Judge Marc-André Blanchard of the Superior Court has just declared Giovanni Presta guilty of the premeditated murder of motorcyclist Sébastien Beauchamp, shot several times in the middle of the afternoon, on the grounds of a gas station in the borough of Saint-Léonard on December 20, 2018.
The judge immediately sentenced him to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.
The crime was committed by former organized crime hitman Frédérick Silva, who has become a police collaborator since last summer. Silva, however, did not testify in Presta’s trial held earlier this fall, but gave a statement which was leaked to the defence.
Presta’s role as the killer’s driver, the fact that he was present at the scene at the time of the crime and that he knew a murder was about to be committed were central to his trial.
During his argument, the prosecutor, Mr.e Antoine Piché, – recently appointed judge – had pointed out to the magistrate that Presta’s spouse rented the warehouse where the vehicle used in the murder was housed, that only he and his spouse had access to the warehouse, which he prepared GPS tags that were placed under the victim’s SUV, that he participated in a hunt several days before the murder, that he researched Beauchamp’s home address on the internet, that surveillance cameras show that he was driving the car on the day of the crime and that when Silva got out of the vehicle, he was already equipped to carry out an assassination.
The prosecutor also pointed out that immediately after the murder, Presta bought cleaning wipes at a gas station, went to a first car wash, then a second “hand wash” before returning to the warehouse. where the car remained for ten days without moving.
He added that that same evening, Presta researched articles about the Beauchamp murder and a specific brand of firearm, a Cobray submachine gun. One of these pistols was used in the Beauchamp murder and jammed.
Finally, the prosecutor had listed several items seized from Presta during a search, in particular GPS beacons, masks, gloves and firearms hidden in a hole made in the wall and hidden by a cupboard, as well as SIM cards, documents on the manufacture of weapons and homemade silencers “bearing the same signature as those found at the murder scene”.
For his part, Presta’s lawyer, Me Dominique Shoofey, had pleaded that nothing in the evidence shows “beyond any doubt” that his client was driving the white Malibu all day on December 20, 2018, in particular at the time of the murder of Sébastien Beauchamp, around 14 h 30.
At the end of the pleadings a few weeks ago, Judge Blanchard congratulated Mr.e Piche and Me Shoofey for the way they handled their case.
Specifically, he told Ms.e Shoofey “that he did honor to justice” by focusing his client’s defense on certain specific elements.
More details to come.