A man who used a sword to kill two people and seriously injure five others in Quebec’s historic district on Halloween night in 2020 was found guilty by a jury on Friday of two counts of first-degree murder.
A jury convicted Carl Giroud, 26, of the deaths of Francois Duchamp, 56, a museum employee, and Susan Clermont, 61, a hairdresser. Jurors also found him guilty of five counts of attempted murder.
Giroud has admitted to the acts, but his lawyer claims that his client is not criminally liable for a mental disorder and cannot distinguish right from wrong. The Crown objected that the killings were premeditated and that Giroud was aware of his actions that night.
Minutes after the 11 jurors handed down their sentences on the 5th day of their hearings, lawyer Pierre Gagnon said his client had expected a different outcome and would appeal.
“He knows very well that this is a battle that has just ended, but there will be a sequel,” the lawyer told reporters.
According to Crown, Giroud drove from his home north of Montreal with a Japanese-style sword called a katana that had a 76.9-centimeter blade. He wore black jogging pants, black leather boots, a short-sleeved kimono, and a black mask. After arriving in Quebec City, he drove around, before finally parking in front of the Le Chateau Frontenac, in the historic district of the city, and launched his attack.
The case depended on expert testimony from psychiatrists, who presented conflicting conclusions about Giroud’s criminal responsibility.
Dr. Gilles Chamberlain, a psychiatrist who testified in favor of the defense, concluded that Giroud was on the autism spectrum, suffered from schizophrenia, and was delusional and in a state of psychosis on the night of the murders, unable to tell right from wrong.
Chamberlain said the symptoms had been present since Giroud’s early childhood and that the accused had retired to the world of violent video games.
Giroud told the trial that by the age of 18 he had completed a mission that included killing people with a sword, creating chaos, changing the world and encouraging like-minded people – whom he called his “alter egos” – to continue his “mission”. “after his death.
He said he had two competing versions of himself in his head, including a “bad” version that focused on the mission but ceased to exist after the Halloween attacks. He told the court that when he arrived in Quebec City from his home in Ste-Theresa, Quebec, he was frightened and struggled to continue his mission. But in the end, “Bad Carl” took power, he said.
Prosecutors say the acts were intentional, noting that Giroud had spoken to mental health workers in his late teens about using a sword to attack people.
The Crown’s chief expert, psychiatrist Dr. Sylvain Foscher, concluded that Giroud was suffering from a personality disorder and was on a “narcissistic quest” to express his outrage at society, concluding that there were no signs of insane thinking and the accused knew right from wrong.
Fosher said the killer was pursuing a “malicious fantasy” inspired by his imagination and the brutal video games he played. His ultimate goal, said the Crown expert, is to gain fame. He said schizophrenia was unlikely, noting the lack of symptoms at a younger age, which usually precedes the disease. He also found that it was unlikely that “bad Carl” would simply disappear without Giroud taking any medication.
Prosecutor Francois Godin said he was pleased with the sentences.
“We are very happy for the families of the victims, who will be able to turn the page today, and we hope to put some ointment on their wounds,” Godin said.
One of the survivors of the attack, Lisa Mahmoud, told reporters at the courthouse that she wanted the maximum possible sentence for Giroud, whom she described as “very dangerous” and “manipulator”.
“I think that was the best decision I had to make. Thank you very much for their work. This is a good sentence, “Mahmoud said, adding that she was still recovering from her wounds.
“I am still struggling with my injuries, but I am lucky to be here. I will get my life back. I will be very relieved once the sentence is over,” she said.
Clermont’s daughter-in-law, Marie-Claude Veilo, said she was pleased with the verdict after following the trial.
“Society will be protected by this very dangerous individual, but it will not bring us back Susan or Mr. Duchamp,” she told reporters. “But society will be protected.”
Gagnon said there were serious grounds for appeal. Before the jurors handed down their sentences, the judge reprimanded the prosecution for the way he presented the five-hour police interrogation of Giroud, during which the accused spoke only once.
Gagnon said it was inappropriate for the crown to suggest to jurors that Giroud’s silence during questioning was a sign that the accused knew he had done something wrong. In Canada’s criminal justice system, suspects have the right to remain silent, and neither judges nor jurors have to draw conclusions from that silence.
Quebec Supreme Court Justice Richard Grenier has adjourned the sentencing case until June 10, as Canada’s Supreme Court is due to rule next Friday on the constitutionality of successive life sentences for people convicted of multiple murders.
– This report of The Canadian Press was first published on May 20, 2022.
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