Edmonton mother and soldier charged with arson and attempted murder of her three children

Chantal Condie, a 41-year-old Edmonton mother and corporal at CFB Edmonton, has been charged with arson and the attempted murder of her three children following her husband’s divorce of her.

The incident occurred in July 2015 but wasn’t taken to court until August of this year.

Drew Condie, her ex-husband, is also a member of the military and hasn’t been able to speak publicly about his ex-wife’s alleged crime. However, he persistently advocated a criminal investigation be launched, with his lawyer saying he greatly feared for the safety of his children during unsupervised visits. Additionally, he has sued his wife for over $540,000 on behalf of his children, reports Global News.

“It should not have been buried,” said Drew Condie’s lawyer. “It should have been thoroughly investigated at the time.

“We started asking questions. We started drawing attention to it.”

“According to the civil suit, filed earlier this year, Drew and Chantal Condie were in the process of a divorce and Drew had been granted primary custody of the children, to begin July 24, 2015, after a week-long summer camp,” reports Global News.

“The lawsuit claims Chantal Condie cancelled the camp, saying the children were sick, then took them to stay at Fantasyland Hotel in West Edmonton Mall for three nights.”

Chantal Condie is alleged to have written a suicide note, attempted to force them to sleep using NyQuil, and then set the house on fire to kill her three children and herself.

Her oldest child reportedly woke up and asked her what was happening, at which point she claimed the fire was outside. Luckily, the 10-year-old boy chose to wake his siblings and instructed them to crawl out of the window to escape the fire.

“She told him that it was wildfire smoke and to go back to sleep,” Drew’s lawyer said.

“He chose to instead get his younger brother and younger sister out through the second-story window onto the roof of the entryway into the house.”

Condie was recently arrested following an investigation but was later released on bail. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance on September 19 and has been barred from using or accessing weapons while maintaining her role as corporal.