Clémence Beaulieu-Patry had refused the advances of a former classmate, Randy Tshilumba. A week later, he entered the Maxi supermarket and stabbed the young woman around twenty times. When he was planning the murder, he wrote down this meaningful phrase: “Make up a solid story for the police.”
This is the thesis that the Crown presented to the jury Monday at the opening of the trial of Randy Tshilumba, a 27-year-old man accused of the first degree murder of Clémence Beaulieu-Patry. Judge Alexandre Bien-Aimé told the jury that this was the second trial. He did not provide further details about the first trial.
The parties admit that Randy Tshilumba caused the death of Clémence Beaulieu-Patry in a Maxi supermarket in Montreal on April 10, 2016. It is therefore the “state of mind” of the accused at the time of the facts and premeditation alleged which will be at the heart of the trial.
“Let me tell you about Clémence,” began Crown prosecutor M.e Pierre-Olivier Bolduc.
The 20-year-old woman was scheduled to finish her shift at 8 p.m. that evening at Maxi. However, she had agreed to work an extra hour to help out her manager. Unfortunately, this is when Randy Tshilumba entered the business to kill his ex-classmate. He stabbed him 20 times. He wore gloves.
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
Clémence Beaulieu-Patry
According to the Crown, Randy Tshilumba then fled and hid for hours in the women’s bathroom of a Tim Hortons restaurant. He then changed into clothes he had brought in his bag. In the early morning, he took the bus to Cégep André-Laurendeau and hid his soiled clothes and his junkyard knife in a locker.
“Why a change of clothes?” Why put them in a locker? Why hide your knife? Why did you bring gloves? And above all, why did you bring all this to the Maxi on a Sunday evening? », asked the Me Bolduc, who teams up with Me Claude Berlinguette Auger.
Randy Tshilumba barely knew Clémence Beaulieu-Patry. They were vague acquaintances from high school and had never been around each other. However, a week before the murder, Randy Tshilumba went to see Clémence at the Maxi. He then asked her for a date and her phone number. But Clemence refused.
During this period, Randy Tshilumba went to Maxi three times without ever buying anything. “It’s his choice. His will,” insisted M.e Bolduc.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Relatives of Clémence Beaulieu-Patry at the Montreal courthouse.
Another important element in the Prosecution’s evidence: the contents of the accused’s cell phone. According to the Crown, Randy Tshilumba conducted several searches after the murder. He also took notes, hidden in draft emails. In one of them, he writes of having to “invent a solid story for the police”.
Friends of Clémence began to testify on Monday. “You will see the importance of these testimonies in history,” said M.e Bolduc.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Crown prosecutorse Pierre-Olivier Bolduc (left) and Me Claude Berlinguette Auger (right).
Me Guy Poupart and Me Julie Harinen defends the accused.