(Joliette) Thirteen years old. This is the number of years that Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand will have to spend behind bars before being eligible for parole. The 38-year-old man beat his partner Andréane Ouellet to death in 2021, then tried to fool the police into believing it was an overdose or suicide.
Judge Eric Downs therefore split the decision in two by rejecting the suggestions of the defense (11 years) and the Crown (15 years), instead agreeing with the unanimous recommendation of the jurors to set the period of inadmissibility at 13 years. to the murderer’s parole.
“It must be emphasized that a unanimous recommendation from community representatives is necessarily imbued with wisdom,” said Judge Downs on Monday at the Joliette courthouse. The magistrate recalled that the offender initially received a life sentence.
Among the aggravating factors, the judge retained the “brutality of the force” used to kill Andréane Ouellet, the context of “verbal and psychological violence”, the killer’s attempt to hide his crime and put the police on a false trail, as well as as the trauma of the victims’ family, first and foremost the couple’s five children.
The judge, however, notes as mitigating factors the offender’s “beginning of awareness”, his lack of criminal record and his “will” to improve his behavior by participating in training in prison. Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand also presents a “low” risk of recidivism given his “personality and the support of his loved ones”, considers the judge.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand
In September 2021, Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand was a jealous man, who clearly could not stand his partner’s adultery and alcoholism. It was in this context that he attacked Andréane Ouellet to kill her in their residence in Saint-Donat. His injuries were so serious that only repeated and very violent impacts could have caused them.
That didn’t stop Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand from calling 911, pretending that he had just discovered his partner’s body at the bottom of the stairs. With insistence, the killer repeated to the police and paramedics that Andréane had probably died by “tumbling down the stairs” or by making a “ overdose “. However, she had no alcohol and very few medications in her blood at the time of her death.
Alexandre Boudreau-Chartrand – who appealed the verdict – did not testify at the trial. The jury, however, heard his lies during his 911 call. During sentencing submissions, he addressed the Court with some nonchalance to say that he felt “really bad.”
“I never wanted her to die. I don’t know what happened…I’m sorry…” he said.
The couple’s five children thus find themselves orphans in practice. Fortunately, Andréane Ouellet’s parents took them under their wing. A heavy burden for retirees, forced to put their mourning “on pause”. Judge Eric Downs highlighted the “strength, courage, resilience and immense goodness” of grandmother Nathaly Bherer last month.
At the last hearing, Andréane Ouellet’s mother painted a more positive portrait of her daughter, recalling that she was a brilliant law student and a theater lover before falling into the clutches of her tormentor. “You had extraordinary empathy towards others. Helpful, generous. Like Mother Teresa, you wanted to save the world,” her mother confided.
Andréane loved her five children “unconditionally,” the grandmother insisted. They were “everything” to her. “Unfortunately, your task has become very heavy. You let yourself be caught in a net that you couldn’t get out of. You suffered alone in silence,” her mother lamented.
Me Valérie Michaud and Me Caroline Buist represented the public prosecutor, while Me Élise Pinsonnault and Me Catherine Ranalli defended the offender.