District 31 | When fiction meets reality

Over the past six years, District 31 often came up with plots that, in all likelihood, were inspired by real stories. On a few occasions, the daily series has even outstripped legal and criminal news… Proof that its author, Luc Dionne, is particularly well connected. Here are 10 instances where the show muddyed the waters between fiction and reality.

Marc-Andre Lemieux
The Press

1. Missing Child (Season 1)

Fiction: An 8-year-old boy, Théo Gagnon, disappears. Nadine Legrand (Magalie Lépine-Blondeau) takes over the file. The child’s body is found a few weeks later; after a long investigation, the main suspect, Carl Juneau (Marc Bélanger), is apprehended.

Reality: In 2007, a young girl from Trois-Rivières, Cédrika Provencher, disappeared without a trace. The mystery continues for years, until human remains belonging to him are discovered. In 2018, after the broadcast of District 31, the publication of the methods of investigation reveals striking similarities between Carl Juneau and Jonathan Bettez, the main suspect in the case. Wealthy families, gambling debts, golf, Mr Big operations, child porn, etc.

2. The Wiretap (Season 1)

Fiction: Isabelle (Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc) receives a delicate mission, that of listening to the telephone conversations of the head of internal affairs, who is described as a dirty tongue who “bitches on one and on the other”. She has the impression of being caught up in a power struggle within the staff.

Reality: Two SPVM executives, Chief Inspector Giovanni Di Feo and Inspector Jimmy Cacchione, are being wiretapped because they are said to have disturbing contacts with certain people of bad reputation. New disciplinary reproaches were made to them when they were heard harshly criticizing their director at the time, Marc Parent.

3. The Briefcase Heist (Season 3)

Fiction: Major Chiasson (Gildor Roy) has his briefcase stolen, which he had left lying around in his car. It included his computer and several USB keys containing compromising information. Da-Xia (Cynthia Wu-Maheux) and Pouliot (Sébastien Delorme) are discouraged.

Reality: In 2016, during a party Christmas, Commander Patrice Vilceus’s bag, which he had left in his unmarked company car, was stolen. It includes files from police informants and ongoing investigations. A dozen detective sergeants from the organized crime squad are called to find the precious documents of the high-ranking SPVM officer, reports the Montreal Journal.

4. Bruno’s accident (season 3)

Fiction: During a car chase to catch Yanick Dubeau (Patrice Godin), Detective Sergeant Bruno Gagné (Michel Charette) grabs – and kills – a young girl in the middle of the street.

Reality: In February 2014 in Saint-Hubert, a police officer in the middle of a tail crashed head-on into a vehicle carrying a father and his 5-year-old son. The little one died a few days later in the hospital. The officer was driving at 134 km/h in a 50 km/h zone in an unmarked car. Nine months later, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions indicates that no charges have been brought against the agent.

5. Ayahuasca (season 4)

Fiction: A young man commits a sordid murder, apparently under the influence of ayahuasca, a drink that is illegal to import into Canada except for religious reasons. Poupou (Sébastien Delorme) and Patrick Bissonnette (Vincent-Guillaume Otis) are investigating.

Reality: Winter 2019. Radio-Canada broadcasts a major report on the program Investigation, produced in collaboration with CBC, which delves into the unsuspected world of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic substance from the Amazon. The show fascinated Luc Dionne, who was inspired by it to write one of the plots of District 31.

6. Fatal Fall (Season 5)

Fiction: Léna Pépin (Catherine Larochelle) falls from the balcony of Samuel Gervais (Marc Beaupré) after he has locked her up outside, on her balcony. They had contacted a few hours earlier on Findera dating app (season 5).

Reality: In 2014 in Australia, a woman begs a man she met on Tinder to let her leave her apartment, moments before falling to her death from the balcony. According to the defendant’s lawyer, the victim became aggressive after consuming alcohol during the evening, which is why he locked her outside at 14^and floor of the building. Unveiled at the trial, a recording of the meeting – not very gallant – of 199 minutes made from the telephone of the accused makes it possible to exonerate him.

7. Femicide (season 5)

Fiction: Fresh out of prison, Pascal Puget (Steve Gagnon) kills his ex-spouse, whom he had sexually assaulted and assaulted a few months earlier.

Reality: A wave of feminicides is hitting Quebec in early 2021. There is a marked increase in reports of domestic violence. In March, a seventh femicide in seven weeks was reported.

8. Kratom (season 6)

Fiction: A 23-year-old dies of an overdose of kratom tea. Florence Guindon (Catherine Proulx-Lemay) and Noélie St-Hilaire (Catherine St-Laurent) dig into the case, which will mark the arrival of a shady character, Denis Corbin (Paul Doucet).

Reality: In the spring of 2021, the show Investigation interested in kratom. The report tells us that it is a plant native to Southeast Asia which is not without danger, since it can be addictive. In other words, we are talking about a natural product with effects similar to those of opioids. In Canada, it is legal to consume and buy it, but it is forbidden to sell it.

9. Falsely Accused (Season 6)

Fiction: Patrick Lamy (Philippe Racine) has been languishing in prison for 18 years for a murder he never committed. A lawyer was paid to prevent witnesses from speaking. When he leaves, the man uses the services of Véronique Lenoir (Catherine De Léan) to start legal proceedings.

Reality: January 2021. Mamadi Fara Camara is wrongly arrested for attempted murder of a police officer. His unjustified arrest aroused general indignation when the SPVM’s error was brought to light. In July, Camara decides to sue the DPCP and Montreal for 1.2 million dollars, because of the nightmare he lived through.

10. Arm wrestling at the top (season 6)

Fiction: After a heated encounter with Carl St-Denis (Hugo Dubé), the director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Alexandra Paradis (Éveline Gélinas), accuses the director of the Greater Montreal Police Department of having threatened her. He is then suspended.

Reality: In 2019, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions of Quebec, Ms.^and Annick Murphy, filed a complaint against the man who heads the Sûreté du Québec, Martin Prud’homme, since she felt intimidated during their telephone conversation. Prud’homme is suspended pending the investigation by the Bureau of Independent Investigations. A year later, he learns that no charges have been filed against him.

With the collaboration of Vincent Larouche, Katia Gagnon and Hugo Dumas, The Press