Guylaine Potvin's two roommates at the time of her murder in April 2000 said Wednesday that the apartment door was unlocked the night of the tragedy. “Guylaine didn’t always block the door in case I came home, but I didn’t have my keys,” one of them recalled with emotion.
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Even though the years have passed, Nadine (artificial name) has never forgotten the emotions that overwhelmed her when she learned of the tragic death of her roommate, who was murdered in the middle of the night in the apartment they shared.
The woman, who was extremely nervous before testifying on Wednesday, had slept at her boyfriend's house on the night of April 27-28, 2000. The third roommate was also absent, having left for the weekend, leaving Guylaine Potvin home alone. That night, Marc-André Grenon broke into her home to, according to the Crown's theory, sexually abuse and kill her.
Photo provided by SQ
Door unlocked
The two women took turns testifying on Wednesday. Both reported that the front door was most likely unlocked, although their recollections of the exact events that led to this tragic turn of events differ somewhat.
“I felt a lot of emotions. And also a lot of anger. Because we knew it was someone who had entered and that the door was unlocked,” testified Mélissa Arnaud, who studied special education with Guylaine Potvin.
Guylaine Potvin Court provided
She told the jury that she had told her roommates several times in the week before the tragedy that “there's no point in leaving the door unlocked.”
If the door was open, it was because Guylaine Potvin might have expected that the third roommate wouldn't have her keys when she got home. On the evening of the tragedy, this then-20-year-old roommate said she was thinking about returning to the apartment to get some clothes before heading to her boyfriend's house.
“But I’m not under arrest,” she said through tears. “I often asked myself if I could have changed something and done something differently. If I had returned [ce soir-là]“That would have happened,” Nadine still asks herself 24 years later.
No liability
At the end of the woman's testimony, Judge François Huot, seeing the emotions that the woman still feels in the following days from the apartment where the tragedy occurred, wanted to address a few words of comfort to her. So that she can “finally turn the tide.”
“I hope you find some calm about this. “You bear no responsibility for what happened, it is a sad combination of circumstances,” the judge emphasized.
Among the other relevant elements of the two roommates' testimony, it should be noted that a large box of Trojan brand condoms was missing from one of the bedrooms. A similar box, torn and with condoms missing, was found in the mess in the victim's bedroom.
Photo provided by the court
On the other hand, the two women said that certain things in their room were unusual given the crime scene technician's photos, particularly the open drawers and cabinets.
The trial for murder and aggravated sexual assault against Marc-André Grenon continues on Thursday at the Chicoutimi courthouse.
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