by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
august 9, 2004
Eleven-year-old Ian Carmichael was found dead in a London, Ontario hotel room on July 31. although results of an autopsy were not released, it is believed that he was asphyxiated or strangled. The boy travelled from his home in Toronto to the western Ontario city with his father, David Carmichael, 46. The elder Carmichael was charged with first degree murder and is currently being held in the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre.
If David Carmichael admitted to the police that he in fact killed his son and told them why he did it, the police aren’t talking. at the time of this writing, Carmichael has refused legal counsel and nothing has been put forward by him or anyone on his behalf as to why his son ended up dead in a 6th floor hotel room.
The Carmichaels seem to be an ordinary, well liked family who lived in a nice middle-class area of Toronto. David Carmichael was popular in the sporting world in the area of physical fitness and at one time was the national director for Participaction, a federal fitness program that was cancelled some time ago.
although neither the police nor Carmichael were talking, friends and neighbours of the family were. It was revealed that little Ian was developmentally delayed, but not seriously. Further facts came out that the boy may have suffered a brain aneurism last December and may have had a brain tumour, although no one knew whether or not it was malignant or benign. He suffered from frequent seizures.
Despite his medical problems, Ian Carmichael seemed to have led an active life. He was involved in competitive bike riding on his BMX bicycle and friends, family and neighbours were shocked at his sudden and violent death.
The media, quite naturally were speculating that Ian’s medical condition was the factor that motivated his father in taking his young son’s life. But some in the media couldn’t resist labelling the young boy’s death as a "mercy killing". a salivating Merella Fernandez on Citytv announced that it could have been a mercy killing.
The use of the term "mercy killing" implies that the little boy’s death was somehow justified. as we learned from the case of Robert Latimer, who killed his severely disabled daughter a few years ago, many in the media see absolutely nothing wrong with taking the life of a less than medically perfect child. and from all accounts, Ian Carmichael had a much better quality of life than Tracey Latimer did.
By referring to the death of Ian Carmichael as even a "possible mercy killing" the media are not only jumping to conclusions but putting a possible child killer in a positive light.
It is equally consistent that David Carmichael, the physical fitness guru, just couldn’t be bothered with a son in less than perfect condition.
The media should just report what happened and avoid trying to guess the reasons until more information is revealed about why Carmichael took the life of his son.