Mom hated slain girl, convicted stepdad charges

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This article was published 19/12/2008 (6106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Karl McKay knows his words will likely ring hollow — but that isn’t stopping the convicted killer from speaking out about his role in the death of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair.

 

 

 

"I know I’m the most hated person in this province and probably the whole country," McKay told the Free Press Thursday in an exclusive print interview at the downtown Remand Centre.

"(Phoenix) didn’t deserve this. It was a tragedy. I’m so very sorry. I can’t turn back the clock. I just wish it never happened."

McKay said he wanted to set the record straight about his feelings toward Phoenix and allegations made against him by his former lover and co-accused, Samantha Kematch.

Jurors found McKay and Kematch guilty as charged last week, handing them automatic life sentences with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. The pair had been seeking convictions on the reduced charge of manslaughter. They are both expected to file appeals.

It was revealed during the month-long trial how Phoenix was repeatedly abused and neglected for several months, ending with her death in June 2005 inside a home on the Fisher River First Nation. McKay and Kematch then buried her body near the local garbage dump and hid the death months before McKay’s two teenage sons went to police in March 2006.

Police were eventually led to the burial site by McKay, where Phoenix’s remains were found once the ground thawed. An examination by forensic experts revealed numerous new and old fractures, indicating a pattern of violence against her.

Kematch spoke out first earlier this week, telling the Free Press she loved Phoenix but was powerless to save her from the controlling, abusive McKay. She denied abusing Phoenix and claimed McKay was the real culprit.

"That’s BS," said McKay.

"Samantha hated Phoenix. I know this because I was around. She’s just trying to clear her name."

McKay, a long-distance trucker by trade, claims Phoenix was always terrified when he’d hit the road and leave her alone with Kematch. McKay said she was addicted to crack cocaine and would spend most of her money on drugs.

McKay said his biggest mistake was staying in a relationship with Kematch, who he claims was responsible for Phoenix’s death.

"I should have listened to my heart and not her," he said.

"I can’t imagine a mother would be that evil."

McKay said Kematch had plenty of time when she was alone with Phoenix, which is when he suspects most of the damage to her was done.

McKay denied Kematch’s claims that he was physically abusive towards her, noting there are no records of police reports.

"Sam knew where the door was. I’d kick her out so much, but she’d always come back, like a stray dog," he said.

McKay said Kematch was a master manipulator who used him for his money.

"I was a good catch, with financial stability, a place of my own. She had a (drug) problem. I believe I was the fuel for that problem," he said, adding he was attracted to Kematch because she was 20 years younger than he was.

"I thought hey, I’m this old, I still got it."

McKay admits he has abused other women in previous relationships but said he was a different person back then, largely because of excessive alcohol use.

"People change, people can change overnight. I was a drinker back then, I had many binge blackouts. But that was then, this is now," he said.

McKay admits his own two teenage sons provided key evidence at trial against him, including claims that he would frequently hit Phoenix with his fists and other objects, force her to sleep naked on a cold basement floor, shoot her with a pellet gun for fun and confine her to a makeshift pen he built.

Under his lawyer’s advice, McKay declined to talk about the testimony of his sons or why they’d say things he claims are untrue because of the likelihood of an appeal.

"I love my sons. I know what they said in court. I love them. They mean everything to me," he said.

McKay said it was Kematch’s idea, not his, to bury Phoenix’s body once it was obvious she was dead. Jurors heard in court how he tried giving her CPR and placed her in a warm bath, hoping she could be revived.

He said it was also Kematch’s idea to pass off a young relative as Phoenix once child welfare officials began investigating the case. He said Kematch was "white as a ghost" when she realized the truth was about to emerge and was desperate not to have her other two young children by McKay taken away from her.

"I was so scared, so confused. She was very evil, controlling," said McKay.

"I was protecting that bitch. That’s the biggest mistake of my life, listening to her."

McKay said Kematch got more aggressive towards Phoenix after they moved from Winnipeg to Fisher River in the early spring of 2006, so he could be closer to his ailing father. He said Kematch was upset because it was harder to get drugs on the remote reserve.

At one point in the interview, McKay described Phoenix’s death as an "accident." His lawyer, Mike Cook, clarified that McKay meant it was an unintended killing.

McKay said he was relieved when the truth finally came out, which is why he agreed to take police to the burial site despite knowing it would likely incriminate him.

"I wanted to have the closure. I wanted to show this. I wanted to do the right thing. I knew Sam wouldn’t have shown them because of her cold heart," said McKay.

McKay said he is happy a provincial inquest will be held into Phoenix’s case.

"People, in general, should love their children. This is a wake-up call to love your child," said McKay.

"I just don’t want this to happen to another child. It’s just not right."

www.mikeoncrime.com