Family of Clearwater homicide victim takes custody battle public

"WE LOVE THEM MORE THAN I CAN EVEN PUT INTO WORDS."

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Ten months after Angila Wilson was killed in her Clearwater home, her family members are going public with efforts to move her children out of foster care and into a more stable environment.

Wilson's brother, Frank Wilson, and his wife Leanne Bowcott say they have struggled with ministry delays in their pursuits to adopt Wilson's three children under the age of seven since she died.

“We’ve been dealing with the Ministry of Children and Family Development ever since (Angila’s death). There’s no continuity,” Bowcott says. “We’ve been there since day one; we haven’t waivered even though we’ve been pushed to the limit."

Iain Drummond Scott, Wilson's former common-law husband and the father of her children, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after a stand-off with police April 2014.

Bowcott says she and her husband completed a ministry-mandated assessment to prove their home was safe enough for the children as did Scott’s sister and husband in North Vancouver, who are also hoping to adopt. Scott's family declined InfoNews.ca's request for comment.

So far the decision on placement hasn't been made. Representatives from the ministry have declined media requests for comment.

The couple says ministry officials have offered no explanation for the delays and have promised specific dates — that have come and gone — when a decision would be made.

"We've deemed (this) as the 'twilight zone' because that's exactly where we're at. We've gotten absolutely nowhere," Bowcott says. "(The children are) doing well with the circumstances but I wouldn’t say they’re thriving. They need to settle into a home. We love them more than I can even put into words."

Bowcott says because Wilson did not have a will in place, the government assumed care of the chidren. The three were collectively placed in a Clearwater foster home for a month before their transfer to a separate home in Hope, where they remain today. Each week Bowcott's family of four gets a play date and every two weeks, the visitation agreement grants them a 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. visit.

Scott's family also has a visitation agreement, along with friends of the accused who were originally seeking custody, but have since abandoned the idea.

At this point in the delay, Bowcott says while she and her husband will continue working towards gaining custody, their primary concern is getting the children a stable home, even if it's Scott's family who gains custody.

“Family is family. They deserve to have a relationship with the children. I hope that in the future we can all work together to get the children so they can settle," she says.

Scott was denied bail Feb. 24 and remains in custody at the North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre in Port Coquitlam.

To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.