The person responsible for the killing perpetrated on October 31, 2020 in Old Quebec was already talking about attacking strangers with a suit and a saber in 2014.
This was reported Monday by two social workers who followed him at that time, on the first day of the trial of Carl Girouard, at the Quebec courthouse.
“He confirmed that he had a plan to kill people with a sword and that this plan was going to be to kill people randomly,” said Charles-André Bourdua, a social worker who followed him for nine months between 2014 and 2015. .
Before the jury, Mr. Bourdua said that he did not have sufficient reason to forcefully hospitalize the then 19-year-old young man, because the latter did not say he was ready to take action. The young man said he needed to have a tattoo removed before acting, he said.
In his testimony, the social worker said that Carl Girouard was very concerned about what was in his file. He also regularly offered the speaker to insert his own notes to ensure that the content was faithful to the “vision he had of himself”. “It became a bargaining chip for him to agree to see me again,” said Mr. Bourdua, who finally sent the accused to consult a psychiatrist, a process whose consequences have not yet been explained to the court. court.
The prosecution, which began presenting its evidence on Monday, seeks to demonstrate that the accused was well aware of what he was doing on the evening of October 31, 2020.
Carl Girouard wanted “to make a splash, to change the opinion of others about him,” said prosecutor François Godin before the jury. Mand Godin and his colleagues intend to demonstrate that he had premeditated his action at the end of 2014 and that he had verbalized “what he wanted to do” and “how he was going to do it”.
Before the social worker entered the scene, a psychoeducator from the Center de formation professionnelle des Laurentides, where the defendant was studying at the end of 2014, had sounded the alarm first concerning Carl Girouard.
The young man, who intended to abandon his training, had mentioned an “action” which was to allow him to “create a character”, “take pride” and “confirm his existence”.
In his plan, he was dressed in a black suit and mask and carried a sword. “He wanted to stand out, let people know that he is different from the others,” said the speaker.
Mental health debate
On the night of October 31, 2020, Carl Girouard went to Old Quebec wearing a black suit and mask and attacked strangers with a Japanese sword.
The 12 jurors chosen in his trial will have to determine whether he can be found not criminally responsible for the acts he committed due to mental health problems.
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.
“What is special” in this trial is that the defense “does not deny” that the accused committed the acts of which he is accused, explained judge Richard Grenier to the prospective jurors in the morning. “The debate in this case [porte sur] the mental condition of the accused at the time of the incidents. »
The shaved head, dressed in a shirt buttoned up to the neck, the accused kept his head tilted forward for a good part of the hearing on Monday. The judge demanded that he be present at all times during the trial, which is expected to last four to five weeks.
A 100% vaccinated jury
Much of Monday morning focused on the selection of the jury, which is made up of four men and eight women.
Right off the bat, the judge explained that he would require all jurors to be properly vaccinated. A woman was also excluded from the outset for this reason.
Another lady was excused from her duty as a juror due to health problems; a man, because he has to take care of his sick mother. The head of a daycare center and a tax expert in the middle of tax season were also exempted from their duty, for professional reasons, this time.
The prospective jurors had to say in particular that they agreed with the principle of the presumption of innocence, as well as with the fact that a person could be declared not criminally responsible for a crime because of mental disorder if proven.