The man who killed two people and attacked five others with a sword in Quebec City on October 31, 2020, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Carl Giroud, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Francois Duchamp, 56, and Susan Clermont, 61, by a jury on May 20.
“You took the lives of two people and destroyed the lives of many [more]”Quebec Supreme Court Justice Richard Grenier told Giroud before sentencing.
With a shaved head and an orange shirt, the young man sat motionless, staring at the floor as he listened to statements from his victims’ families.
Speaking via video conference all the way from Paris, Duchamp’s sister, Marie-Jose, gave an emotional account of how her life changed after her brother was killed.
“Sadness overwhelms me every time I think of him,” she testified. “Without him, the world is not so beautiful.”
Family members Francois Duchamp, 56, and Susanne Clermont, 61, wrote statements to express their pain. (Radio Canada)
Clermont’s daughter-in-law, Marie-Claude Veyo, who was present in the courtroom and who was also present every day of the trial against Giroud, took the floor.
“Please listen to me, Monsieur Giroud,” she said with her back to him.
She told him that she hoped he would not cover his ears with his hands while she spoke, something she accused him of doing during the trial to “falsify a mental illness.”
She said Clermont was a generous, loving and cheerful man who enjoyed life and embodied the way of life that Giroud aspired to but never achieved.
She said she was happy that he would go to prison for life and that she hoped he would take the time to reflect on “all the evil” he had done and do some introspective work on himself.
“You will have to stop blaming Bad Carl for your actions,” she said. You will have to accept that you are “Bad Carl”.
Two more of Giroud’s victims were present in the audience, but chose not to make statements about the impact on the victims.
The sentencing hearing lasted just under an hour. The first-degree murder sentence carries an automatic life sentence without parole for 25 years. Neither the defense nor the Crown presented arguments to the judge.
Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled against the so-called parole order, stating that it is unconstitutional to sentence someone to several consecutive parole periods, even if he has killed more people.
Giroud shook his head and remained silent when the judge asked him if he wanted to say something.
Judge Grenier acknowledged that the young man had mental health problems and advised him to seek help while in custody.
The defense files a complaint
Pierre Gagnon, Carl Giroud’s lawyer, filed a complaint Friday morning, just before his client’s sentence was heard. (Emily Warren / CBC News)
Giroud’s lawyer, Pierre Gagnon, filed a complaint against his client’s guilty verdict earlier Friday morning.
“We thought it would be preferable for him not to speak in court today [we] I just went to appeal, “he said.
One of the arguments for the appeal is that the judge does not allow the defense to question a crown expert about his work in a previous case.
Other reasons include the judge’s failure to tell jurors that they should not take certain elements of the testimony into account when discussing.
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