The man who has been suspected for nearly ten years by the police of having killed Jenique Dalcourt, a young woman who was beaten to death in the fall of 2014 in Longueuil as she returned home after work, will be charged of first degree murder.
The Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service (SPAL) confirmed Wednesday that Michael Mcduff-Jalbert, “the only person targeted in this arrest warrant,” was arrested Tuesday and will appear Wednesday at the courthouse to answer charges. a charge of first degree murder.
In order to protect the judicial process, the SPAL did not want to comment on the nature of the new elements which allowed the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) to lay charges in this case, more than nine years after the facts.
The chief inspector of the Longueuil police, Pierre Duquette, however explained at a press conference that “specific methods in the field of forensic sciences have allowed (the SPAL) to progress in this investigation and to obtain additional elements allowing to the DPCP to file charges against the suspect.”
“Our priority has always been to seek the truth in this matter in order to offer answers to Jenique’s family, to allow them to begin their grieving process,” underlined Mr. Duquette, assuring that resolving this matter was part of of SPAL’s priorities “from the very beginning”.
“The SPAL spared no effort and used all the resources at its disposal to ensure that charges were filed in relation to the murder of Jenique Dalcourt and that her murderer be brought before the courts to answer the charge of murder in the first degree filed against him,” he mentioned.
On October 21, 2014, Jenique Dalcourt, then aged 23, was brutally killed with an iron bar while she was walking on a cycle path in Vieux-Longueuil, after work.
The suspect, who was 26 years old at the time, was arrested a few days after the murder, but was released before appearing in court. No charges were brought against him due to lack of sufficient evidence.
At the time of his initial arrest, Longueuil police claimed that the suspect had acted alone for a motive that had not been revealed.
The DPCP looked into this case again in 2015, but once again, no charges were brought against the suspect due to a lack of evidence.
On Wednesday, Chief Inspector Duquette thanked Jenique Dalcourt’s parents, her mother Monique Dalcourt and her father John Gandolf, for the resilience they have shown in recent years.
He also praised the collaboration of the various police officers and civilian employees who worked directly or indirectly in this investigation, as well as that of the DPCP and specialists from the Laboratory of Judicial Sciences and Forensic Medicine.
Michael Mcduff-Jalbert is now 35 years old.