The man accused of killing his two young sons in the winter of 2010, has pleaded guilty to murder, and will serve a life sentence behind bars.

In December 2010, two boys aged 3 and 6-years-old were found dead inside a home in Abbottsfield with their father Jason Bruce Cardinal.

The two boys were found dead beside their father on his bed – Cardinal was suffering from self-inflicted wounds.

Later Cardinal, 33, was charged with two counts of first degree murder in their deaths.

An agreed statement of facts was read in court on Friday – in it, court heard Cardinal had been planning a murder-suicide for weeks before the boys were found dead.

Documents showed the boys had been staying with their father for a weekend visit, and on the Sunday afternoon their mother arrived to pick them up.

However, there was no answer at the door, she returned later but with no success, she called police.

The statement also said the children were strangled, after Cardinal drugged them with non-lethal amounts of morphine and sleeping pills.

The Crown Prosecutor said she was surprised at the turn of events in court – as those facing such charges don’t often plead guilty.

“It is incredibly unusual to plead guilty to first degree murder, let alone two first degree murder charges,” Crown Prosecutor Allison Downey Damato said.

“I think it alleviated a ton of resources that didn’t need to be wasted,” Damato continued. “The evidence was overwhelming, absolutely overwhelming, or we wouldn’t be here today.”

Evidence also showed at the time Cardinal was locked in a custody battle with the mother of the two boys at the time.

The mother of the two boys said she’s comforted this is over.

“I’m hoping it’ll bring closure to everything we’ve gone through,” Andrea Badger said. “I’m just glad it’s done with, and I’m glad that he’ll be gone for 25 years at least, and he can’t harm us.”

Cardinal has been sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

“Any case like this, you can’t help but be [affected], it’s a human thing,” Damato said. “It’s a very real thing.

“It would affect anyone to know these boys had absolutely no chance of escaping this fate when their dad made that decision.”

With files from Veronica Jubinville