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How a decades-long love affair ended with homicide
A case playing out in an Ottawa courtroom presents not just the heavy burden of caring for an ailing loved one, but also the moral and legal considerations when love leads to homicide
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When Carol Berthiaume arrived at the Ottawa home of Philippe Hébert and Richard Rutherford the day before Good Friday 2022, she was immediately struck by the state of the place.
It was immaculate.
Not only that, it was beautifully decorated for Easter, including a needlepoint runner laid out on a central table that Hébert, then 69, had embroidered himself to celebrate the holiday.
Hébert and Rutherford had lived here for nearly 40 years, settling in not long after moving from Winnipeg, where Rutherford had been the longtime principal dancer at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Now 87, he was spending as much as 20 hours a day in bed, with Hébert his main caregiver.
It was a big job. Once in exquisite shape, Rutherford’s body was failing. He had prostate cancer, diabetes, and mobility challenges that made it difficult for him to use the stairs. Often he’d put off getting out of bed until 5 p.m., at which point Hébert assisted him down the stairs to watch his favourite TV show, The Big Bang Theory. He also suffered from vascular dementia and showed signs of depression. He’d lost his driver’s licence, and had been the household’s only driver.
Hébert, desperate for help, had called Berthiaume, a care coordinator with the local agency in charge of delivering home and community-care services. She was here to assess whether Rutherford could decide on his own about moving into long-term care — or whether someone should decide for him.
No one knew it when she arrived that day, but Rutherford would not live to see that Easter.
Berthiaume conducted the assessment in the bedroom, and the two men joked about seating her in a folding “director’s chair,” like those found on movie sets.