WHO KILLED THERESA?

 

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“The Monster of Levis” Guy Field / WKT2 #22

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Sherbrooke Record, Friday November 3rd, 1978:

“The killer of a seven year old was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole Thursday by a judge who described his crime as one of the most repugnant and savage in the memory of man.

Superior Court Justice Jean Bienvenue warned 44-year-old Guy Field, found guilty in the Dec 28. 1977 slaying of Brigitte Roberge in nearby Levis, he may never be granted freedom.”

 

Brigitte Roberge

 

Guy Field

43 rue Wolfe / where the Roberge family lived on the second floor

 

72 rue Wolfe: location of the depanneur where Brigitte was headed

 

13 cote Labadie / site of rooming house where Guy Field lived

 

 

Church where Field claimed to have encountered Roberge

 

Anglican church where Field was discovered

 

Golf club where the semi-naked body of Brigitte Roberge was recovered

Who Killed Allore Lumber? / Canadian Timber Trilogy Part III

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The final part of Canadian Timber Trilogy, focusing on the death of The Allore Lumber Company, which rose out of the ashes of The Gilmour Lumber Company.

Includes an interview with my cousin, Paul Allore, who witnessed the downfall of the business.

 

Edward Allore

 

Map of Quebec City settlements circa 1709

 

 

The “Alar” / Allard / Allore allotments Can be seen in right square, upper left

 

The arrival of Les Filles du Roi at Quebec, 1667

 

The Gilmour processing and shipping operation at Wolf’s Cove (also known as L’Anse au Foulon). The road to the right leads up Cote Gilmour Hill to the then residence of John Gilmour / Marchmont House.

 

 

Map of the Wolf’s Cove / L’Anse au Foulon region from the 1800s. The Gilmour property can be seen to the upper-right

 

Marchmont House at the top of Gilmour Hill, residence of John Gilmour. Gentleman pictured is possibly Alan Gilmour Sr.

 

L’Anse au Foulon

 

 

Northwest corner of Rue Saint Sacrement and Rue Saint Francois Xavier in Old Montreal, site of the Gilmour offices in the later 1800s

 

David Gilmour’s father, John Gilmour who committed suicide in 1877

 

David Gilmour’s brother, Alan Gilmour who committed suicide in 1903

 

Circled is my Great Grandfather, Edward Allore. The photo was most likely taken at Mowat Station at Canoe Lake between 1897 and 1899

 

This guy circled is possibly also Edward Allore

 

 

L to R: top: Edward Allore, Mary Cormier, Harry, Wilred, Alfred. Bottom: Charlie, unknown, Chip the dog, Eddie, Lawrence

 

Alfred, Wilfred, Charles and Edward Allore

 

 

Charles Allore in tie, Wilfred Allore in center. Bill Allore is on the far left.

 

 

My uncle Paul Allore to the right. The fuel tanks stood on the other side of front street on the shores of the Trent river.

 

 

 

L to R TOP: My cousin Michael, Paul, my brother Andre. LOWER: My cousin Cathy, Me, and Theresa Allore

 

For an excellent written account of the Gilmour dynasty visit the Marmora Historical Foundations page, THE GILMOUR INFLUENCE by Andrew McDonald and the Hastings County Historical Society (1986)

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Who Killed Tom Thomson? / Canadian Timber Trilogy Part II

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Tom Thomson  was a Canadian artist of the early 20th century. Born August 5th, 1877 he is linked with Canada’s most celebrated group of painters, The Group of Seven,  though as an unofficial member with his art usually being exhibited adjacent to the group’s in Canadian museums.

Canoe Lake

 

Thomson died in 1917. Despite a short career his work has been very influential in Canadian art. The tragic circumstances of his death at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park, Ontario have lead many to speculate that Thomson was murdered or possibly committed suicide. The Myth and mystery of Tom Thomson continues to this day.

Thomson was born  in Claremont, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in a large family, the sixth of John and Margaret Thomson’s ten children. Thomson was raised in Leith, Ontario, near Owen Sound. Thomson and his siblings enjoyed both drawing and painting, though he did not immediately display any major talents. He was eventually taken out of school due to a respiratory issue, allowing him the freedom to explore the woods near his home and develop an appreciation for nature. He was a good athlete and enjoyed playing football.

In 1899, Thomson volunteered to fight in the Second Boer War, but was turned down because of a medical condition. He would attempt to enlist for the Boer War on three occasions but was denied each time.

Thomson briefly enlisted at the Canadian Business College in Chatham, Ontario, worked briefly for his older brother George at the Acme Business School, and traveled as far as Seattle where he worked as an elevator operator at the Diller Hotel.

Thomson was hired at Maring & Ladd as a pen artist, draftsman and etcher. He mainly produced business cards, brochures and posters. In 1904 he abruptly left Seattle and returned to Ontario, possibly due to a rejected marriage proposal following his brief summer romance with Alice Elinor Lambert. 

Thomson moved to Toronto in the summer of 1905. His first job upon his return was at a photo-engraving firm, Legg Brothers. Friends described him during this time as “periodically erratic and sensitive, with fits of unreasonable despondency.”

During this time, he briefly studied with William Cruikshank, a British artist who taught at the Ontario College of Art. Cruikshank was likely Thomson’s only art instructor, as Thompson was largely self-taught.

In early 1909, Thomson joined Grip Ltd., an artistic design firm in Toronto, specializing in design and lettering work. Grip would eventually employ  Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley and Franklin Carmichael, soon to be members of The Group of Seven.

ALGONQUIN PARK

Thomson first visit to Algonquin Park  was on a canoe trip in May 1912. Thomson’s original painting style began to emerge at this time. Though his work was not outstanding technically, there was a noticeable ability with composition and colour. Thomson traveled around Ontario with his colleagues, especially to the wilderness of Ontario, which was to be a major source of inspiration for him. To earn money, Thomson sometimes worked as a guide or fire ranger in Algonquin Park. He became as familiar with logging scenes as with nature in the park and painted them both.

After this painting was bought by the Government of Ontario in 1913 for $250, Thomson was encouraged to pursue a career in art and accepted James MacCallum's offer to cover his expenses for a year.

DEATH

On July 8, 1917, Thomson was seen with Shannon Fraser, the owner of the Mowat Lodge. When it was too cold to camp in the park, he would often spend the night there.  Mark Robinson, a park ranger, noted in his diary that Thomson “left Fraser’s Dock after 12:30 pm to go to Tea Lake Dam or West Lake.”

Thomson disappeared during this canoeing trip on Canoe Lake. His body was discovered in the lake eight days later.

The body was examined by Dr. Goldwin Howland who concluded that the official cause of death was drowning. The coroner, Dr. Arthur E. Ranney, MD, supported Howland’s conclusion that the drowning was accidental. The day after the body was discovered, it was interred in Mowat Cemetery near Canoe Lake.  Under the direction of Thomson’s older brother George, the body was exhumed two days later and re-interred in the family plot beside the Leith Presbyterian Church near Owen Sound.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Many conspiracy theories have swirled around the nature of Tom Thomson’s death, including that he was murdered or committed suicide. Though these ideas lack substantiation, they have continued to persist in the popular culture.

