The jurors at the trial of Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion, accused of the murders of the brothers Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto, asked at the end of Sunday afternoon to listen to part of the testimony of the two defendants.
The last eleven jurors of the trial, which opened on May 31, have been kidnapped since late Friday afternoon and have been deliberating since Saturday morning.
They asked to listen to the testimony of Guy Dion when he was questioned in chief by his lawyer Me Nellie Benoit during the days of the 14th – morning only – and September 15th.
They also asked to listen to the testimony that Marie-Josée Viau gave on September 27, when she was being questioned in chief by her lawyer, Mr.e Mylène Lareau, and on October 4, when she was cross-examined by the Crown prosecutor, Me Isabelle Poulin.
During these two days, Marie-Josée Viau was interviewed by Mr.e Lareau in particular concerning the day of June 30, 2016 and cross-examined by Mr.e Poulin on the day of June 30 and on recordings made without his knowledge.
Superior Court Judge Eric Downs, who is presiding over the trial, told the jury that the audio dubbing of the requested portions of the evidence should be ready Monday morning.
Trapped by a mole
Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto were shot dead in the garage of the Viau-Dion couple in Saint-Jude, near Saint-Hyacinthe, by a mafia hitman who became a mole for the Sûreté du Québec two and a half years later.
The former hired killer, whose name must be kept silent under a publication ban, won the trust of Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion during the summer of 2019, brought the Falduto murders back to discussions and recorded the defendants without their knowledge.
Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion were arrested on October 16, 2019. They are accused of conspiracy and premeditated murder.
The Pursuit claims that Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion knew that the murders were to occur on their property that day and that the couple then removed all traces of the crime and burned the bodies of the victims in the open, which ‘denied the two accused during their testimony under oath.
Press however, revealed on Saturday morning that the two defendants made compromising confessions to investigators on the day of their arrest, but that the judge ruled this evidence inadmissible after finding that constitutional rights – the right to counsel – were not respected by the police.
(Re) read “Murders of the Falduto brothers: Confessions never heard by the jurors”
The tapes made without the knowledge of the accused and the 15 days of testimony of the former hitman turned civilian undercover agent (ACI) were the spearhead of the evidence that the Prosecution presented during this trial of five month.
The murders of brothers Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto were committed as part of a conflict between Calabrian factions and the Sicilian clan of the Montreal mafia.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of Press.