A Valleyfield family will finally be able to turn the tide after watching a pizza delivery driver be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 14 years this afternoon for stabbing his wife 119 times in their home had killed.
“Four years of litigation. For us it is the end of a long wait marked by nightmarish nights. “It’s the last chapter today, we’re closing the book,” Francis Lalonde-Langlois told the Journal.
His mother, Linda Lalonde, was killed on November 16, 2019 by Stéphane Massé, her partner of the last 12 years. At the end of his trial, the 41-year-old was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury.
No words
“There are no words to describe the cruelty of what she experienced that night at the hands of her partner,” said Judge Yvan Poulin, describing this tragedy as incredibly sad, both for his family and for society.
The victim, Linda Lalonde, was 48 years old. Photo from Facebook
Massé received an automatic life sentence, but the court had to determine the number of years served before he could apply for parole. The Crown had suggested 15 years, while the defense had suggested 12 years. The judge therefore fell between the two proposals by setting the limit at 14 years at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse this afternoon.
“The important thing for us is that he will never be truly free again, he will no longer be able to come to us. “We’re disappointed, but we feel like we can now start planning for the future again,” said Danny Lalonde-Langlois, the victim’s other son.
On the evening of the murder, Stéphane Massé returned home during his shift as a delivery man and asked his wife to close his eyes because he had a surprise for her. He took the largest knife in the kitchen, stabbed him in the head and then stabbed him first in the back.
High on cocaine, Massé brutally stabbed the lady with around a hundred stab wounds until she died. The next day, when he realized what he had done, he went to a Montreal police station to confess his crime.
The jury was shown the filmed interrogation in which he describes everything in detail to an investigator.
Stéphane Massé during his interrogation by the police, during which he confessed everything that had to do with his crime. Screenshot of a video filed in court
At his trial, the defendant, defended by Mr. Martin Latour, sought to be found guilty of a lesser charge, namely manslaughter. According to him, he never intended to kill his 48-year-old wife. Despite his drunken state, the jury did not accept this version.
Family torn apart
The murder completely devastated the close-knit family of Linda Lalonde, the grandmother of three young children.
“For them, Stéphane Massé wasn’t just their grandmother’s partner, they knew him like their own grandfather. [Un meurtre]it shouldn’t be part of these children’s daily lives,” confided Danny Lalonde-Langlois.
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The victim’s three children insisted on being present at all stages of the long court case: “My mother is no longer there to deal with this.” [à Massé], so we do it for them. We wanted him to face a packed audience to show him the consequences for everyone who loves Linda.”