(Laval) A teenager confides his best friend on his feelings for a school girl, but the friend betrays this trust by revealing his secret on social media. It is this banal quarrel between two friends that would have ultimately led to the murder of a 15-year-old teenager last year, in Laval.
“Peter * said he was fucking Justine *. I didn’t like it. It was confidences. He called me a fag “, testified Théo *, who began his defense Thursday in the Youth Chamber of the Laval courthouse.
The now 18-year-old boy is charged with the first degree murder of Max *, Peter’s brother. The 15-year-old died stabbed in a park in the Fabreville district, in Laval, on 1er January 2020. According to the Crown, Theo premeditated the murder of his friend, while he had brought a knife to settle accounts with the victim and his brother Peter. Two other teens took part in the fight.
At the beginning of his testimony Thursday morning, Theo discussed at length the genesis of his conflict with the brothers Max and Peter, a few days before the tragedy. At that time, Theo was 16 years old and playing the popular online game for at least three hours a day. League of Legends. On weekends, he even played “a good eight hours” at this game.
Until the Christmas holidays 2019, Theo played every day with the brothers Max and Peter. They had been his “best friends” for years. The three friends were part of a private group of around 30 on Discord, a popular chat platform used by online video game enthusiasts.
On December 20, Theo spends the evening with the brothers discussing their future. Théo confides in them having feelings towards Justine, a classmate. Then the next day, Peter visits Theo to play games. But on the 22nd, it was astonishment. Peter writes that he “fucks” Justine to everyone in their Discord group.
“I didn’t like it, because it was confidences. And he exposed it to everyone. It was not correct, ”says Theo.
Peter, however, denies having written the message and blames his brother. But Theo refuses to believe him. The two friends then begin to insult each other in writing on the Discord platform. At one point, Peter arrives shouting in a joint call, while Theo is playing with other friends.
“He started screaming. A loud cry. After 15-30 seconds I decided to mute, therefore to mute its sound so that it stops making noise. Thereafter, Peter started to insult me. He called me a fag and other insults, and like what he fucked Justine. I told him: “shut up, stop saying stuff like that”. Afterwards, he was banned, ”continues Theo. Peter is then furious, since he believes that it is Theo who banished him from the group, relates the accused.
A few days later, on the evening of 1er January, Theo and the two brothers had made an appointment at Marc-Aurèle Fortin Park to “settle” their conflict. “I had an idea it could escalate,” Peter testified during the trial. The brothers arrived at the park with three friends, while Theo was alone. One of them, Nick, testified that the original plan was to “all jump” on Theo.
The three key witnesses in the trial – Peter, Nick, and their friend Carl – all delivered conflicting versions of how the brawl unfolded. None of them saw the fatal blow. This week, Peter recounted making the first move towards Theo by grabbing the collar of his coat while his brother – the victim – punched the accused. Peter vaguely recounted seeing Theo holding a knife.
“Blows were given, the majority by [les deux frères]. Theo was more concerned with defending himself than giving back the blows, ”Nick described during the trial. According to this witness, Theo had received about fifteen punches when he brandished his knife. As the two brothers beat the accused, Nick and his friend Carl then entered the fray.
“There, we hit Theo again. We knock him to the ground. If we hit hard, he’ll let go of the knife. He kept struggling with it. It was when he was put on the ground that the knife fell, ”Nick told the police officer.
Théo’s testimony continues Thursday afternoon before Judge Catherine Perreault. The judge also refused this week to admit into evidence the questioning of the accused after his arrest, since his right to a lawyer was violated by investigators. The teenager then pleaded self-defense and claimed to have fallen into an “ambush” set out by his friends.
“My head was ringing, I heard ‘beep’, it looked like I was going to die that day. […] I just wanted to run away for my life. I was scared. I was scared, ”he told the police.
“I’m too stupid. But I didn’t think my best friend was going to do this to me, Daddy. He was my best friend, ”Theo confides to his father at the end of the interrogation. “Who is going to believe one in four people?” », He laments.
Théo is defended by Me Guy Poupart. Me Marie-Ève Vautier represents the public prosecutor.
* Fictitious names to protect the identity of minors involved in this case