A human trafficker who killed two Rock Machines while pretending to take them to dig up loot in a wooded area has been found guilty of the killings for a second time.
• Also read: Guilty of killing two bikers
• Also read: Killed while digging up money
In 2019, Richard Hunt was convicted of the premeditated murders of Joseph Fluet and Steven Lamarsh, two bikers murdered in Vaudreuil-Dorion three years earlier.
He appealed that ruling and the appeals court ordered a second trial last year.
The 44-year-old man completed court proceedings at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Courthouse this morning and pleaded guilty to a charge of premeditated murder.
According to evidence presented at the first trial, Hunt sold drugs for Fluet and their relationship had broken down over a financial debt.
Richard Hunt courtesy of archive photo
On December 1, 2016, Fluet and Lamarsh were ambushed.
The defendant led them to believe that he could repay them thanks to an $850,000 fortune that was buried in a wooded area after the theft of an armored truck.
2e Process avoided
Joseph Fluet and Steven Lamarsh showed up at the scene armed with simple shovels.
But instead of taking part in a treasure hunt, Joseph Fluet and Steven Lamarsh were shot with a .223 caliber long gun by Richard Hunt, who was waiting for them in the hideout.
Joseph Flute. With kind approval
He also shot the partner of one of the victims. Rachel Wickenheiser survived the first trial against the defendant and testified.
She had told how her friend Lamarsh had breathed his last into her arms. As she tried to help him, she heard the detonation of the bullets that killed Fluet in the distance.
This admission of guilt will save the victims’ families another lengthy trial and another detailed hearing about how their loved ones were shot, Steven Lamarsh’s sister testified in court.
Richard Hunt was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole until he had spent 13 years behind bars.
Release not automatic
He has been imprisoned since his arrest in December 2016 and can apply for release from prison after six years. Even if he were then entitled to probation, this would not happen automatically, emphasized Judge André Vincent of the Supreme Court.
“It is up to you to act appropriately,” he pointed out to the defendant, lecturing him about the twenty previous drug convictions “that have gotten him nowhere” except in court for these murders.
The judge reminded the defendant that he would be under the thumb of the parole board for the rest of his life.
Richard Hunt’s accomplice, Mélanie Binette, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eleven years in prison.
Melanie Binette. Courtesy of the photo. Courtesy of the photo
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