Calgary police charge father in deaths of 2 children — Calgary News Today

calgary news today: Calgary police charged a 37-year-old man with first-degree murder after two children were found dead in a vehicle in northwest Calgary on Thursday. Staff Sgt. Mark Rahn said the accused is the children’s father and was arrested after calling 911.

The children were a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. Police said the man was brought back to their investigative building, interviewed, and gave a statement confessing to what had occurred.

Mark Rahn Friday briefing

Rahn told reporters the man was identified as the father during a Friday news conference. He said, “He was arrested at the scene” and later added, “He was brought back to our investigative building, where he was interviewed, and he provided a statement confessing to what had occurred.”

Police said the bodies were found inside a vehicle in the 4300 block of 14th Street Northwest after the man called 911 around 10 a.m. Thursday. Officers had responded after the children’s mother became concerned when they did not return.

Custody and domestic history

Rahn said the man and the children’s mother had been in a six-year domestic relationship and had been separated for about a year. Police said they shared custody of the children, and the man picked them up around 5 p.m. Wednesday after arranging with their mother to do so.

He told her he was going to take the children out for a few hours to spend some time with them, Rahn said. Police said officers tried to contact him, but his phone went to voicemail.

West of Calgary timeline

Investigators said the man travelled west of the city Wednesday evening and believed the children were killed shortly before midnight. Police said he was believed to have returned to Calgary around 8 a.m. Thursday and called 911 about two hours later.

Rahn said there was no protective order in place and that the family had four domestic investigations with Calgary Police Service. He said, “No charges were ever laid out of any of those domestic investigations, but there was never any violence against the children.”

The accused cannot be identified because of a court order, and police did not release the cause of death. The case now moves through the murder prosecution with the accused already in custody.