A lawyer watches TV with his partner one evening. This is the very beginning of the pandemic. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. A stranger with a gun appears. Four shots ring out. The lawyer is injured in one leg. Who hired these two assassins? According to the Crown, it is the real estate developer Jean-François Malo.
After four years of delays and countless requests initiated by the accused, the trial of the 45-year-old man finally opened Monday morning at the Longueuil courthouse. Jean-François Malo is charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life, obstruction of justice and intimidation.
The theory of the Prosecution is simple: “Jean-François Malo sent [deux hommes] assassinate Nicolas Daudelin because of his involvement in legal proceedings as civil lawyer for Desjardins,” said Mr.e Crown prosecutor Tian Meng in her opening statement. She teams up with Me Marilyn L’Italien-Leblanc.
The two henchmen, Daouda Dieng and Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye, were sentenced to nine and ten years of detention last year in this case. The judgment is, however, under appeal.
In 2020, Jean-François Malo was entangled in a series of civil disputes for fraudulent acts with Desjardins Assurances Générales. A multi-million dollar affair. A few days before the attack, the Quebec Court of Appeal had ruled against the accused in one of his disputes with Desjardins.
According to the Crown, Jean-François Malo had obtained the victim’s address thanks to a document provided by his lawyer. The document will later be found in a building where the accused’s office is located in Joliette. Also, a photo of the document will be discovered in a cell phone of Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye, the Prosecution argues.
In a preliminary motion to the trial, the Crown argued that Jean-François Malo had in his office a list of people and participants in the judicial system described as enemies. And the name of the victim, Nicholas Daudelin, was there, says the public prosecutor.
After the attack, the prosecution argues, the two attackers went to a home in Brossard to change clothes, then went to Joliette, the stronghold of Jean-François Malo.
In the following days, Daouda Dieng and Jean-François Malo met at the accused’s office in Joliette, according to the Prosecution. They continued to write messages to each other on WhatsApp on various subjects, including money transfers.
Two months later, Jean-François Malo asked one of his accomplices on WhatsApp to come to Joliette or to send Daouda Dieng to “do violence to a bailiff”, alleges the Prosecution. “In conversation, [le complice] says that he will be there and that he will lead the fight alongside the accused,” said the Crown prosecutor.
“He feels it’s the end”
“March 26, 2020, a day forever engraved in the memory of Nicholas Daudelin,” says Me Tian Meng in her opening statement. His summary of the attack paints a terrifying scene.
That evening, the civil lawyer watches television with his partner in their residence in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. When the doorbell rings, Nicholas Daudelin goes to the door, but does not open it. A stranger calls him by his first name and tries to get him out.
Nicholas Daudelin orders the stranger to leave immediately. A second intruder then appears with a gun in his hand. Nicholas Daudelin throws himself to the ground to get away from the door. Four shots ring out.
“Nicholas feels incredible pain in his leg. He feels that it is the end, he especially does not want to alert the shooter of the presence of his partner. After an incredible uproar, there was a lull, Nicholas’s partner took the opportunity to call the emergency services,” says M.e Meng.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
The front door of the victim’s residence was punctured by bullets.
First to arrive, police officer Nicolas Labrèche testified that he discovered the victim in the living room, injured in the leg. He then makes a tourniquet with a dishcloth. Quickly, Nicholas Daudelin wanted to alert his fellow lawyers. Throughout the evening, the police officer will accompany the victim.
During cross-examination, we learned that the victim mentioned the names of two people to the police officer on several occasions: Junior Desormeaux and Jean-Stéphane Malo. “He mentioned to me that Jean-Stéphane Malo would be linked to organized crime, he mentioned the mafia,” testified Nicolas Labrèche. The role of these two men has not been clarified.
Me Karl-Emmanuel Harrison and Me David Robert Temim defends the accused.