The man who killed two people and attacked five others with a sword in Quebec City on October 31, 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
Carl Girouard, 26 he was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of François Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, by a jury on May 20.
“You took the lives of two people and you destroyed the lives of many [more]”Quebec High Court Judge Richard Grenier told Girouard before handing down the sentence.
Wearing a shaved head and an orange T-shirt, the young man sat still and stared at the ground as he listened to the statements of the families of his victims.
Speaking by video conference from Paris, Duchesne’s sister Marie-Josée explained how her life had changed since her brother was killed.
“Sadness dominates me whenever I think of him,” he declared. “Without him the world is not so beautiful.”
Relatives of François Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, wrote statements expressing their grief. (Radio-Canada)
Clermont’s sister-in-law, Marie-Claude Veilleux, who was present in the courtroom and who also attended the daily trial of Girouard, took the podium.
“I beg you to listen to me, Monsieur Girouard,” she said with her back to him.
She told him she hoped she wouldn’t cover her ears with her hands as she spoke, which she accused him of doing during the trial for “pretending to be mentally ill.”
He said that Clermont had been a generous, loving, and bubbly person who enjoyed life and embodied the lifestyle that Girouard had aspired to but never achieved.
He said he was glad he was going to jail for life and that he hoped he would take that time to reflect on “all the harm” he had done and do introspective work on himself.
“You have to stop blaming the‘ bad Carl ’for your actions,” he said. “You have to accept that you’re the ‘bad Carl’.”
Two more Girouard victims were present at the hearing, but chose not to file impact statements.
The sentencing hearing lasted just under an hour. A first-degree murder sentence carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Neither the defense nor the Crown presented arguments to the judge.
The Supreme Court of Canada recently against the so-called stacking of parole, saying it was unconstitutional to sentence someone to several consecutive periods of probation, even if it killed more people.
Girouard shook his head and was silent when the judge asked him if he meant anything.
Judge Grenier acknowledged that the young man has mental health problems and advised him to seek help while in custody.
The defense has an appeal
Pierre Gagnon, Carl Girouard’s lawyer, filed an appeal Friday morning, just before his client’s sentencing hearing. (Emilie Warren / CBC News)
Girouard’s lawyer, Pierre Gagnon, filed an appeal against his client’s guilty verdict on Friday morning.
“We thought it would be better for him not to speak in court today [we] he just went for it, “he said.
One of the arguments in the appeal is that the judge will not allow the defense to cross-examine a Crown expert witness on his work in a previous case.
Other reasons include that the judge failed to tell the jury that certain elements of the testimony of the witnesses should not be taken into account when deliberating.