A Montrealer who allegedly stabbed an acquaintance to death in a conflict that escalated faces life in prison now that he is charged with second degree murder.
• Read also: A 36th murder committed in Montreal
“He is someone who has no criminal record, he is upset by the situation,” briefly commented Me Alexander Gray, defense, just after Bernie Romantico’s appearance at the Montreal courthouse.
Visibly in shock, the 53-year-old accused was brought before a judge on Wednesday to be formally charged with the murder of Dantes Tolentino Villanueva which occurred on Tuesday in the Saint-Laurent borough.
That day, a conflict allegedly arose between the accused and the victim, outside a business on rue Bégin, near boulevard de la Côte-Vertu.
Then, for reasons yet to be explained to the court, Romantico allegedly grabbed a knife in order to stab the man in front of him.
“[L’assaillant] then fled on foot,” summed up officer Raphaël Bergeron, spokesperson for the Montreal police, shortly after the events.
Detained
The attack was certainly unequivocal since even if the emergency services were quickly called and resuscitation maneuvers were then carried out, the elderly man in his forties died on the spot.
Romantico, for his part, was arrested in the evening.
However, as he is now charged with murder, he will remain detained until further notice.
If he thinks he can be released pending his trial, he will have to apply for it, then try to convince a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec.
If he is found guilty at the end of the proceedings, he will automatically receive life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole before having served a period varying from 10 to 25 years of incarceration.
He will return to court next Monday for further proceedings.