In 1970, Judge William Little’s book, The Tom Thomson Mystery, recounted how—in 1956—Little and three friends dug up Thomson’s original gravesite, in Mowat Cemetery on Canoe Lake. At the time they believed that the remains they found were Thomson’s. In the fall of 1956, however medical investigators determined that the body was that of an unidentified Aboriginal.

In 2007, the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History project launched “Death On A Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy,” a book-length, bilingual (English/French) web site featuring a selection of over fifty transcribed primary and secondary documents related to Thomson’s death, including documents never before made public, such as Blodwen Davies’ 1931 request to the Ontario Attorney General for opening of Thomson’s Algonquin Park burial site.

Utilizing, in part, the Great Unsolved Mysteries site transcriptions, Canadian newspaper columnist Roy MacGregor has described his 2009 examination of records of the 1956 remains unearthed by William Little (the remains have been reburied or lost) and concluded that the body was actually Thomson’s, indicating “that Thomson never left Canoe Lake.”

In an essay entitled, “The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson,” published in 2011, Gregory Klages describes how testimony and theories regarding Thomson’s death have evolved since 1917.  Assessing the secondary accounts against the primary evidence, Klages concludes that Thomson’s death is consistent with the official assessment of ‘accidental drowning’. Historians Kathleen Garay and Christl Verduyn state, “Klages’ forensic archival sleuthing does provide for the first time some degree of certainty regarding this event.” Klages expanded on these ideas in a book with a similar name, The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction, published in 2016. He particularly challenges MacGregor’s claims, suggesting MacGregor is guilty of misrepresenting evidence.

 

Map of Canoe Lake sites

 

Click here to listen to Who Killed Gilmour Lumber / Canadian Timber Trilogy Part I

Many of Thomson’s works bare witness to the destruction of Canada’s old growth forest at the hands of the Canadian lumber barons:

 

 

 

 

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Who Killed Gilmour Lumber? / Canadian Timber Trilogy Part I

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The story of the Canadian lumber barons, a foundational Canadian painter, and a hundred year old murder mystery:

 

(There’s a wonderful Freudian slip at 28:20 that I refuse to edit.)

 

 

 

The Gilmour sawmill at Trenton, abandoned at the turn of the century

 

The Dorset History Museum has a most remarkable, interactive online display of the Gilmour Tramway (click here):

 

The Gilmour & Company Mill at Trenton, Ontario

 

 

Power house and jackladder at Dorset, start of the Gilmour tramway on Lake of Bays. Man on far left in brimmed hat is believed to be David Gilmour.

 

The Gilmour Tramway

 

The Trenton Gilmour Band

 

Map of the Gilmour Tramway

 

Algonquin Park

 

The Gilmour camp at Tea lake

 

The Gilmour Mill at Mowat on Canoe Lake

 

Gilmour & Company train

 

David Gilmour with family (David Jr,, Carolina, Baby Helen and Marjory c 1899 at the Propect House on Dundas street, Trenton, Ontario

 

To distinguish logs, each company registered an identifier with the Canadian government and stamped the end of their logs with the brand. Gilmour used a G or Diamond G.

 

Me and my daughter on Canoe lake.

 

 

A Canoe lake Gilmour “cottage” as it stands today:

 

Maps provided by a friend:

 

Click here to listen to Who Killed Tom Thomson / Canadian Timber Trilogy Part II

Music from Canadian Timber Trilogy: How could it NOT be The Band? They clearly were the reincarnation of The Gilmour Fire Brigade Band:

 

The Trenton Gilmour Fire Brigade Band and The Band

 

Across The Great Divide:

 

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WHO KILLED DIANE THIBEAULT?

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There’s an incredible piece of investigative journalism by Nicolas Berube in today’s La Presse on the 1975 murder of Diane Thibault.  Recall that Thibault was covered in the Who Killed Theresa? podcast, Intro To Loco Part II.   What follows is an English translation of the article. You can read it in French by visiting La Presse’s website ( here ):
WHO KILLED DIANE THIBEAULT?

Diane Thibeaut

The body of a 25-year-old woman found in flames on a vacant lot in downtown Montreal. An ex-lover who confesses to having committed the crime. A passionate about unresolved issues who wonder why, more than 40 years later, the murder of Diane Thibeault remains unsolved.

NICOLAS BÉRUBÉ
THE PRESS

MONTREAL, AUGUST 1975   A BODY ON FIRE

Jean Brisson is on his bike near his home in downtown Montreal, when he sees a box on fire in the dim light, in the middle of a vacant lot.

“I wanted to stop it,” he said. There was an abandoned house not far away and I did not want the house to catch fire. “

Laying down his bike, the 16-year-old sneaks into the hole of an old fence, at the corner of St. Dominique Street and Dorchester Boulevard, and approaches the flames.

“I fired at the boxes. This is where I saw the legs. In panic, the teenager goes to warn the police.

Smoke still emerges from the corpse upon the arrival of Agent Roy and Agent Lemieux of the Montreal Police. The body of the victim, a woman, is naked from the waist down, and the police find that a piece of burning wood is embedded in her vagina. It is 4:30 in the morning, Saturday, August 2, 1975.

The victim is Diane Thibeault. She is 25 years old, hair dyed black, skin pale. She is wearing a partially burnt blue sweater with yellow stripes on the sleeves. Close to the body, the police found a jute hat, two scattered shoes, a comb and a purse containing $ 26.40 in cash (the equivalent of more than $ 125 in today’s dollars). Diane Thibeault has essentially the constitution of a child:  measuring 1.5 m and weighs 37 kg.

According to police officers, the victim was beaten to death before someone set fire to the body. “The victim was sexually assaulted,” says Agent Roy in his report. “Bruises to the face. Strangulation mark on the neck. “

It was daylight at 6:10 am when J. Fortin, an employee of Alfred Dallaire, arrived with his truck to pick up the corpse.

The investigators assigned to the case of the murder of Diane Thibeault do not make any arrests in the last months of 1975. Neither in 1976. Nor in 1977. In 1978, more than three years after the crime, the police will meet a suspect.

MONTREAL, APRIL 2018

MACABRE THEATER

The murder of Diane Thibeault was the subject of a recent episode of the Who Killed Theresa? Podcast, which focuses on unresolved crimes in Quebec.

In this episode, facilitator John Allore explains the details of the investigation into the death of Diane Thibeault, for whom he had requested and received a copy of the coroner’s report, archived at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).

“Where and when Diane Thibeault was killed is not clear,” says Allore in his podcast. But the investigators deduced that the killer returned to the scene, around 4 am, to set fire to the body. “

For John Allore, the unsolved crimes have a personal resonance: his sister, Theresa, was missing and found dead in the Eastern Townships in 1979, at the age of 19, an unsolved crime. John Allore was 14 years old when it happened. He has since become interested in these tragic stories, often forgotten by the media and the general public.

In reviewing the documents on Diane Thibeault, Mr. Allore realized that in 1978, three years after the murder, a man named Edmond Turcotte, a former Diane Thibeault lover, confessed to the police officers being the author of the sordid murder. But 42 years later, the crime remains unpunished. The person who killed Diane Thibeault was never sentenced.

