Face to face to commit suicide on the A50 | Jano Vincent guilty of murder

In his desperation, Jano Vincent tried to take his own life in the worst possible way: by taking another man to his death. An innocent man died, but the suicide man survived. For using his F-150 pickup as a “weapon” on Highway 50, Jano Vincent was found guilty of murder Thursday.

After three days of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of second-degree murder Thursday at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse. The jurors therefore did not believe Jano Vincent’s theory that he had possibly veered off course after dropping his breathalyzer at his feet. A version that had no basis in the evidence.

The 37-year-old claimed that his life was going “well” in October 2019. He even had “plans for the future,” he said. The jury clearly didn’t believe him. On the contrary, Jano Vincent was on the brink of the abyss: he had money problems and drug use. His ex-partner had a new boyfriend, and his relationship with his parents was ruined by a nagging court dispute.

This is also the delicate task that Crown prosecutors M^e Steve Baribeau and M^e Alexandre Dubois had to accomplish: prove the accused’s suicidal intentions on the day of the collision. The Crown therefore had to lay out, at length and in breadth, all the misfortunes that overwhelmed the accused at the time.

Because it was to try to commit suicide that Jano Vincent got behind the wheel of his F-150 pickup truck that morning. And it was no coincidence that he chose Highway 50, known for its great danger, as cars pass each other at high speed, with no separation in the center.

Robert Campion, who was driving his recreational vehicle, didn’t stand a chance. The 58-year-old man, who was preparing for retirement, died instantly when Jano Vincent suddenly veered out of his lane and hit him head-on going the wrong way near Grenville-sur-la-Rouge. A head-on collision at over 100 km/h. Jano Vincent was seriously injured but survived the collision.

After coming out of his coma, Jano Vincent confessed to his ex-partner that he had tried to commit suicide, she recounted in a key testimony. Then, a few months later, the accused tried to take his own life again. In his “merciless” suicide letter to his parents, he confirmed his true intentions in October 2019. This letter was the centrepiece of the Crown’s evidence.

“Now I am disabled because of you, because I wanted to end my shitty life that you made me live,” wrote Jano Vincent at the time.

On the witness stand, Jano Vincent explained that he wrote the letter to “please” his ex-partner, and even to make her “proud.” “I wrote things that she told me every day,” he told the jury. This version, which the Crown said was implausible, clearly did not convince the jurors.

Crown Prosecutor M^e Steve Baribeau was keen to salute the “conscientious and rigorous” work of the jurors.

“For all the distress and despair that suicide can bring, this verdict also contains an important message for our society. If a person decides to take their own life, they cannot bring a completely innocent victim into their problems and impose that decision on them. The defendant could not bring Robert Campion into his misfortunes and impose his choice to decide to take his own life on him. And that is what the jury condemned,” said Mr.^e Baribeau.

Jano Vincent is automatically sentenced to life in prison. Judge Mario Longpré must now determine a period of ineligibility for parole between 10 and 25 years.