Nearly 30 years after the sordid murder of a 10-year-old girl in Rosemère, a 61-year-old hardened criminal who was allegedly betrayed by his DNA has finally been charged with first-degree murder.
• Read also: Murder of a 10-year-old girl solved almost 30 years later: police officers relieved
Marie-Chantale Desjardins was killed in July 1994 in Rosemère. After a three-decade investigation, police are now convinced they have identified the murderer.
They handcuffed Réal Courtemanche’s wrists. He is formally accused of premeditated murder. He appeared this afternoon before Superior Court Judge Hélène Di Salvo and pleaded not guilty. In the dock, the man remained stoic.
Réal Courtemanche, accompanied by SQ investigators, during his arrest in July 2011 in Victoriaville for a case of kidnapping, forcible confinement, threatening to cause death, possession of a weapon and armed assault against towards a young woman of 27 years old.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
Little Marie-Chantale Desjardins, 10 years old, was last seen alive on July 16, 1994. That day, she asked her mother for permission to go play at a girlfriend’s house, but she never returned. returned home.
The mother of Marie-Chantale Desjardins, then without news of her daughter, in July 1994. LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI
Archive photo
His body was finally found unconscious four days later, in a wooded area behind the Place Rosemère shopping center, less than two kilometers from his residence. His yellow bicycle and his keys were also found nearby.
The yellow bicycle of Marie-Chantale Desjardins, found near her body, in Rosemère, in July 1994. LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI
Archive photo
Advances in science
The police quickly determined that the child had not been the victim of an accident, but that she had been murdered.
Marie-Chantale also displayed a small blue mark on her neck, reported The newspaper the day after the macabre discovery. Pathologist André Bourgault then announced in a press release that the child could have been asphyxiated by strangulation or suffocation.
There were also fears that she had been sexually assaulted.
It is also thanks to advances in science that the police were able to identify the suspect, since he would have been betrayed by his DNA even after all these years, we learned. The accused resided in Sainte-Thérèse at the time of the alleged acts.
“This is a major outcome in the investigation, we are not talking about a witness pulled out of a hat 30 years later, this is a file of scientific evidence,” commented the Crown prosecutor on file, Me Steve Baribeau.
Members of Marie-Chantale Desjardins’ family were present during the appearance, but were not addressed to the media.
“This is a file that gives hope to people in the same situation as Marie-Chantale Desjardins’ parents, [à savoir] that we must trust the investigators because they do not give up,” added Me Baribeau, who is assisted by Me Alexandre Dubois to manage this case.
Investigators from the Sûreté du Québec, who have since taken over the investigation, arrested him this morning at the La Macaza detention center, where he is being held for another case.
Place where Marie-Chantale Desjardins was found dead in July 1994, in Rosemère. LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCY QMI
Archive photo
He is serving an indeterminate sentence for a violent armed attack that occurred in Princeville in 2011. He sneaked into his victim’s car, before kidnapping her, sequestering her, threatening her with death and injuring her, notably with a knife. . He then took her to a wooded area. He was subsequently declared a dangerous offender.
- Listen to the news segment with Maxime Deland about Marie-Chantale Desjardins via
:
Hardened criminal
The hardened criminal committed crimes in multiple regions of the province during his life. He has more than 80 convictions over a period of more than 30 years. He asked to be released from prison in 2021, but was refused considering his risk of reoffending was considered high.
The murder of Marie-Chantale Desjardins created a stir, especially since it occurred at a time when several children, as well as young women, had been reported missing and murdered.
Young Mélanie Cabay, 19, had been kidnapped and killed a few days before, in a wooded area in Mascouche. Her murderer was never arrested.
The following year, Joleil Campeau, 9 years old, was killed near her home in Laval. Éric Daudelin was convicted of this murder.
Réal Courtemanche must return to court on January 17. He asked to remain detained at La Macaza for his protection.