'Mummy, don't': Woman kills her only daughter, 12, after boyfriend says, 'It's the child or me'



A mother murdered her only child after being told by her boyfriend: 'It's her or me.'

Penny Boudreau strangled 12-year-old daughter Karissa after Vernon MacCumber threatened to end their affair because he did not get on with the girl.

Boudreau drove her daughter to a deserted wooded area, knocked her to the ground and strangled her, a Canadian court heard.

Murder: Penny Boudreau leaves the funeral home with her boyfriend Vernon MacCumber following her daughter Karissa's funeral service in February, 2008. Boudreau pleaded guilty to strangling her daughter after MacCumber told her 'It's the child or me'

The heartless mother ignored her terrified daughter's cries of 'Mummy, don't!' as she pinned her down and wrapped a rope around her neck, prosecutor Paul Scovi said.

She then drove to a nearby river and pulled her daughter's trousers partly off to make it look as if she was the victim of a sex attack, before rolling her into the water.

Boudreau later claimed her daughter had gone missing after they had an argument and made TV appeals for her return. Two weeks later Karissa's body was found on the banks of the river.

'Mummy, don't': Karissa Boudreau's last words as her mother strangled her

Boudreau was caught by undercover officers posing as gangsters offering to destroy any evidence police had against her. She was charged with murder in June last year.



Boudreau broke down in tears in the courtroom in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, as she pleaded guilty to murder and said: 'I'm sorry.'



Boudreau pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was jailed for 20 years without parole.

Relatives wept openly in the courtroom as Karissa's final hours were revealed by prosecutors.

The court heard that the single mother moved in with her boyfriend Vernon MacCumber.

MacCumber did not get on with the 12-year-old Karissa, and issued an ultimatum that either she went or he would end the relationship.

Bourdeau chose to sacrifice her daughter's life.

On returning home she threw away some of Karissa's clothes to make it look like she had run away. She also called her boyfriend to tell him her daughter had gone missing.

It is unclear if MacCumber knew what she had done. The pair attended Karissa's funeral together.



Police always suspected Boudreau but had no evidence to charge her after Karissa's body was found in February 2008.

Undercover investigators only learned the grisly details of the murder after a sting operation in which officers posed as organised crime bosses who convinced Boudreau they could destroy whatever evidence the police might have against her.

Boudreau took the bait and began talking. She was charged with murder in June 2008.

The judge Justice Margaret Stewart, looking directly at Boudreau, told her: 'You can never call yourself mother.

'The words, "Mummy, don't," are there to haunt you for the rest of your life'



