“Institutional delays” hindered Carl Girouard’s access to psychiatric services five years before the murders he committed. This is what a social worker agreed on Tuesday, on the second day of the trial of the author of the saber attack in Old Quebec on Halloween night 2020.
“Despite delusional remarks, traits of obsession, from December 2014 to September 2015 despite all this, Mr. Girouard has not yet met a psychiatrist. […] Why ? “Asked Me Pierre Gagnon in cross-examination Tuesday morning.
The defense lawyer put the question to Charles-André Bourdua, a social worker who had followed the accused for nine months at the time. Was it caused by “institutional delays?” he asked
“Mainly,” retorted the professional, pointing out that other factors came into play, such as the need to “collect information” before his file is processed at the mental health access counter in the Laurentians region.
Mr. Bordua was mandated to assess the risk that Carl Girouard would commit suicide or commit homicide. Normally, his intervention was to last a maximum of three months. However, in court, he explained that he had extended his intervention while waiting for him to move on to another stage of mental health follow-up.
In his cross-examination, Defense counsel also wanted to know why the defendant’s mother had not been informed of what he was saying. During an exchange with another speaker, the mother would have been “surprised” by the remarks made by her son whom she did not see as a young man of the violent type, highlighted the lawyer.
A painful video to watch
The trial, which is in its second day, has not yet made it possible to know what psychological or psychiatric support the accused had access to when his follow-up with Mr. Bordua ended in the fall of 2015, i.e. five years before the attack in Old Quebec.
In this case, the Defense seeks to convince the jury that the defendant cannot be held criminally responsible for the murders he committed on Halloween 2020 due to his mental health issues.
The 26-year-old faces two charges of first degree murder and five charges of attempted murder. Two people — Suzanne Clermont and François Duchesne — perished by his hand, and five others were seriously injured.
The prosecution alleges, for its part, that the killer must be held responsible for his actions which, according to it, were premeditated and planned.
Tuesday morning, she called her third witness, a police officer who analyzed the recordings of the surveillance cameras which documented the movements of the killer on the evening of the attack.
The jury notably had to view images of great violence showing Carl Girouard attacking François Duchesne near the Château Frontenac, while in the room, we heard relatives of the victims sobbing.
Further details will follow.