MANDEL: ‘Monster’ who killed matriarch should be sentenced to life, no parole for 17 years, court says

Content of the article

It’s a horror movie with no end in sight.

Content of the article

Alexander Bates was determined to punish the Araujo family for putting him in jail for sexually assaulting their daughter.

Content of the article

In his rampage for revenge, the electrician savagely beat and strangled 83-year-old Maria Araujo, and the next day hit her son, Alberto Araujo, and Araujo’s mother-in-law, Lynda Gallandt, so severely with a aluminum baseball bat that they only narrowly escaped death themselves.

« I never thought my mother would lose her life to this monster, » Araujo told Superior Court Judge Bruce Durno in an emotional victim impact statement. « The amount of rage he must have had to strangle a frail old lady for no reason is unthinkable. Unfathomable. »

It all started with their shared love of motorcycles. When Araujo was injured in a serious accident in 2012, her boyfriend Bates offered to help her look after her 14-year-old daughter, Sarah.

Content of the article

But the predator spent the next few years grooming and assaulting the teenager. After seeing their texts on Sarah’s phone, her shocked parents called the police.

« What we didn’t realize the day we found out about the abuse was that it was the start of a life sentence for us, » Araujo’s wife, Meaghan Cher, told the court. .

Bates was arrested and released on bail in February 2015. During one of his court appearances, Araujo discovered a tracking device on his car. A week later, he found another on a second vehicle. When Bates’ fingerprint was removed from device, police added stalking to their charges.

Bates pleaded guilty to sexual interference and stalking and was sentenced to three years in prison. Released in February 2018, he sought revenge. « It seems to be a fixation, an obsession, with this family, this inability to let go, » said Crown Attorney Cindy Nadler.

Content of the article

The Araujos were so terrified that they moved at midnight from Mississauga to Smithville, south of Grimsby. « They thought they wouldn’t be found, » Nadler said. “Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they were.

On December 19, 2018, prosecutors said Bates had implemented his grand retaliatory plan.

He rented a truck and registered a living will. The next day, he parked in a spot behind the Mississauga home of Maria Araujo, the mother of his nemesis. Surveillance video showed him putting on a construction worker’s jacket and heading for his door.

Recommended Video

Shortly after, a neighbor heard a woman screaming and saw a man enter her home.

The next day, her niece discovered Maria’s battered body near the Christmas presents the doting matriarch had packed in her basement.

Content of the article

Meanwhile, Bates was on his way to Araujo’s new home in Smithville. In his rental truck, police later find plastic ties, bolt cutters, dog spray, a folding knife, an extendable baton, and a notepad with their address on it.

Bates disabled their cars and waited. He ambushed his old friend outside by producing what he said was a gun and forced Araujo back inside where he tied him up and asked where he could find Sarah. .

Eventually, his worried wife and mother-in-law came to pick up Araujo. Cher managed to escape to call 911, but Bates grabbed Gallandt and tied her up as well. “You are going to meet your maker today,” he told them.

When Araujo managed to free them, Bates attacked his hostages by hitting their heads with a bat before fleeing the house.

Content of the article

Niagara police were waiting. Bates pulled out his fake pistol and was shot by officers in what prosecutors believe was a determined plan for a cop’s suicide. He survived, but needs a wheelchair for long distances.

Eight months after his arrest for attempted murder, Bates was also charged with killing Maria.

Now 51, Bates pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 13 years. With his recent guilty plea to second-degree murder, he faces an automatic life sentence for killing the petite woman everyone describes as sweet, independent and devoted to her family.

The only issue for the judge is Bates’ eligibility for parole – the Crown wants 17, while the defense has pleaded for 12.

Whatever he serves, his reign of terror continues.

« I know, » Araujo said, his voice shaking, « there’s another part of this episode of this horror movie that we’re stuck in where he’ll try to murder me, my daughter and my wife again. . »

mmandel@postmedia.com