Wanting to learn more about the murder of Diane Thibeault, La Presse wrote to Mr. Allore to ask him if he was ready to share the coroner’s report.

A few hours later, a 61-page PDF document appeared in our inbox.

It describes the smallest details about the state of the victim when she was found. Her neck has “significant marks of traumatic violence in the form of ecchymotic erosion,” wrote on August 2, 1975 Dr. André Lauzon, forensic pathologist. Burns on the body “would have been inflicted after the death of the victim, or in the agonic period,” he notes.

The document also contains all the statements that Edmond Turcotte made to the investigators, a story that reads like a macabre play narrated by his main character.

Coincidentally, it says that the detective sergeant who questioned Turcotte was Jacques Duchesneau. Detective Sergeant, 29 years old at the time, Mr. Duchesneau later became Director of the Montreal Police, then Member of Parliament for Saint-Jérôme from 2012 to 2014 under the banner of the Coalition Avenir of Quebec.

I do not know why this testimony did not lead to the conviction of Edmond Turcotte,” writes Mr. Allore.

MONTREAL, 1978

“SEEKING EDMOND TURCOTTE”

It was not the investigators who found the witness, it was the witness who found the investigators.

In November 1978, more than three years after the violent death of Diane Thibeault, 47-year-old Roger Moreau, who works as a laborer at the Miron quarry, sits down with investigators from the Montreal police. We do not know why he decides to speak at this moment.

He explains that he is the brother-in-law of a man named Edmond Turcotte, and recounts having met Diane Thibeault four weeks before his death.

“The first time I saw her was at my mother’s house,” says Moreau. My mother said to me, “This is Diane, my tenant.”

Mr. Moreau remembers Diane Thibeault shaking his hand. The young woman was “petite” and had “red-red” hair.

During this first conversation, Diane asks him if he knows Edmond Turcotte.

“Yes, yes, it’s my brother-in-law,” says Moreau.

Diane asks him. “If you see Edmond, don’t tell him I’m here because he promised me he was to give me a beating …” Mr. Moreau promises to say nothing.

Then, a few days later, Edmond Turcotte arrives at his brother-in-law’s place, at 6225, Chambord Street, in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.

“[Edmond] was pretty hot,” recalls Moreau. The two men go out to the tavern.

While drinking, Mr. Turcotte asks him if he knows Diane Thibeault. He adds, “It looks like I got her pregnant,  and the damn thing, if I see her, she’s going to catch one,  she’ll remember it for the rest of her life…”

Roger Moreau says he saw Diane Thibeault one last time a week later. It was in Saint-Hubert Street, near Saint-Zotique Street. She was with Edmond Turcotte. The two were kissing each other.

“Diane said to me,” Hello, Roger. “I said,” Are you all right, you two? “They kissed again and continued [to walk]. […] I never saw her again, and I never saw Edmond Turcotte either. “

In the days following the murder, Roger Moreau sees Diane Thibeault’s photo in the newspapers. After a moment’s hesitation, he decides to call the police from a payphone.

“I called at post 18. I said,” Sir, if you’re looking for Diane, look for Edmond Turcotte. “” Then he hung up.

APRIL 2018

“THAT IS A SPECIAL”

Although more than four decades have passed since the murder, Jacques Duchesneau remembers Diane Thibeault’s record.

“I remember pictures,” he says. It was abominable. Even though I’ve been to homicides for a long time, that’s a special thing … “

On the phone, Mr. Duchesneau explains to me how the investigation of Edmond Turcotte took place. To refresh his memory, he has in front of him his notebooks, notebooks which he has meticulously preserved throughout his career. “The investigators, we have what are called” diaries “. We write everything we do every day. I searched, and I found it. “

At the time, few police were assigned to the homicide division, he recalls. “I look at that, the days before, the days after, I had a murder, I made an arrest in another murder, we had a policeman who had shot someone, it’s me who did investigation. We were pretty busy … “

Mr. Duchesneau and his colleague Bernard Gagnon arrested Edmond Turcotte in November 1978.

“Turcotte was a cook at New Spiro’s restaurant at 175 Peel Street. It was in a basement, a small restaurant in a factory. That’s where we went to stop him. Then he showed us places, addresses. He had come with us. “

At approximately 9 pm on November 15, Jacques Duchesneau and Bernard Gagnon drove Turcotte to the Sûreté du Québec headquarters on Parthenais Street in Montreal. He was then subjected to a polygraph test.

“At 1:15 in the morning, Parthenais call us to tell us that Turcotte has made a statement. He is brought back to the office and interrogated the next day. “

Edmond Turcotte decides to tell everything.

“The meeting lasts all morning,” said M. Duchesneau. It was a free and voluntary declaration. Then the coroner asked the questions … [Turcotte] was never beaten, he never had any promises, he was just afraid of the police … He asked for a coffee, he was given a coffee. He was very cooperative. “

NOVEMBER 1978

“I CONTINUED TO STRIKE HER”

In his testimony given to the police on November 16, 1978, Edmond Turcotte spares no detail.

Edmond Turcotte is 29 years old. He lives in an apartment on Larante Street in LaSalle. He says that on Friday, August 1, 1975, the day before the murder, he went to “drink a large 50” at Cabaret Rodeo, on Saint-Laurent Boulevard.

“I got there in the morning, around 10 am, 11 am,” he says. I was sitting at a table all day. “

The Rodéo cabaret was a well known place in Montreal: it was there that Michel Tremblay set the action of his play Sainte Carmen of the Main, published in 1976, about a Quebec singer who returns to sing in French in cabarets from Montreal after visiting Nashville.

Towards dinner time, Diane Thibeault arrives at the Rodeo and sits at Edmond Turcotte’s table.

According to Turcotte, Diane Thibeault drank “six or seven” big Labatt 50 beers during the evening. Edmond Turcotte explains that he himself drank “strong drinks, such as [gin] Beefeater, cognac, these things”.

People sit at their table, but Edmond does not remember them anymore. “I had too much drink. Because when I take too much drink, I mix, and I see no more. That’s why afterwards, if I do things, I do not realize it. “

Detective Sergeant Jacques Duchesneau asks him, “Do you remember how Diane Thibeault was dressed that night when she came to sit at your table? “

“I just remember her hat, there, and her shoes. “

Around 2 am, Diane Thibeault and Edmond Turcotte leave the Rodeo.

“We left to get a room for the night. It was towards St. Catherine Street. Then we rented the room. “

In the bedroom, a fight breaks out.

“We bickered about the child. Because she said that the next day she wanted to go see her child [at her brother’s in Saint-Jerome], and I wanted to go with her. And she said no. She wanted to hit me with the lamp, but I took it away, but trying to take off the lamp, there was a glass on the desk, I hit it, and it broke. There, I took the glass and I gave her a blow in the neck, with the glass. She fell, and I continued to hit her. The more she tried to defend herself, the more I hit her with fists and kicks. “

Edmond Turcotte explains having then “descended [the body] down”.

