Not one but two families will be struggling to come to
terms with the tragic event of October 30, 2019, in the Southland town of
Otautau.
Media attention and public sympathy is
understandably focused on the family of nine-year-old Hunter McIntosh, who was
fatally stabbed by his teenage babysitter, Daniel Cameron, while their mothers
were enjoying a game of pool at the local pub. It may be a cliché to say, as
Justice Rachel Dunningham did, that Hunter’s death was every parent’s worst
nightmare, but the reason we use clichés is that they usually express some sort
of essential truth.
What makes this case a bit different is that I
imagine the killer’s family will be going through their own nightmare. Daniel
Cameron, who was 15 at the time of the murder, now faces a minimum of 11 years
in prison and no guarantee of release after that.
The judge would have had limited sentencing options,
given the magnitude of the crime, but that’s still a grim fate for a
presumably troubled teenager. You can only hope that Corrections finds an
appropriate place to put him – one where he will get counselling and be
shielded from the harshest aspects of the prison environment.
The court heard there was no obvious explanation for
the killing. Daniel had looked after Hunter several times before and the
younger boy reportedly liked him.
But I wonder if there was a small clue in the
judge’s reference to the fact that Daniel had mildly autistic traits and
possibly had difficulty coping with stress and provocation. The court heard
that on the night of the killing, Hunter had been making loud noises on a
device similar to an air horn and persisted when Daniel asked him to stop.
Acute sensitivity to noise can be a symptom of
autism. Autistic people may also have difficulty comprehending the consequences
of their actions. Is it possible that Daniel, rather than carrying out a coldly
deliberate and calculated murder, lost control in a momentary fit of blind rage
and is no more capable of explaining his actions than the judge or his lawyer, both of whom appeared mystified by his motive? The messages he sent after
the killing as he walked the streets of Otautau – the single word “Help” to a
friend on Facebook Messenger, “What would you think if I killed someone?” to
three other friends, and finally “I’m sorry come get me” to his mother – suggest
a confused boy struggling to comprehend the enormity of what he has done.
Of course no explanation can console Hunter’s family,
who have been deprived of a loved son, grandson and nephew. His mother’s
statement to the court was heart-wrenching. The family’s rage and sense of
injustice is a very human reaction; Daniel still has his life while Hunter has
been robbed of his, and no judicial remedy is capable of reversing that hideous
fact. But this was a crime that I imagine will have torn apart the killer’s family
as well as his victim’s.
2 comments:
Well writ, Karl. Quite recently I found myself in defence of a convicted paedophile (do I hear cages rattling?), NOT to excuse what he did decades ago, but as explanation of why, ie. what he was going through at the time. He has served his time, he has found a new and productive life, and I can but hope the same for Daniel Cameron.
Just a totally tragic story, Karl, for all concerned.
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