From child murders to driving offenses to sexual assault, 2024 promises to be another legally significant year, with numerous trials in headline-grabbing cases. The newspaper offers you a selection of essential causes that you can follow on our pages.
• Also read: Drama in a daycare center in Laval: an investigation will be initiated against the defendant in March
• Also read: Death of little Mariia: All evidence is in the hands of a judge
• Also read: Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard convicted of sexual assault
Accused of murdering his wife and children
A father accused of murdering his partner and their two young children is due to be investigated at the Longueuil courthouse in mid-January.
According to authorities, 37-year-old Mohamad Al Ballouz committed the murders in September 2022 at a condo building in Brossard. First alerted by a fire alarm, the firefighters arrived on site and discovered the horror: not only had the woman been stabbed, but her children, ages 2 and 5, had also drowned.
Mohamad Al Ballouz, defendant. Photo courtesy
Al Ballouz was immediately arrested. He was taken to hospital, from where he appeared by telephone on charges of premeditated murder.
Two children died under his bus
An investigation will be launched in March against the bus driver who allegedly drove into the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose, killing two children and injuring six others.
Cuddly toys and flowers were left on the Dufferin terrace in front of the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose, where the drama took place. Free photo
Pierre Ny St-Amand, 51, caused astonishment when he committed his crime on board a Société de transport de Laval bus on February 8, 2023. He then stripped naked only to be overpowered by his parents on site.
Pierre Ny St-Amand, 51 years old. Photos courtesy of the QMI agency
He faces around ten charges, including premeditated murder and attempted murder, but it is his mental state that is under scrutiny. A psychiatric report on his criminal responsibility was prepared by experts from the Philippe Pinel Institute, but is being kept secret for now.
He is said to have grabbed a young refugee before escaping
The driver accused of hit-and-run after fatally striking a 7-year-old Ukrainian refugee could have his fate decided early this year.
Juan Manuel Becerra Garcia is accused of a fatal hit-and-run in connection with the death of young Mariia in December 2022. Photo comes from Manuel Becerra's Facebook account
Juan Manuel Becerra Garcia, a 46-year-old father, is on trial for failing to remain at the scene of an accident that claimed the life of little Mariia Legenkovska.
Mariia Legenkovska, victim. Archive photo
The tragedy that occurred in Montreal's Sainte-Marie district in December 2022 shocked Quebec and reignited the debate about road safety in schools.
Little Mariia, 7 years old, was the victim of a hit-and-run in Montreal on the morning of December 13, 2022. His death shocked all of Quebec and reignited the debate over road sharing. Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The file was handed over to a judge as part of a “facilitation” process to help the parties find common ground. The results could be known as early as the end of January.
Arrested 22 years after student murder
In April 2000, 19-year-old student Guylaine Potvin was found dead in her home in Jonquière. Investigations revealed that she had been beaten, raped and strangled to death, but for 22 years police were unable to arrest a suspect.
Only investigators didn't give up, and since then science has made significant breakthroughs, particularly in analyzing the traces that suspects can leave behind at crime scenes.
Guylaine Potvin, murdered in Jonquière in 2000. Free photo
Thanks to a collaboration between the Sûreté du Québec and the Laboratory of Judicial Sciences and Forensic Medicine, a suspect was arrested in October 2022.
Marc-André Grenon, a 48-year-old Granby resident, will stand trial on murder charges in mid-January.
Marc-André Grenon, accused of the murder of Guylaine Potvin in 2000 in Jonquière and suspected of other attacks. The SQ is asking potential victims to come forward. Photo courtesy of Sûreté du Québec
A femicide in the middle of the road on the Mont Royal plateau
In the middle of the street on the Plateau-Mont-Royal in Montreal, 38-year-old François Pelletier allegedly stabbed Romane Bonnier to death before attacking her lifeless body.
The traumatic scene in October 2021 caused an uproar, especially since it allegedly took place in a marital context. This was the 17th femicide in Quebec this year.
