Trial for murder of Véronique Manceaux | “They beat him to death,” testifies Jimmy Méthot’s girlfriend

“They beat him to death!” They fucking beat him to death! », sobs Abigail*. Jimmy Méthot’s girlfriend recounted on Tuesday the nightmarish circumstances of her friend’s death. If the witness claims to have witnessed the murder helplessly, she then helped the accused clean up the scene.

Abigail is a key Crown witness in the trial of Véronique Manceaux, a 38-year-old woman accused of the first degree murder of Jimmy Méthot in September 2021. At the time, Abigail was Jimmy Méthot’s girlfriend. Véronique Manceaux, alias “Veronica”, was her great friend.

The witness revealed to the jury that she was accused of accessory after the fact and indignity to a corpse.

According to the Crown, Véronique Manceaux tortured, beat and murdered Jimmy Méthot in his Lachine residence. A 17-year-old boy has already been convicted of first-degree murder in the case. Last week, the young man refused to testify and was charged with contempt of court.

It was in a trembling voice that Abigail gave her name and date of birth at the start of her testimony. Very emotional, the thirty-year-old gave a gripping, but often confused, testimony on the events of the fateful night. “It’s all a blur,” she admitted. He cannot be identified according to a judge’s order.

In the summer of 2021, Abigail dates Jimmy Méthot, a young man just released from prison. His nickname is “Slim Jim”. “He was small and frail,” she summarizes. At the time, Abigail used drugs and alcohol heavily. She has a breathalyzer in her car. “I was an alcoholic,” she said.

On the evening of the events, there were five of them at the accused’s house in Lachine: Abigail, her boyfriend Jimmy, Véronique Manceaux, Everett Roger Clayton and the teenager. The latter carries a “machete”, says the witness. The evening proceeds normally. But when Manceaux consumes crack, the tension rises a notch.

At one point, Véronique Manceaux begins to accuse Jimmy Méthot of being a “spy” sent by her ex-spouse.

“It didn’t make much sense,” says Abigail.

The details are fuzzy, but then Jimmy Méthot returns from the kitchen, seriously injured. “He was sitting there, bloody. He said: I don’t want to die like that! », says the witness. “I was in shock,” she continues. During events, she remains seated on the sofa in the living room.

When Jimmy tries to run away, the teenager catches him, says Abigail. According to her account, Véronique Manceaux and the teenager began to beat Jimmy Méthot. “They beat him to death!” », she exclaims, sobbing.

Jimmy Méthot was stabbed “several times,” according to Abigail. “I don’t know who did it,” she says.

“I saw Veronica jump on his neck, but I think he was already dead,” she said.

However, the chronology of events remains unclear.

A person – who she believes to be Véronique Manceaux – then tells her to take off her clothes and put up her hair. “Because Jimmy was dead and we were going to start cleaning up,” she explains.

But Roger Everett Clayton doesn’t want a witness and wants to kill Abigail. But Véronique Manceaux stops her. “She told him that I was his friend,” the woman testifies.

After the murder, Abigail and Roger Everett Clayton go to the store to buy cleaning supplies. “There is blood everywhere in the house,” Abigail repeats, stunned.

The four survivors then transported Jimmy Méthot’s body to the garage of the residence.

A few days later, a friend of Abigail contacted the police.

His testimony continues Wednesday before Judge Daniel Royer.

Last week, the teenager involved in the murder preferred to be charged with contempt of court rather than recount the details of the fateful evening. The young man claimed to have “memory lapses” due to taking medication and hid himself in silence. This witness even said he didn’t really remember pleading guilty to one count of murder in this case.

It was in this context that the jury was able to hear earlier testimony from the teenager. In this recording, the teenager says that Véronique Manceaux hit and questioned Jimmy Méthot, accusing him of being a “spy”. However, he did not see the accused stab the victim.

In her opening statement, the Crown prosecutor told the jury that Véronique Manceaux forced Jimmy Méthot to drink a flammable liquid while he was dying.

*Fictitious name