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Peter Bowal, a law professor at the University of Calgary and a former justice of the peace, said the sentence likely indicates the judge felt McConnell was only barely criminally responsible.

The mother of two said she had only flashes of memory of what happened the night she killed her boys — the inside of a bathtub, holding electrical appliances.

She felt “overwhelmed” and “useless,” and wanted to move back to Australia.

She told the court she had researched on the Internet killing herself through starvation, strangulation, electrocution, hanging and drowning. However, she said she wanted to hurt only herself.

A psychiatrist testified the murders may have been an extension of McConnell’s own desire for death.

“She’s definitely been found criminally responsible,” Mr. Bowal said.

“But sometimes the sentence reflects the fact that the judge did not see the responsibility should attach at such a high level because there were other things going on at the time, other struggles she may have had.”

The truly insane — those who do not understand what they are doing — are not held criminally responsible for their crimes. This might have been one of those cases that sat just to the left of the ledger, he said.

“[The sentence] is on the lower end. When you have a multiple-death case like this, and if she’s found sane and knew the nature and consequences of her act — and with manslaughter that would be presumed — it seems on the low end. But again, I don’t know what the mitigating factors were.”

Ms. McConnell has been kept in custody at the Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, where she has been on suicide watch.

During her trial, she said she would attempt suicide again. She said she did not want to get well.

National Post, with files from Postmedia and The Canadian Press

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