Jano Vincent did not intend to commit suicide when he had a fatal collision on Highway 50. Instead, he veered off course while reaching for his breathalyzer that had fallen at his feet. At least, that’s the theory the defense presented to the jury Tuesday.
“Our theory is that it was accidental, he didn’t mean to kill himself,” argued defense attorney M.e Robert Bellefeuille, Tuesday, at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse. After five weeks, the trial is at its end. The jurors are expected to deliberate in the coming days.
Jano Vincent, a 37-year-old man from Saint-Polycarpe, is charged with the second-degree murder of Robert Campion. On October 6, 2019, at around 12:30 p.m., his Ford F-150 pickup truck crashed head-on into the victim’s recreational vehicle on Highway 50 near Grenville-sur-la-Rouge. Robert Campion died instantly, while Jano Vincent was seriously injured.
PHOTO FILED AS EVIDENCE
Robert Campion
According to the Crown’s theory, Jano Vincent attempted suicide by provoking this confrontation. The accused’s life was falling apart at the time. He had just learned that his ex-partner had a new boyfriend. In addition, he had been pursued by his parents for years for large sums of money related to the sale of a house.
In his defense, Jano Vincent denied having tried to take his own life. That day, on the contrary, his life was going “well.” He was about to “settle” the lawsuit with his parents, he had a new truck and a “nice apartment,” he said.
“I had plans for the future, there. I had no desire to commit suicide on October 6, 2019. Lots of great things were coming,” he testified at the end of June.
Jano Vincent has no memory of the collision. However, he puts forward a “hypothesis”. According to him, he probably veered off his lane “unintentionally” due to a “distraction”. He supposes that his breathalyzer could have gone off. He could have dropped it, then veered off his lane while trying to pick it up.
Although there is no evidence to support this hypothesis, Mr.e Bellefeuille emphasized this one. “He escaped [l’appareil]”That’s how he was able to swerve. He had gotten into the habit of blowing while driving. The accident was accidental,” the defense attorney argued Tuesday morning.
Also, according to Me Bellefeuille, it is not “plausible” that Jano Vincent wanted to kill himself that day, since he was “eager to see his daughter”.
According to the Crown, Jano Vincent attempted suicide in Grenville because he knew that his ex-partner’s new boyfriend was a firefighter who could intervene at the scene of the collision.
PHOTO FILED IN COURT
On the left is the recreational vehicle driven by the victim, Robert Campion. On the right is the Ford F-150 driven by Jano Vincent.
At the trial, Jano Vincent’s ex-partner recounted receiving the accused’s confidences after he came out of his coma. “He told me he wanted to take his own life on Highway 50. That he wanted to die. That he couldn’t take it anymore. He told me that there,” Julie Léveillé testified last month.
A few months after the collision, Jano Vincent attempted suicide by swallowing pills. He left a 15-page letter in which he poured out his venom on his parents. “Now I am handicapped because of you, because I wanted to end the shitty life you made me live,” he wrote.
This letter does not have the scope that the Crown claims, according to the accused. If he wrote all this, it was only to “please” his ex-partner and to “make her proud.”
“I wrote things that she wanted… what she told me every day. I made sure to write that so that she would be happy,” testified Jano Vincent in a tight cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Me Steve Baribeau, at the end of June.
It will be the Crown’s turn to plead on Tuesday afternoon.