The crime was among the most harrowing in Canadian history.
A bitter ex-wife from Barrie bent on revenge against her former husband drowned her daughters, 19-month-old Sophia and three-year-old Serena, in the apartment bathtub.
Elaine Campione taunted the children’s father: “I hope you’re happy now.”
Campione — who now goes by Frances Goodine — has been granted expanded escorted absences from prison as part of her rehabilitation process, CTV News reported. She was convicted in 2010 of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison before being able to apply for parole.
CTV News legal analyst Ari Goldkind said: “She did the most horrible crime imaginable. There are likely very few people that when you hear she killed her two children in the midst of a custody battle think that the gates of the jail should open up at all for her.”
The prominent Toronto lawyer added that Campione has been getting temporary escorted absences since 2018. He believes the National Parole Board will grease her way out the door when she’s eligible for day and full parole.
On Oct. 2, 2006, Campione was so terrified her ex-husband would get custody of their daughters that she made sure that wouldn’t happen. Instead, she murdered her children by drowning them in the bathtub of their Barrie apartment. Campione then posed her dead children on the bed and dressed them in their pyjamas. They were holding hands and a rosary was placed between them.
The Parole Board of Canada recently ruled Campione will be allowed six escorted absences, up from four, for “personal development.” The absences are intended to aid the killer mom’s rehabilitation.
Cops said at the time of the murders that the bedroom was cold and a fan was running full throttle. It was believed there was a mental-health component in the murders triggered by the custody fight with her estranged husband.
CTV News reported that in Campione’s escorted absences outside prison she’s gone to religious services, taken personal development courses and attended medical appointments. She has reportedly not broken any prison rules since her incarceration nor have there been any security incidents, according to the Parole Board. Since 2015, she has been classified as minimum security.
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Campione continues to receive psychological counselling, the report noted, adding that a psychiatric evaluation said she is at low risk for reoffending.
As for the girls’ devastated family, in 2018 they stated their firm opposition against Campione being released in any manner. The family remains traumatized and she is forbidden to go anywhere near her ex-husband or his family.
X: @HunterTOSun