A 35-year-old man was sentenced in Quesnel Provincial Court on May 19 to an additional 57 days in jail for killing his mother’s pet goats.
Jessie James Falkenham pleaded guilty to the April 25 offence in Kersley. He will also spend 18 months on probation and is banned from owning, residing with, or having custody or control of any animal or bird for five years.
An April 26 charge of wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer was stayed.
“I am left bewildered by what has happened,” Judge Scott Mulder said.
Mulder officially sentenced Falkenham to 90 days in jail, but he received 33 days’ credit for time served under the time-and-a-half rule.
Mulder said Falkenham had no insight into why he committed what the court described as a “bizarre and horrible act,” other than suggesting it may have been revenge for past abuse. He said Falkenham specifically denied acting on voices.
Falkenham’s mother called Quesnel RCMP asking for a wellness check on her son, who was allegedly experiencing psychosis. The officer who attended found the freshly burned remains of two goats.
When Falkenham was located, he denied knowledge of the goats or any suicidal or homicidal intentions. A witness told police that Falkenham said the goats were “descendants of the devil and not to feed them.” A large quantity of blood was found on the walls and staircase of his mother’s home.
Defence lawyer Ian Currie said his client killed the goats humanely but felt ashamed. Falkenham was arrested in a rental vehicle containing all his belongings. Police used a taser and rubber bullets to stop the vehicle, and a police service dog was deployed during the arrest.
In court, Falkenham’s mother read a victim impact statement saying she bottle-fed the goats and had cared for them in her home since they were two weeks old. She said her son is normally a gentle protector of animals but needs help.
“If he could hurt baby goats so cruelly because something forced him to do it, what stops him now from hurting people?” she said. “He needs help, and I have tried to find it. I hope that the judge will be able to see that Jesse needs help.”
Falkenham blamed his actions on repressed memories linked to past drug use and childhood sexual abuse. He said he had recently stopped using medication, cigarettes and marijuana, changed his diet and begun meditating and walking 10 to 20 kilometres a day.
“I am disgusted and ashamed of what I did to my mother’s animals,” Falkenham said in court. “It wasn’t a voice telling me to do this. It wasn’t whatever. I’m not a crazy person or anything like that. I accept what I’ve done, and I’ll accept the time for it.”
While Mulder agreed with Falkenham’s mother, he said he had no authority to order psychiatric treatment or medication compliance. He focused on deterrence and denunciation and ordered Falkenham not to contact three people, including his mother.
Mulder said he considered a counselling condition for probation but, “based on what I’ve heard, I don’t expect Mr. Falkenham would be agreeable. I don’t want to set him up for a breach.”
Falkenham’s prior record included possession for the purpose of trafficking in 2012 and mischief and resisting arrest in 2023.