“I think that when I transported her, she was dead, she was quite soft. I think that when I took her down, her top was torn. Outside, I dropped her somewhere, I do not know where …  and I took some branches, a pebble or a stone, to put them into her vagina. Because I calculated that she had done enough for me. There, I told myself she will do no more trouble to anyone. […] However, I do not remember setting fire to her. “

Turcotte says he then left “in another direction”.

The week following these statements, Turcotte returns to his confession. He says he lied when he told the police about the murder. The coroner, who was laying criminal charges at this time, does not let this new development influence his decision.

He declares :

“Monsieur Turcotte, do you want to get up? After hearing the evidence before me this morning regarding the death of Diane Thibeault, I have no other verdict to make the following verdict: Diane Thibeault died a violent death on August 2, 1975, death for which you, Edmond Turcotte, must be held criminally responsible. “

APRIL 2018

“THAT IS, LIFE, EH? “

On the phone, Jacques Duchesneau says he does not know how the case progressed after the confession of Edmond Turcotte.

“I do not know if he was charged … I would have to dig deeper into my notes. In my opinion, he was charged. Otherwise, sometimes, it has nothing to do with police action, sometimes it’s with the body … You should go see the books at the court, you could see that … By the way, what angle did you want to take [with this story]? “

The plumitif is the register of the court. Anyone who has been charged is registered.

In the case of Edmond Turcotte, born September 17, 1949, there are five charges for various offenses, the most recent of which is a charge of theft in Joliette, in 1997, for which the decision was withdrawn.

There is also one count for murder, filed on November 24, 1978.

The lawyer who defended Edmond Turcotte is called Réal Charbonneau, and he still practices today.

On the phone, Mr. Charbonneau explains that he no longer remembers the appearance or personality of Edmond Turcotte. But he remembers the trial very well.

“Chance helped me a lot,” he says. The judge was Judge André Biron, a good lawyer. I had an incredible chance. I will remember it all my life! “

The case was based on Edmond Turcotte’s statement to detective sergeants Duchesneau and Gagnon.

“My cross-examination focused on the police conduct in obtaining this statement,” says the lawyer.

It is a comment by Judge Biron that changed the course of the trial, he recalls.

Mr. Charbonneau wanted to have a psychiatrist testify. “The psychiatrist had put in the file that Edmond Turcotte was  slightly deficient – that’s my term. He was a little light at the intellectual level. “

Before the judge, Crown Attorney Christiane Béland, skeptical, had launched: “Well, yes, yes, deficient, deficient, deficient …”, remembers M Charbonneau.

The judge replied: “You do not know that, you, the defectives. I know that. I took care of that, defending those people who are used in freak shows … “

At that time, there was exploitation of the intellectual handicapped in shows in cabarets, says Me Charbonneau. “I do not know the exact term, but they called it freak shows. “

In his experience, Judge Biron was not convinced that Turcotte had made incriminating statements freely and voluntarily. He had refused to admit them into evidence.

At 9:35 am on May 14, 1979, Edmond Turcotte was acquitted of the murder of Diane Thibeault.

In his article on the acquittal, two days later, La Presse writes:

“Clearly mental deficiency, Turcotte was led to” confess “after prolonged detention during which he would have eaten only toast or sandwiches and during which he would also have been tested with a polygraph. At first, he would have denied everything, but put in front of some “reactions” of the machine, he would have changed his version. “

Le Devoir writes that Judge Biron reproached the police officers “for having established the instruction that the accused should not receive any telephone call or visit without their consent with, as a result, that Turcotte’s lawyer a triple refusal to see his client during the same day. […] Unlike the law of coroners, Turcotte had not appeared within 24 hours of his arrest and the investigators had taken advantage of a coroner’s warrant to question him. […] The judge considers that these statements [are not admissible], whether or not they reflect the truth “.

At the end of the line, Mr. Charbonneau explains that things sometimes turn so in a court.

“That’s it, life, huh? I do not think that the police put eight investigators to find another accused after that … He was acquitted, he was acquitted … If he had been another judge, who had not had that experience, he might have had a different attitude on the perception of facts. All this is chance. It is providence. “

Contacted again for comments on the acquittal of Edmond Turcotte and the judge’s remarks about his work and that of his colleague, Jacques Duchesneau did not call La Presse.

MAY 2018

“I NEVER FORGOT THIS”

The last known address of Edmond Turcotte is located on Adam Street, in Sainte-Julienne, near the city of Rawdon, in Lanaudière. Listed in the court register  the address dates from 1997, the year of the last charge filed against him.

There is no rue Adam in the small municipality of Sainte-Julienne, but there is a street Aram. The address is that of a well-kept mobile home with children’s toys on the ground. Nobody was home when we were there. The neighbors with whom we spoke had never heard of a man named Edmond Turcotte. His name is not found in the register of residents of the municipality of Sainte-Julienne.

Jean Brisson, the teenager who discovered Diane Thibeault’s corpse more than 40 years ago, still lives in downtown Montreal.

Today, aged 58, Mr. Brisson explains that if he was cycling on the night of August 2, 1975, it was because his father had died the year before, and that there were  no rules at home.

“I was out late at that time,” he said. At home, we did not have what we wanted. “

The land where he found Diane Thibeault’s body is no longer vacant: an apartment tower was erected there. Even the boulevard has changed its name: Dorchester Boulevard became René-Lévesque Boulevard in 1987.

The atmosphere is no longer the same in the neighborhood, he says.

“At that time, there was a lot of action … When people had problems, it was dealt with in the street, bing, bang …”

Mr. Brisson says he sometimes thinks about the body he saw under the burning cartons in the summer of his 16th birthday.

“I was so nervous … It’s not something you forget. I never forgot that. “

————————

MONTREAL
804 UNRESOLVED HOMICIDES SINCE 1980
NICOLAS BÉRUBÉ
THE PRESS
Since 1980, 2023 homicides have occurred on the territory of the island of Montreal. Of this number, 804 are unresolved.

Pascal Côté, commander of the major crime section of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), explains that it is generally after three years that an investigation into a homicide becomes a “cold case”.

“After three years, a homicide case is not closed, but there are no active proceedings, unless we have scientific evidence that is brought to us, or that a witness decides to collaborate with the police, he says. Then we will assign investigators to the file, we will reactivate the investigation. “

THREE CASES DISPLAYED ON THE SPVM WEBSITE

Of the 804 unsolved cases in Montreal, only 3 cases are posted on the SPVM website. “We have a fourth in preparation. We do not want to flood the site with files, we try to target those who are most likely to succeed, “says Commander Côté.

There are several reasons why a homicide may be unresolved. “In Montreal, there is a large floating population. A little less than 2 million people live on the island, but it rises a lot on weekdays and some evenings on the weekends. “

“There are also several murders committed by organized crime. We are talking about seasoned killers, and it is sometimes more difficult to arrive with accusations. “

– Pascal Côté, commander in the major crimes section of the SPVM

Investigative techniques have also evolved considerably, so that the oldest crimes are more difficult to resolve as the years go by. “The requirements of the preservation of evidence at the time were not the same as today. Just in terms of DNA, in the 1960s, we did not even talk about that. As a result, the samples and evidence were not retained. “

A RESOLUTION RATE OF 72%

As for the homicide resolution rate, compiled by Statistics Canada from police data, it has actually been 72% in Montreal since 1980, says Commander Côté.

