After deliberating for almost a month, the jury at the trial of Everton Biddersingh, charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 17-year-old daughter Melonie Biddersingh two decades ago, has been sentenced to life in prison.
He will not be eligible for parole for 25 years.
The Crown had alleged that Biddersingh, 60, originally from Jamaica, drowned or starved his daughter after prolonged abuse and unlawfully confined her to their small Toronto apartment.
The teen’s charred body was discovered in a burnt-out suitcase in an industrial area north of Toronto in 1994.
Biddersingh pleaded not guilty and said little before Superior Court Justice Al O’Marra handed down the punishment for the “horrible” crime.
“Her life with you was an unspeakable horror,” O’Marra said, recounting how Biddersingh starved, confined and drowned Melonie before desecrating her remains.
“It will make no difference,” Biddersingh mumbled to the court.
In a written impact statement, Melonie’s mother Opal described the devastation she felt after learning in 2012 that her daughter’s charred remains had finally been identified.
“There is nothing – I mean absolutely nothing – Melonie would have ever done that could have led to the dreadful outcome of her murder,” the teen’s mother said in the statement read to court. “So, I am left wondering why for the rest of my life.”
Impact statements from Melonie’s half-sisters Racquel Ellis and Suan Biddersingh were also read in court before sentence was handed down.
Suan met Melonie before she died and was part of the search for her in 1994 when she disappeared. She wrote about both the “heartbreak” of Melonie’s death and how Everton Biddersingh’s actions have left the family “to bear the burden” that comes with the Biddersingh name.
“All this hurt and pain has taken a toll on my emotional and physical wellbeing over the years and I do not know when it will stop,” wrote Suan. “I am hoping it will all subside when this is all over … if it is ever over.”