Guylaine Potvin suffered multiple injuries and ultimately died from strangulation in her Jonquière apartment nearly 24 years ago, a forensic pathologist said Tuesday.
Doctor Caroline Tanguay appeared at the trial of Marc-André Grenon, accused of first degree murder and serious sexual assault. The crimes were committed almost 24 years ago now. Guylaine Potvin, a 19-year-old student, was found dead in April 2000 in her apartment in Jonquière, now a district of Saguenay.
We learned at the start of the jury trial that the accused, who pleaded not guilty, had been arrested 22 years after the crime, in Granby, after DNA on two straws he had thrown away appeared to match evidence collected at the crime scene in 2000.
PHOTO SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC, PROVIDED BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
Guylaine Potvin
It was not the forensic pathologist Tanguay who performed the autopsy on the victim at the time. On Tuesday, she accompanied jurors in reviewing the original autopsy report. The pathologist concluded at the time that the victim died of asphyxia as a result of a combination of manual and ligature strangulation.
Dr. Tanguay noted Tuesday that blunt trauma to the head and shoulders, a bite mark on the left breast and injuries around the neck and genitals were noted on the student’s body. Referring to the pathologist’s original autopsy report, notes and photographs, Dr. Tanguay concluded that the victim died of compression asphyxia, apparently a combination of manual strangulation and ligature strangulation.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC
Marc-André Grenon
Prosecutor Pierre-Alexandre Bernard then showed the pathologist a belt, the buckle broken, which had been found near the victim’s body. Doctor Tanguay confirmed that this belt could have caused the type of injuries noted at the autopsy on the victim’s neck.
Dr. Tanguay reminded jurors that the medical examiner had requested at the time that DNA samples – including hair and “secretions,” which could be bodily fluids – be taken from several parts of the woman’s body. victim, for analysis purposes.
The forensic pathologist testified Tuesday that the victim was wearing only a T-shirt when his body was found. Additionally, a print on her right hand suggested that a ring had recently been removed.
New DNA techniques
The trial, which began last week at the Chicoutimi courthouse, is expected to shed light on new DNA research techniques that led investigators to arrest Grenon 22 years after the murder.
Prosecutor Bernard said even if male DNA had been found at the crime scene in 2000, there would have been no matches in the police database at the time. There were also no witnesses to the crime.
The suspect was finally traced 22 years later, when the police used the new “PatronYme project”, led by the Laboratory of Judicial Sciences and Legal Medicine of Quebec. This project compares DNA to male surnames, the Crown explained last week.
Earlier this week, the trial was told that partial fingerprints found at the scene could not be linked to the accused. Additionally, the bite mark found on the victim’s breast also could not be linked to Grenon, who has received dental treatment since that time, the defense and prosecution agreed in a joint statement.
Superior Court Judge François Huot told the jury that these findings did not rule out the possibility that Grenon was at the scene of the crime, but they could not be used to incriminate him.
The cross-examination of Dr. Tanguay began Tuesday afternoon, but the hearing was adjourned until Wednesday, following discussions between the lawyers and the judge.