“When an unsolved crime is solved, it changes the resolution rate of the current year, not the year the crime occurred. In summary, from 1980 to 2018, we have a solution rate of 72%. “

The number of homicides is in constant decline in Montreal: 22 murders occurred on the island last year, the lowest number since the statistics for the whole island began to be compiled, he 46 years ago. In the early 2000s, there were often more than 50 murders reported in a year in Montreal, and frequently more than 80 a year in the 1980s.

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Longueuil, Nathalie Boucher, and the Warder of the Brain / WKT2 #18

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The first mystery is, How Do You Pronounce It?  L-O-N-G-U-E-U-I-L.  I’ve heard many Anglos use “Longelle”, but it’s actually “Longay”.

Longueuil is part of what’s known as the “South Shore” of Montreal, though when I look on it on a map, it’s kind of East to me. Taking the Champlain or Jacques Cartier bridges, you cross off the island of Montreal, across the Saint Lawrence river and now you’re in Longueuil. It’s reputation is kind of shady and industrial, although I’ve only been there once myself. At Section Rouge Media, and the archives of Allo Police.

Longueuil is where Sharron Prior was found beaten, suffocated and raped, on April 1st, 1975 in a field at Chemin du Lac and Guimond blvd. by the beekeeper, Jacques Bertrand. It’s where -exactly two years and one day later – the unidentified body of a woman was found – again on chemin du Lac – on April 2nd, 1977 wrapped in a green and white blanket. Decades later she would be identified as Johanne Lemieux.

Longueuil is where on May 2, 1975 the bodies of Diane Dery and Mario Corbeil were discovered in a field near the Saint Hubert airport, both shot by a .22 caliber pistol, almost certainly by a member of the Canadian military stationed at CFB St. Hubert. And it is is where Stéphane Luce’s mother, Roxanne Luce was found beaten to death in her apartment on April 2nd, 1981.

In terms of investigations Longueuil is the last stop on the Quebec criminal justice train. I have long railed against the failures and incompetences of the Surete du Quebec. But apparently compared to the Longueuil police I have been receiving Cadillac services. People actually lobby the Quebec Ministry of Public Security to have their Longueuil causes taken up by the Surete du Quebec. The family of Sharron Prior did it. As late as last Friday Stephane Luce was still doing it, he texted me from Montreal:

“Guess where I am? The SQ Parthenais…”

“About your mother?”

“Ya.”

“Are they gonna take on her cold-case?”

“Don’t know. I showed up unannounced”

“You’ve got balls.”

Recall that one family was successful in such endeavors. The Derys, who in 1979 managed to convince Quebec Justice that the Longueuil Police were a lost cause:  the Dery / Corbeil investigation is now one over over 600 cold-cases in the portfolio of the Surete du Quebec.

The practices of Longueuil police / Longueuii justice are a true mystery. This is from the December 16th, 2015 edition of the Montreal Gazette:

Seven brothers from a South Shore family were charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting four women, some of whom were minors, as long as 50 years ago.

The acts allegedly took place in Longueuil between 1957 and 1976, and the men were arrested on Tuesday.

All seven men, who now range in age from 59 to 71 years old, face sexual assault charges stemming from when they were minors. Those charges, which deal with acts allegedly committed between 1957 and 1973, will be handled in youth court.

Either we are still waiting for this process, or it was dealt with quietly “off camera”, or the defense ran the clock, and everything got dismissed. We may never know.

 

Jenique Dalcourt

 

If such casualness and indifference seems normal for Quebecers (I can assure you that no one has lifted a finger and questioned, “Hey? What happened with those brothers” ), notice the reaction from an outsider when they came up against the Longueuil justice system. Here I am referring to the October 21st 2014 murder of Jenique Dalcourt, beaten to death with a blunt instrument on a bike path in Vieux-Longueuil. This is the reaction from her grieving father, John Gandalfo who lives in New York:

“I heard on the news the suspect was 26-year-old, I get more from the news than with authorities. As a parent you want answers.”

Welcome to the club, Mr. Gandalfo, you may not have wanted to join it, but we’re glad you’re here anyway.

Like a lot of homicides in Longeueil, Jenique Dalcourt’s remains unsolved. In fact I’m having a hard time remembering the last time they cleared a stranger homicide. Maybe this one I recently dug up, but then the offender came right into the police headquarters and confessed to the crime:

Myriam Valois

34-year-old Myriam Valois vanished in January 1992. She lived with her parents. She liked to go clubbing with her friends along the bars of “the Main” in Montreal’s East-End. La Presse reported that Myriam had a “mental handicap”.

 

Myriam Valois

 

The morning of January 23rd, a man was walking his dog in a field behind 2399 de la Province in an industrial section of Longueuil when he made the grim discovery. She was found clothed, wearing blue jeans, a pink vest and black ski jacket. Later a citizen found a sports back sack containing Myriam’s belongings near Guimond. Valois was beaten severely with a blunt instrument, then crawled about 100 feet. Longueuil detective Serge Fontaine suspected several suspects, and the use of a vehicle.

One year later, one suspect walked into the Longueuil police headquarters and made this stunning revelation:

“I can’t live with myself anymore with this. I don’t sleep anymore, I want to see a detective about the crime of the girl in the industrial park…”

25-year-old Sebastien Rochette then met with detective Serge Fontaine and gave his full confession. He said that he knew Myriam Valois, they both suffered from mental handicaps. He had met her several times at the Midway bar on boule Saint-Laurent and on “the Main” in Montreal. On January 17th 1992 they went to a motel together on rue Saint-Hubert to have sex. Valois drank alcohol. Rochette consumed cocaine. The adventure went on for two days.  Finally he drove her back to Montreal. But before getting on the Jacques Cartier bridge he made a turn on 2399 de la Province. Once there he beat her with a hammer several times to the head. Valois crawled about 40 meters before succumbing to her injuries. In the snow the police found the tire markings of a 1984 Toyota Camry, the same make of vehicle driven by Rochette. Sebastien Rochette was charged with first degree murder.

A lot of questions in this case, but for now they will need to remain unanswered. My point being that sometimes these matters are connected, and sometimes they are self contained.

Nathalie Boucher

 

 

Let’s jump back a decade and examine the 1985 Longueuil murder of Nathalie Boucher. This is another one of these cases lost to time. You would need to dig pretty hard in order to find any information about it.

Eighteen-year-old Nathalie Boucher was described as a model student and an exemplary young woman. She attended the CEGEP Edouard Montpetit in Longueuil, and lived with her mother in an apartment complex at 385 place de la Louisane, near route 132 / boule Saint Charles / Taschereau interchange. On the evening of Tuesday June 4th Nathalie planned to meet two friends at the Club / Discotheque La Moustache, which was located on rue Closse in the Atwater region of Montreal.

CEGEP Edouard Montpetit

 

Nathalie promised her mom she would be home by one one A.M.  Getting home would require a metro and a bus ride; the metro from the Atwater station to the Longueuil terminus, and then a bus from the terminus to the stop along the interchange. From there is was less than 1,000 feet walk across the viaduct to the apartment complex.

