A Kootenay man who killed his ex-girlfriend's dog and set a fire inside her home was sentenced Monday in what a provincial court judge described as "particularly disturbing incident" of intimate partner violence and animal cruelty.
On Sept. 28, Jordan Bidinoff-Gardiner entered the Nelson-area home of his partner, who at the time was working. He read emails on her laptop and became convinced she was preparing to break up with him.
鈥淚 read everything," he texted her, according to facts of the case read out by Judge Craig Sicotte. "I did warn you. Too late to go back. Now this is on you."
Bidinoff-Gardiner then went on to threaten his partner's friends. "[They] will be next. It鈥檚 OK. I鈥檒l be dead too, and it鈥檒l all be over soon.鈥�
When his partner returned home, she found a sweater she owned burning on her stove. Her laptop and other documents had been placed in a bathtub full of water.
In her bedroom, she found her dog Vito stabbed to death. In her victim-impact statement, she said blood was on the floor, walls and ceiling.
Later that day, Bidinoff-Gardiner called police to admit what he did and threatened suicide. He was tracked, arrested and later charged with mischief of $5,000 or under, as well as uttering threats, both of which he plead guilty to in March. He was also initially charged with arson and animal cruelty, but both counts were stayed and heard under the mischief charge.
On Monday, Bidinoff-Gardiner was sentenced to 390 days in jail, plus two years of probation. Minus his credit for time served, he will remain in jail for six more days.
But the conditions of his probation are extensive and include a no-contact order with the victims, a 500-metre distance restriction, weapon, alcohol and drug bans, and mandatory substance-use disorder and mental health treatment. If he is to enter into a new relationship, Bidinoff-Gardiner must inform the person of his criminal record via a probation officer.
鈥淭his is a particularly disturbing incident that needs to be denounced with a message being sent to this offender and others that similar behaviour will result in lengthy period of custody," said Sicotte.
The sentence handed out, however, favoured the defence.
Mason Goulden, who represented Bidinoff-Gardiner, argued for a sentence of time served plus two years of probation in order to reflect what he said was adequate punishment for a client who suffers from mental-health issues. Bidinoff-Gardiner lives with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, anxiety and depression. Sicotte also noted Bidinof-Gardiner has Cree heritage and has suffered intergenerational family trauma due to his father having grown up in a white family with no connections to his culture.
Crown lawyer William Westcott agreed with Goulden on the probation, but had requested Bidinoff-Gardiner serve six-to-eight more months in custody.
In his statement to the court prior to sentencing, Bidinoff-Gardiner apologized and said he wasn't trying to dodge responsibility. But he also claimed killing the dog was an act of self-defence, and was later interrupted by Sicotte who chastised him for victim blaming.
鈥淢r. Bidinoff-Gardiner has exhibited some remorse, though on a much more limited basis than he claims," said Sicotte in his decision. "The reports and his statement to the court reveal a deeper focus on characterizing himself as a victim than they do on him taking full responsibility for significant criminal behaviour on this occasion.鈥�
The Nelson Star does not identify victims of intimate partner violence without their consent. In the victim's statement, she described how Bidinoff-Gardiner had previously threatened suicide if she left him, her trauma of finding her murdered dog, how she could not return home for two months, and how she remained fearful of living in the region with Bidinoff-Gardiner still present.
Sicotte also described an incident in May 2024 in which Bidinoff-Gardiner asked the woman to come to his home. When she arrived, she grew suspicious for why he was trying to coax her inside and called the police. When they arrived, officers found gasoline had been poured around the premises, which he intended to light on fire. Bidinoff-Gardiner was arrested under the mental health act, but wasn't certified and released from custody the same day.
Jaime Gilbert, who was not Bidinoff-Gardiner's partner but one of the people he threatened, told the Nelson Star she was disappointed with the sentence as well as his statement to the court. A longer jail sentence followed but time under direct supervision in a halfway house, she said, would have been more appropriate.
鈥淚 needed to hear that he is sick, that he's unwell, that he should never have done this, that it wasn't [the complainant鈥檚] fault, that it's him. He's the unwell one. He needs to get help. He needs to fix himself. I needed to hear accountability. I needed him to let [the complainant] off the hook, because she did nothing wrong here.鈥�
The sentencing hearing was attended by the victims' supporters who wore T-shirts that read "Justice For Vito," a slogan that spread on social media in the months leading up to the hearing. Sicotte noted Bidinoff-Gardiner was attacked on Feb. 28 by two inmates who broke his cheekbone and damaged an eye socket while repeating the slogan.
Sicotte also criticized Bidinoff-Gardiner's self-defence claim, and referenced a previous court decision that determined harm to family pets should be "met with stern punishment when that cruelty takes place in the context of intimate partner violence."
"The fact that he was in the complainant's home setting fire to her clothes and destroying her personal property," said Sicotte, "would clearly justify aggression by her dog should that have happened, though I remain skeptical that it actually did.鈥�
Gilbert, who knew and loved Vito, compared the victim and dog's relationship to that of a parent and child.
"The fact that people historically have had dogs for protection and for security of their homes, the fact that this person broke in and was around a dog that was docile and timid and trusted him and then still acted such brutal violence, definitely is what has sparked the community interest here.鈥�
For women in need of assistance, VictimLinkBC is a 24-7, confidential, multilingual service that can connect calls to various resources. It can be called or texted at 1-800-563-0808, or emailed at victimlinkbc@bc211.ca.
Women at immediate risk of harm should call 911.