Murder of Guylaine Potvin | Twenty-four years later, the trial opens in Saguenay

(Saguenay) The atmosphere was feverish Monday at the Chicoutimi courthouse, where the trial of the man accused of the murder of young Guylaine Potvin opened, almost 24 years after the events, a case which had big noise in the region at the time.

No less than 300 candidates, many more than usual, had been summoned in the hope that a sufficient number of them could be retained as jurors.

To be impartial, selected jurors must not be unduly aware of the details of the case they are about to try. However, this case was the subject of significant media hype in the region at the time of the crime, in April 2000, but also during the arrest of the accused, Marc-André Grenon, in October 2022.

More than fifty of these candidates will finally have paraded for a good part of the morning and afternoon before Judge François Thuot, of the Superior Court, who is supervising the procedures.

Six weeks have been set aside for the trial to be held, attended by relatives of Guylaine Potvin. However, it could be concluded a little more quickly, warned the magistrate.

Information disseminated

Fourteen candidates, eight men and six women, were finally selected after answering a series of questions asked by Judge Thuot and which had been defined in advance by the parties during preparatory work for the trial.

These questions aimed in particular to find out whether the candidates had read information published in the media. Among other things, old statements from a former spokesperson for the Saguenay Municipal Police, the content of a letter read on air at a local radio station and the testimonies of two legal experts.

A CPE educator, a heavy machinery operator, an independent graphic designer and a record store owner, among others, were ultimately retained to judge the fate of the accused, Marc-André Grenon, 49 years old.

The latter was arrested in Granby, at the end of a long-term investigation involving new methods, the nature of which has remained confidential until now due to a non-publication order.

He is accused of first degree murder and sexual assault of Guylaine Potvin. From the dock, where he appeared visibly emaciated and with a long beard, Marc-André Grenon pleaded not guilty to these two charges.

To the candidates present Monday morning, judge François Huot outlined the contours of the case.

DNA recovered from straws

Guylaine Potvin, 19 years old at the time of the crime, was sexually assaulted and then killed in her apartment. The body of the young woman, who attended the Jonquière CEGEP, was found the next day by her friends.

DNA was collected from the crime scene, but investigators were unable to link it to a suspect for years. Until the entry on the scene of the Laboratory of Judicial Sciences and Legal Medicine (LSJML) in 2022, which made it possible to target the last name of Marc-André Grenon as a priority.

At the end of a complex police operation, his DNA was recovered from straws that the suspect had used, then associated with that found at the crime scene 22 years earlier.

The Crown is represented by M^e Pierre-Alexandre Bernard and M^e François Godin, while the accused is defended by M^e Karine Poliquin and M^e Vanessa Pharand.