 

La Moustache

 

 

The morning of June 5th, 1985 Nathalie’s body was discovered in the bushes near rue Saint-Charles and Taschereau, 800 feet from her home. From her 4th floor apartment window Nathalie’s mother could watch the police process the crime scene.

 

 

Nathalie had been brutally beaten, raped and strangled to death. Even worse, the coroner determined that Nathalie was probably keep alive intentionally for 2 to 3 hours so the offender could slowly mete out his punishment. Beating and kicking her, investigators believed the force and determination of the offender must have been astounding, measured, and cruel.

In this era, as I think I’ve demonstrated, there could have been any number of offenders responsible for such horrible acts.  Exactly one year later two young women were attacked in the parking garage at the Longueuil terminus, and the press wondered if there might be a connection to Boucher. In these instances the man managed to get away, but left his jacket behind containing all his identification. Twenty-five year old Michel Larocoque was charged, and hopefully sentenced.

 

 

I possess a small case file on the Boucher investigation. I just never wrote about it did not appear to be connected to any case for which I had interest.

Nathalie Boucher

 

But there is one case that reminds me of Boucher, and what appears to connect them is the level of violence and a geographic location. 

Two years later, in August 1987 sixteen-year-old Sophie Landry was last seen at the Longueuil bus terminus. Her body would be found stabbed 172 times in a field North of Montreal in St. Roch de l’Achigan. Guy Croteau eventually was arrested and is serving a life sentence.

Now in 2002, the Surete du Quebec released several photos of Croteau and asked members of the public to come forward if they had any information that could tie Croteau to other sexual assaults and murders.

One person did. In a 2004 Gazette article by James Mennie a woman named “Jeanette” came forward with the following assault from 1977:

“I was coming back from the Longueuil métro station to where I live,” she said. “I decided to walk rather than take the bus. It was about a 15-minute walk.”

It was also a walk that took her from the subway across an overpass that spans Taschereau Blvd. and, as she paced across the bridge in the twilight, Jeanette looked back and noticed what appeared to be the figure of a man standing by a blue glass building. She resumed walking and was about three-quarters across the overpass when she sensed “a very light touch … like a draft.”

“So I whipped around and this guy had his hand right up the back of my skirt. … I was just enraged to see him. I started showering abuse on him … and then bashing him. I had a very heavy purse and I swung at his head.

“After I yelled at him, the strangest thing is he looked as if he was going to cry. … He turned around and began to run. I began to chase him.”

She chased him?

“I don’t know. I was just so mad.”

Note that like Landry and Boucher, “Jeanette” was using the Longueuil metro. Also not that like Boucher, “Jeanette” had to cross boule Taschereau.  

 

 

In 1977 did Guy Croteau attempt to assault “Jeanette” at the same location where Nathalie Boucher would be murdered almost 10 years later?  Croteau would have been about 21 years old at the time. “Jeanette” seems to think so:

Jeanette put the incident behind her for eight years, even though she’d shake when she talked about it, until an 18-year-old girl was found raped and killed in a ditch that runs parallel to the overpass.

Nathalie Boucher’s body was found less than 300 metres from her Longueuil home. As of yesterday, her killing remained unsolved. “I always felt it was the same guy who did it,” Jeanette says. “That he decided to get it right this time.”

Now for me, this is the most extraordinary part about all of this. In researching this post I got really excited, “OMG, this is amazing, no one knows about this! etc..”

But when I looked closer I found that someone had already reported on all of this. It was me. In a 2004 blogpost I wrote about all of it Landry, Croteau, Nathalie Boucher, “Jeanette”.  I wrote about it and then, along with everyone else, I forgot about it. 

Ten years later, by the time I found the casefile on Boucher at Allo Police in 2014 I had forgot everything I had done.

You can find that original blogpost here (click)

So maybe Guy Croteau murdered Nathalie Boucher. There is another possibility that I’m putting out there; we’re late in the game with these cases, so all things must be attempted. 

In that casefile there are several photos of a man who is not identified. He doesn’t appear to be law enforcement (too casually dressed), the photos appear like the photographer was surveilling him. If anyone can identify this man please contact me or the police:

Update:  Guy with cigarette is the journaliste, Claude Poirier:

 

Once again, a colleague did some pretty brilliant maps:

 

 

Diane Dery et Mario Corbeil – May 20, 1975 / WKT2 #17

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Le 20 mai 1975, vers 20 h 15, Diane Déry, 13 ans, et Mario Corbeil, 15 ans, quittent la résidence de Diane afin de faire une promenade en motocyclette dans un champ situé à proximité du boulevard Rolland-Therrien, à Longueuil. Voyant que les jeunes ne sont pas revenus, des membres de la famille des deux adolescents effectuent des recherches dans le secteur au cours de la soirée et durant la nuit.

Le lendemain matin, vers 7 h 20, les policiers découvrent Diane Déry et Mario Corbeil sans vie dans un boisé situé à l’extrémité du boulevard Rolland-Therrien. L’analyse de la scène démontre que les deux jeunes ont été assassinés.

Allo Police, 5 août 1979 par Jaques Durand

Après 4 ans et sans résolution, le père de Diane Dery, Jaques Dery demande au ministre de la Justice de l’époque, Marc-André Bedard, que l’affaire soit retirée à la police de Longueuil et transférée à la Sûreté du Québec.

En 1975, les Derys habitent au 1145, rue Bizard à Longueuil. Ils ont depuis déménagé à Saint-Célestin (Nicolet). Il travaillait dans une station-service, sa femme tenait la petite cantine à l’intérieur.

Les parents de Maro Corbeil, de M et Mme Maurice et de Françoise Corbeil ont continué de vivre à Longueuil, rue Boucher. L’avocat de Dery dans l’affaire était Guy Houle.

Un récit des événements des 20 et 21 mai 1975

C’était un mardi, une belle journée. Les parents de Mario lui ont donné une petite motocylette en cadeau. Mario a passé de nombreuses heures à en profiter, donnant des tours à sa famille et ses amis. Le dernier trajet était réservé à une petite amie, Diane Dery. Les familles ne les reverraient plus jamais vivant.

Map of Dery / Corbeil murders

Le lendemain, mercredi 21 mai, les corps ont été découverts dans un champ près de l’aéroport de Saint-Hubert. Mario avait été battu, puis abattu six fois avec un pistolet de calibre 22. Diane avait reçu une balle dans la tête avec le même pistolet de calibre. Elle a été agressée sexuellement et son corps a été placé sur celui de Mario. Les corps ont été placés de manière à suggérer qu’ils avaient une relation sexuelle.

L’affaire a été confiée aux détectives Lacombe et Villeneuve de la police de Longueuil. Une douzaine de personnes ont été interrogées.

Après deux ans, M Jacques Dery a pris la décision de tout vendre et de s’installer ailleurs. La famille avait une nouvelle fille, Manon, et ils voulaient commencer une vie meilleure. Il déménage dans un coin de la province, Saint-Célestin (Nicolet). M Dery est devenu propriétaire d’une station-service le long de la route 20. Il a établi une solide clientèle. Il avait un autre projet en tête: faire sortir toute sa famille de Longueuil dès que possible. M Dery a acheté une maison et, au mois d’octobre, sa famille a déménagé dans ce petit village fort et sympathique.

