Michaël Chicoine, 32, of Wendake, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the second degree murder of his two boys, whom he had previously admitted to killing by smothering them with a pillow in October 2020.
Judge François Huot, who had very harsh words for him, was quick to endorse the joint suggestion of the defense and the prosecution and immediately sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole before 16 years and 6 months, a deadline which will be counted from the date of his incarceration in October 2020.
“I’m fed up with these cowards who take revenge on innocent children,” hammered bluntly Judge Huot when delivering his verdict.
This plea therefore puts an end to the legal proceedings before the trial, which was to begin next January before a judge and jury.
For the prosecutor in the file, Mr.e Jean-Simon Larouche, this outcome is satisfactory and is in line with recent decisions in cases involving violence, both sexual and physical, against children.
Me Larouche also recalled that the children’s family had been consulted throughout the process which led to a joint sentencing suggestion with the defence.
“With the (Canadian Victims) Bill of Rights, we cannot make joint suggestions in cases like this without first discussing it with the victims. Obviously, in this case, it was a right she had to be told about it, to be dealt with, and after the reasons, the mitigating factors and the aggravating factors had been explained to her, she understood the suggestion and she agreed with that suggestion,” he explained.
On the defense side, lawyer Pierre Gagnon acknowledged that this trial was difficult for everyone, including his client. It is partly for this reason that he chose to finally plead guilty to the murder of his two boys.
“After more than two years, there is a path that has been made. There were ups and downs in this case — my client’s mental state was questioned on a number of occasions — and finally, a few weeks ago, he gave me the mandate to undertake talks with the prosecution and try to reach a settlement that would be acceptable to him,” he said when he left the courtroom.
Regarding Judge Huot’s strong statement at the conclusion of the proceedings, Ms.e Gagnon acknowledged that she was “quite harsh, but given the nature of the crime for which he (his client) pleaded guilty, these remarks might seem appropriate”.
Michaël Chicoine’s ability to understand the procedures had to be confirmed by a psychiatrist at the request of Judge Huot, due to his history of mental health problems.
Photos of victims sent to their mothers
In the minutes following the double murder, Chicoine had sent photos of the two children, inert in their bed, to his own mother as well as to the mother of the children, Émilie Arsenault, from whom he had been separated for almost two years.
The murderer’s mother had immediately contacted the police, but they could only note the deaths of Alex, two years old, and Olivier, five years old.
The infanticide occurred in the context of a custody dispute.
Violence in the open court
Since the double murder, the defendant’s mental health has been repeatedly discussed as he was known and sought to be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
On several occasions, during preliminary proceedings, he had insulted and threatened the judges involved and made a contemptuous gesture towards his ex-spouse. More recently, in October, in the middle of a hearing, he had violently attacked two constables, one of whom had been injured after taking long minutes to control him. He had also assaulted a corrections officer at the prison where he was being held.
“His past in terms of mental health could certainly explain the behavior that there may have been sporadically during the evolution of the file”, commented his lawyer, Mr.e Gagnon, Wednesday.
Despite these disturbing demonstrations, he had been deemed fit to stand trial.
Pursuit of 2 million from the mother
The case caused a stir across Quebec in the wake of the death of a seven-year-old girl in Granby, because there too the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ) had been alerted, and this, at least three times, but did not intervene.
Émilie Arseneault is suing the Quebec government for two million dollars. She criticizes the DPJ for not having acted despite the fact that the agency had been contacted three times before the death of her children, information confirmed by the minister responsible for youth protection, Lionel Carmant.