Nearly 25 years after the death of Guylaine Potvin, and after evading justice for two decades, Marc-André Grenon was found guilty of the first degree murder of the 19-year-old student.
“Guilty,” the jury foreman said when the judge asked for the verdict on the first-degree murder charge. “Guilty,” he repeated for the charge of aggravated sexual assault that had also been laid.
The fate of the 49-year-old accused was sealed in less than an hour. That’s all the time the 12 members of the jury needed to reach a unanimous verdict. They do not have to explain why they reached one verdict rather than another and their deliberations will remain secret — as will their identity.
First degree murder is the most serious crime in the Criminal Code. The sentence is automatic life in prison, with no possibility of applying for parole before 25 years.
The lifeless body of young Guylaine Potvin was found on April 28, 2000 in her apartment in Jonquière.
Grenon’s trial began on January 15. For a month, the Crown called various witnesses to the stand, including the 19-year-old student’s roommates, police officers who analyzed the crime scene and the forensic pathologist who concluded that the victim was strangled to death in April 2000.
The accused offered no witnesses or defense. He did not testify to avoid conviction.
He even admitted, at the very end of the trial, that he was the attacker of the college student, and that he caused her death. However, he pleaded that he entered her home to commit a theft, which went wrong.
For a day and a half, Judge François Huot of the Superior Court summarized the evidence and explained to the members of the jury the law applicable to this case and the decision-making process they had to adopt in order to find the man guilty or not guilty.
Three verdicts were possible: first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.