Le travail était dur, il l’obligeait à travailler sept jours par semaine. Mme Dery, non satisfaite de son mari travaillant seule, a décidé de faire fonctionner une petite cantine à l’intérieur de la station-service. Malgré l’arrangement, il y avait toujours deux questions à répondre: QUI et POURQUOI?

M Dery a continué de communiquer avec les enquêteurs à Longueuil. Les enquêteurs ont continué à communiquer le même message: «Nous soupçonnons quelqu’un, mais nous n’avons pas la preuve.”

Voulant en savoir plus, M et Mme Dery ont rencontré le lieutenant-détective Maurice Lauzon, qui était à la tête de l’homicide de Longueuil. Il a informé le Dery qu’il ne connaissait pas le dossier, mais qu’il se mettrait rapidement à l’épreuve. Il a promis de téléphoner régulièrement à la famille pour leur donner des informations sur l’enquête.

«Il n’a jamais répondu, j’ai laissé des messages, mais il n’a jamais rappelé, c’était toujours moi qui devais téléphoner», a déclaré M. Dery qui a ajouté: «Si la police de Longueuil ne peut rien faire pour faire avancer le dossier, pourquoi? ne peuvent-ils pas le livrer à la Sûreté du Québec? Il n’est pas possible que deux jeunes enfants soient tués si près de chez eux, et ils ne peuvent rien trouver, ce n’est pas possible, peut-être que la Surete du Québec ne pourra pas pour trouver quelque chose non plus, mais nous aurions la satisfaction de savoir que nous avons essayé. ”

Au cours de l’entrevue, qui a eu lieu à l’intérieur de la station-service, alors que M Dery vendait des cigarettes aux clients qui allaient et venaient, son fils pompait du gaz et Manon se reposait sur le comptoir. Quand les choses se sont calmées, le garçon est entré et les enfants sont restés près de leurs parents.

Mme Dery, qui était assise à la fenêtre, a dit: «Après quatre ans, je suis venu à l’accepter, je sais maintenant qu’elle ne reviendra jamais, je l’accepte, mais pourquoi quelqu’un ferait-il cela?

Par l’intermédiaire de leur avocat, Guy Houle, les Dery ont demandé au ministre de la Justice du Québec, Marc-André Bedard, de transférer officiellement l’affaire de la police de la ville de Longueuil à la police provinciale, la Sûreté du Québec. Voici le texte de la requête de M Dery envoyé par l’avocat de Dery, Guy Houle:

“Honerable ministre de la Justice:

Considérant les événements du 20 mai 1975. mon enfant Diane Dery, 13 ans, victime d’un assassin, près de chez nous au 1145, rue Bizard à Longueuil;

Considérant que certaines actions et entreprises de la police municipale de Longueuil ont tenté d’élucider cette enquête, mais aucun résultat concret n’a été donné dans l’étude globale de cette affaire;

Considérant que maintenant, depuis plus de quatre ans, nous avions espéré voir des résultats dans ces affaires;

Considérant que la police municipale de Longueuil, malgré tous les efforts dont elle dispose, ne possède peut-être pas tous les outils nécessaires pour mener une enquête et obtenir des résultats;

Considérant surtout que la police municipale de Longueuil ne se spécialise pas dans ce genre d’enquêtes;

Considérant que la Sûreté du Québec a à sa disposition une escouade d’homicides;

C’est pourquoi les gens ont besoin d’être confiants dans les institutions, et certainement dans la protection de la société contre les assassins qui peuvent marcher librement parmi nous.

Nous soumettons cette demande à l’honorable ministre de la Justice de la province que vous prendrez part à cette affaire conjointement avec la police municipale de Longueuil pour faire la lumière au nom de la justice et de la sécurité publique.

Cette lettre a été envoyée au ministre de la Justice le 5 juillet. 1979. Il a également été envoyé à la police de Longueuil, le député de Nicolet-Yamaska, Me Serge Fontaine, et notre collaborateur à Allo Police, Claude Poirier.

Au moment où nous quittions Saint-Célestin, la jeune fille de Dery, qui jusqu’alors n’avait rien dit: «Aujourd’hui, les gens vont tuer pour deux dollars, nous voulons la justice, et tous savent pourquoi ils l’ont fait.

La famille Dery a souffert. Seront-ils heureux un jour quand ils connaîtront les noms des assassins? Nous l’espérons.

La famille Maurice Corbeil a également quitté sa maison de la rue Boucher à Longueuil. Mme Corbeil s’installe à Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey, elle aimerait continuer à aller en Beauce.

M e Corbeil est parvenue à un accord avec l’enquête. De la police, elle dit: “Nous étions soupçonnés d’être méfiants, je veux l’enquête parce que dans des choses comme ça, nous devons trouver les coupables.” Néanmoins, elle essaie de ne pas penser aux choses horribles: «Je ne veux pas de publicité pour mon fils, et je ne veux pas le regarder, pourquoi voudriez-vous de la publicité pour une telle chose?

Post-scripts:

En novembre 1979, le ministre de la Justice du Québec accepte les demandes des familles et transfère les dossiers à la Sûreté du Québec. Diane Dery et Mario Corbeil sont actuellement répertoriés sur le site Web de la Surete du Québec, toujours en suspens après 43 ans:

Coda: Dans l’article nécrologique de La Presse datant de 1975, on disait que Diane Dery «est morte accidentellement», probablement pour que la famille puisse éviter la honte dans la communauté.

Amazing Journey: Diane Dery and Mario Corbeil – May 20, 1975 / WKT2 #17

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On May 20, 1975, at around 8:15 p.m., Diane Déry, age 13, and Mario Corbeil, age 15, left Diane’s home to go for a motorcycle ride in a field near boulevard Rolland-Therrien in Longueuil. Seeing that the young people had not returned, family members of the two teenagers searched the area during the evening and night.

The next morning, at around 7:20 a.m., the police found the bodies of Diane Déry and Mario Corbeil in a wooded area at the end of boulevard Rolland-Therrien and avenue Vaugeulin. The crime scene analysis showed that the two young people were murdered.

From Allo Police, August 5, 1979 by Jaques Durand

After 4 years and no resolution, the father of Diane Dery, Jaques Dery demanded of the then Quebec Justice Minister, Marc-Andre Bedard that the case be taken away from the investigating force, the Longueuil police, and transferred to the Surete du Quebec.

In 1975 the Derys lived at 1145 rue Bizard in Longueuil. They since moved to Saint-Celestin (Nicolet). He worked at a gas station, his wife ran the small cantine inside.

The parents of Maro Corbeil, M and Mne Maurice and Francoise Corbeil continued to live in Longueuil on rue Boucher. The Dery’s attorney in the affair was Guy Houle.

A recounting of events of May 20th and 21st, 1975

It was a Tuesday, a beautiful day. Mario’s parents gave him a small motocylette as a present.  Mario spent many hours enjoying it, giving rides to his family and friends. The last ride was reserved for a petite ami, Diane Dery. The families would never see them alive again.

