A young woman who was driving in the Villeray district did not expect at all that an important figure in organized crime would be shot in the middle of the street right in front of her eyes, she testified this Tuesday at the trial of the two alleged assassins.
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“I was driving home when I had to slow down because of someone, I thought he was crossing the street, but he stopped and I heard gunshots,” said the witness. at the trial of Emanuell Roberts Hunte and Andrew Thomas Labrèche, at the Montreal courthouse.
The young woman in her mid-twenties, who works in the field of health, thus recounted how she witnessed the murder of Frantz Louis in spite of herself, on the morning of November 19, 2020. That morning, he was riddled bullets as he sat in his BMW parked in the street.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPVM
The victim, Frantz Louis.
“It was really very quick,” said the young woman, who was close enough to the scene to say that the assailant had used a “small firearm”.
In total, the shooter fired “five or six times” before fleeing.
“I thought he looked young, he was quick and smart,” the woman explained.
Archive photo, QMI Agency (Maxime Deland)
Frantz Louis, who was described by the Crown as a high-ranking member of Montreal organized crime, was pronounced dead soon after.
Suspects quickly found
Except that if the shooter quickly fled, it did not take long for the authorities to target the suspects. It is that in addition to eyewitnesses, the investigators were also able to take advantage of the presence of surveillance cameras.
“A man was able to note a plate number, which corresponded to the car belonging [à Labrèche]“added Mr.e Philippe Vallières-Roland de la Couronne, at the start of the trial last week.
Photo taken from Facebook
Andrew Thomas Labrèche, accused.
And during the search of his cell, the police would have found even more incriminating evidence which, according to the Crown, proves that the defendants would have premeditated their blow. A meeting between Labrèche, who would have been the driver of the getaway car, and Roberts Hunte would also have occurred in the days preceding the crime.
When Roberts Hunte was in turn arrested, a search of his cell phone would have uncovered an internet search log, indicating that he had inquired about the murder, as well as the victim and his own alleged accomplice.
The trial, presided over by Judge Alexandre Boucher, is scheduled to last several weeks.