undergoing a number of surgical procedures, before returning home with her mother.

Carrier was initially located by police in La Ronge where he had gone to carry out the suicide pact, and was transferred back to the psychiatric unit at Victoria Hospital after police learned of the couple’s plan through a letter the woman had written to her family.

On the way back to Prince Albert, Carrier turned over two knives to the paramedics and was arrested the following day.

Through text messages he had shared with the woman he was meeting, Carrier had said he did not want his children to suffer “with the loss of him” and so he wanted to take them with him into the afterlife. Prior to leaving Prince Albert, he sent the woman one more text message, advising he had done the “needful thing.”

Carrier had driven his father’s vehicle to La Ronge and it was later recovered by police, with blood stains on the hood matching the father’s DNA.

Victim impact statements

A total of five victim statements were read in court Wednesday as part of the sentencing hearing, including the mother. Heather Lynn Sumners, who spent over an hour describing the impact of the incident on her and her family, also recalled the emotional turmoil she went through rushing to Edmonton to see her daughter.

“I will hate you forever,” she said, staring straight at Carrier.

Sumners explained how as a result of the incident her daughter had been diagnosed with PTSD and suffered nightmares. She added Kendrah is afraid of the dark and scared of men she doesn’t know.

“You took a piece of me and smashed it into a zillion pieces,” Sumners said.

Referring to Carrier as a psychopath, a narcissist, arrogant and vicious, Sumners also advised Carrier he will never again have contact with his daughter.

Heather’s sister Destiny referred to Bentlee as her little boyfriend, and relayed her own wish that she could have saved him.

“He’s just a baby … a small little boy …. how could you do that to him?” she asked Carrier, and told him his actions will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Troy Ermine, the mother’s spouse and father to her other child Alex, explained how hard it was to explain to Alex where his sister and brother were, and said whenever Kendrah looks in the mirror, she will forever be reminded of what had happened to her.

Ermine also recalled the first time he was able to see Kendrah via Facetime and she asked him if he would be her new daddy and help protect her from bad people.

Pre-sentence report

According to the pre-sentence that was read in court, Carrier had been having suicidal thoughts for 10 years. They had became worse with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic but he never received or asked for help. He was also diagnosed as having schizophrenia.

One of Carrier’s two jobs at the time was a custodian at the hospital and he claimed that had an impact on his mental health. Carrier was also a frequent user of marijuana, and claimed he was hearing voices, including his dead grandmother, who told him to kill his family members.

Defence lawyer Angus McLean kept his comments brief, advising the court his client told him to do so as to not minimize in any way the events that happened.

“There can be no excuses for what he’s done,” McLean said.

When given the opportunity to speak, Carrier stood in the prisoner’s box and said he understood that nothing he could say could change what has happened.

“But I just wanted everybody to know that I regret my decisions, I regret my actions. I did the opposite thing of what I should have done and I’m going to spend the rest of my life thinking about that,” he said.

Carrier also apologized to the first responders, and the medical staff who dealt with the fallout from his actions.

“I’m sorry and I accept my punishment,” he said.

Comments from the justice

Justice A.R. Rothery referred to the joint submission from the two lawyers as not being contrary to the public interest. She then spoke directly to the dozens of family members in attendance.

“I hope this helps towards bringing closure for you. It’s been a long and hard journey thus far. Hopefully today is a day that turned a page for you,” she said. “I’m very, very sorry for your loss.”

In addition to receiving a life sentence, Carrier won’t be eligible for parole until 2045, around the same time Kendrah turns 30.

He also has a lifetime ban from owning or possessing any firearms or explosives, and is forbidden from having contact with a number of people including Sumners, Kendrah and his two brothers.