The next day, Wednesday, May 21st, the bodies were discovered in a field near the Saint Hubert airport. Mario had been beaten, then shot six times with a 22 caliber pistol. Diane had been shot once in the head with the same caliber pistol. She had been sexually assaulted, and her body was placed on top of Mario’s. The bodies were placed in such a way as to suggest they had a sexual relationship.

Map of Dery / Corbeil murders

The case was turned over to lieutenant detectives Lacombe and Villeneuve of the Longueuil police. A dozen persons were interrogated.

After two years, M Jacques Dery made the decision to sell everything and settle elsewhere. The family had a new daughter, Manon, and they wanted to start a better life. He moved to a corner of the province, Saint-Celestin (Nicolet). M Dery became the proprietor of a gas station along route 20. He established a solid clientele. He had another project in mind: getting his entire family out of Longueuil as soon as possible. M Dery bought a house, and in the month of October his family moved to this small, strong and sympathetic village.

The work was hard, it required him to work seven days a week. Not satisfied with her husband working alone, Mme Dery decided to operate a small cantine inside the gas station. Despite the arrangement, there were always two questions that needed answering:  WHO and WHY?

M Dery continued to communicate with investigators back in Longueuil. Investigators continued to communicate the same message, “We suspect someone, but we do not have the proof.”

Wanting to know more, M and Mme Dery met with lieutenant-detective Maurice Lauzon, who was the head of Longueuil homicide. He advised the Dery’s that he was not familiar with the dossier, but he would get up to speed quickly. He promised to telephone the family regularly to give them updates on the investigation.

” He never responded at all. I left messages, but he never called back. It was always me that had to telephone”, said M. Dery who added, “If the Longueuil police can’t do anything to advance the case, why can’t they turn it over to the Surete du Quebec? It’s not possible that two young children are killed so close to their homes, and they can’t find anything. It’s not possible, maybe the Surete du Quebec won’t be able to find anything either, but we’d have the satisfaction to know that we tried.”

During the interview, which took place inside the gas station, as M Dery sold cigarettes to customers coming and going, his son pumped gas and Manon rested on the counter. When things settled down the boy came inside, and the children stayed close to their parents.

Mme Dery, who was sitting in the window, said “After four years I’ve come to accept it I know now that she’s never coming back. I accept that, but why would someone do that?”

Through their attorney, Guy Houle, the Dery’s made a request to the Quebec Justice Minister Marc-Andre Bedard to officially have the case transferred from the City of Longueuil police to the provincial police, the Surete du Quebec.  Here is the text from M Dery’s request sent through the Dery’s attorney, Guy Houle:

“Honerable Minister of Justice:

Considering the events of May 20th, 1975. my child Diane Dery, age 13, a victim of an assassin, close to our home at 1145  rue Bizard in Longueuil;

Considering that certain actions and enterprises by the municipal police of Longueuil were attempted to elucidate this investigation, but no concrete results were given in the total study of this case; 

Considering that now for more than four years we had hoped to see results in these affairs;

Considering that the municipal police of Longueuil, despite all efforts at their disposal, possibly do not possess all the necessary tools to conduct an investigation and achieve results;

Considering above all that the municipal police of Longueuil do not specialize in these types of investigations;

Considering that the Surete du Quebec has at their disposal a homicide squad;

It’s why the people need to be confident in institutions, and certainly in the protection of society against assassins who may walk free among us.

We submit this request to the honorable Minister of Justice of the Province that you will take a hand in this affair jointly with the municipal police of Longueuil to shed a light in the name of justice and public security.”

This letter was sent to the Justice Minister on July 5th. 1979. It was also sent to the Longueuil police, the Deputy of Nicolet-Yamaska, Me Serge Fontaine, and our collaborator at Allo Police, Claude Poirier.

Just as we were leaving Saint-Celestin, the Dery’s young daughter, who up until then had said nothing offered, ” Today people will kill for two dollars;  We want justice, and all of them know why they did it.”

The Dery family has suffered. Will they be happy one day when they know the names of the assassins? We hope so.

The Maurice Corbeil family also left their home on rue Boucher in Longueuil. Mme Corbeil moved to Saint-Felix-de-Kingsey, she would like to continue to go to Beauce.

Mne Corbeil has come to an accord with  the investigation. Of the police she says,  “We were suspected for being suspicious. I want the investigation because in things like this we must find the culprits.”  Nevertheless she tries not to think of the horrible things:  “I don’t want any publicity for my son, and I don’t want to look at it. Why would you want publicity for such a thing?”

Post-scripts: 

In November 1979, the Justice Minister of Quebec agreed to the families’ requests and transferred the cases to the Surete du Quebec. Diane Dery and Mario Corbeil are currently listed on the Surete du Quebec’s cold case website, still unsolved after 43 years:

Coda: In the La Presse obituary from 1975 it was stated that Diane Dery “died accidentally”, most likely so that the family could avoid shame with the community.

The Nathalie Bergeron Interview – WKT2 #16

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Nathalie Bergeron is the sister of Marilyn Bergeron. Marilyn has been missing since February 2008 when she was last spotted at an ATM by a surveillance camera in Loretteville, Quebec.On this day – Sunday, April 29th, 2018 – we spent the morning talking to Nathalie as her family prepared for a walk in Marilyn’s honor which was held that afternoon in Quebec City.

 

Nathalie Bergeron

 

Flyer for the 2018 walk for Marilyn Bergeron

 

On the morning of February 17, 2008, Marilyn Bergeron (born December 21, 1983), left her family’s home in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, for what she said was a walk. She did not return. An automated teller machine (ATM) security camera in Loretteville recorded her attempting to withdraw money early in the afternoon; she was last seen almost five hours after leaving home at a coffee shop in Saint-Romuald. Many sightings of her have been reported since then, especially in areas of Ontario just outside Quebec, but none have been confirmed.

Quebec City police (SPVQ), who continue to investigate, have theorized that Bergeron committed suicide. Her family, who has put up a reward for information leading to the resolution of the case, believes she may have instead met with foul play. Shortly before her disappearance she had moved back to Quebec City from Montreal, where she told her parents, without being specific, that something had happened there and she no longer felt safe living on her own.

 

Marilyn Bergeron and her sister Nathalie

 

Due to this, and the jurisdictional limitations of the SPVQ, the family has repeatedly petitioned the provincial Ministry of Public Security to order the case file transferred to either the Montreal police or the Sûreté du Québec, both of whom they feel could make more progress; the request has been refused. As a result, they have retained former provincial justice minister Marc Bellemare to press their case. Crime journalist Claude Poirier has also devoted an episode of his Historia series Poirier Enquête to the case.

Marilyn Bergeron’s parents

 

Marilyn Bergeron and her sister Nathalie

 

In 2017 a friend who knew Bergeron in Montreal confirmed that she had grown increasingly fearful and reclusive there in the two months before her disappearance. He said he had asked her if she had been raped or witnessed a crime. She said what had happened to her was “worse” than that, but refused to elaborate.

You may view the entire episode of Poirier Enquete about Marilyn Bergeron here:

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