Hitman Frédérick Silva, who was to stand trial, this time before a jury, for the murder of a client of a strip club in Montreal in May 2017, ended all proceedings against him on Friday morning, at the Montreal courthouse.
Posted at 12:59 p.m.
Without pleading guilty, Silva, 41, however acknowledged that the prosecution’s evidence was probative.
This means that Superior Court Judge Marc David will convict him of second degree murder in two weeks. But by doing so, Silva, who disputes certain actions of the police during the investigation that led to his arrest, retains his rights to appeal.
Silva notably accuses an investigator of having used, without the knowledge of a magistrate justice of the peace, the signature stamp of the latter to obtain a false warrant.
Silva’s lawyer, M.and Danièle Roy, filed a motion for abuse of process raising in particular the conduct of the investigator, but Judge David dismissed it, concluding that even if the gesture was inappropriate and thoughtless, the police officer had no bad intention. The magistrate also stressed that the goal was to elucidate the most serious crimes of the Criminal Code.
bloody argument
According to a summary of the facts filed in court, the victim, Daniel Armando Somoza-Gildea, was with his girlfriend at the cabaret Les Amazones, on rue Saint-Jacques, around 2:30 a.m. on the night of May 24, 2017.
Silva was also at the establishment with friends, when one of them, Billy Glenold-Fleury, accosted Somoza-Gildea’s girlfriend. The latter did not appreciate the gesture and let Glenold-Fleury know, who slapped him.
A melee ensued and the doormen of the establishment evicted the victim. A friend of Silva then tried to calm the spirits outside, but ten seconds later witnesses heard gunshots and the victim was hit.
No witness formally identified Silva, but the police seized the videos captured by the surveillance cameras of his residence in Terrebonne and found that he was dressed in the same way as the shooter that day. Additionally, Silva never returned home after the murder.
New appearance and false identities
Other evidence seized by the police also showed that after the crime, Silva visited the site of the ten most wanted criminals on a few occasions and altered his physical appearance.
He notably grew out his hair and beard, covered up his tattoos with new ones and wore glasses without a prescription.
He also applied for a passport under a false identity, that of David Guérard. When this false identity was compromised, he used the names David Lajoie-Gauthier and Michaël Vincinni.
The prosecution, represented by Mr.and Antoine Piché, and the defense have agreed on a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 10 years to be imposed on Silva for the murder of Somoza-Gildea. The judge will decide in two weeks.
Silva previously received a life sentence without eligibility for parole for 25 years for the 2018 murders of Alessandro Vinci, Yvon Marchand and Sébastien Beauchamp, and for an attempted murder of the chief of Salvatore Scoppa clan in 2017.
One of Silva’s friends who accompanied him on the night of the Somoza-Gildea murder, Sébastien Giroux, pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after the fact recently and will be sentenced on May 13.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.