Romane Bonnier was killed on a sidewalk in the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal district. Photo from Instagram
Ms. Bonnier, 24, was a singer and actress who studied art.
Pelletier was arrested at the scene and has now been charged with first-degree murder.
His trial date is expected to be set for January, but due to time limits before a defendant goes to trial, his trial is expected to conclude in 2024.
François Pelletier, 36, is alleged to have killed Romane Bonnier by stabbing her in the street. Photo from François Pelletiers Facebook
A former women's fashion mogul and also a sex offender
Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard may have been found guilty of sexually assaulting four women in Toronto last April, but that doesn't mean he's done with justice.
Nygard, 82, will be brought to Montreal in July to face another trial, this time for kidnapping and sexual assaults that allegedly took place in the metropolis in the 1990s.
And once his fate is sealed, the former fashion boss, who specializes in women's clothing, will be sent to Manitoba to contest an extradition request from the United States. According to American authorities, he is said to have been involved in sex trafficking in New York state.
Peter Nygard, in 2013. Archive photo, QMI Agency
A basketball coach is said to have exploited a player
A former basketball coach at Montreal's Saint-Laurent High School will make waves starting in September for his sex crimes trial against a former protégé.
Daniel Lacasse, 45, is accused of sexually exploiting a teenage girl between 2010 and 2012. His arrest along with two other coaches from the same Montreal school prompted the Education Ministry to launch an investigation. This had reported a toxic climate among the basketball players at that school, with inappropriate behavior that no one had reported.
Lacasse's alleged victim testified at the preliminary investigation with his head held high and in a determined tone. The content of the evidence is subject to a publication ban that applies until the trial begins.
Daniel Lacasse, former Saint-Laurent Secondary School coach, at the Montreal Courthouse on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Photo Michaël Nguyen
Killed in a house at age 34
One evening in April 2022, 34-year-old Cynthia Landry was stabbed to death in a house in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. Jerry Avril, 33, was arrested shortly thereafter on murder charges.
Cynthia Landry was found dead in a home on Aylwin Street. Photo from Facebook
His trial date is set for January.
There have been 14 suspected femicides in Quebec this year, 12 fewer than last year's record. Ms. Landry's murder was the fifth to occur in Montreal in 2022.
Police were called to Aylwin Street in Montreal for the murder of Cynthia Landry. Photo QMI Agency, Thierry Laforce
A murder in the middle of a shopping center
A drug addict accused of killing a random 50-year-old in a Saint-Hyacinthe shopping center will learn next month when he will be tried for the August 2021 murder.
That day, 45-year-old Marc-André Houle allegedly showed up at Galeries St-Hyacinthe to steal a knife from a razor shop. Shortly afterwards, he is said to have entered a jewelry store and stabbed Manon Savoie, a 54-year-old customer.
The woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries, where she died from her injuries.
Houle, for his part, had fled aboard a stolen moving truck. He was intercepted in the small Montérégie community of Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur after an 80km police chase.
Houle was living in accommodation above a social reintegration center at the time. He had just completed six months of drug therapy.
Manon Savoie was stabbed to death at Galeries St-Hyacinthe on Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Archive photos
Assassination attempt against a lawyer
A real estate developer from Joliette, Jean-François Malo, is expected to stand trial in March and April for an attempted murder of a lawyer that occurred in Mont-Saint-Hilaire in March 2020.
That day, two men came to Mr. Nicholas Daudelin's home and allegedly shot him. But even if Malo was not one of the attackers, the Crown is convinced that he ordered the attack, possibly in connection with a civil dispute in which Me Daudelin was acting for the opposing party.
However, Malo, 45, dragged out the proceedings by trying to get his legal fees paid by taxpayers under the pretext that he had no money. This didn't move a judge, who couldn't help but note that the defendant owned a home worth nearly $900,000 and a chalet worth $650,000 and that he drove luxury cars. Luxury.
In this surveillance camera image submitted to court, we see Jean-François Malo (left) and Sheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye, one month after the attempted murder of Mr. Nicolas Daudelin. Photo provided by the court
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