A violent repeat offender who randomly assaulted a woman by strangling her until she lost consciousness in the toilets of a Quebec bar was found fully guilty Friday.
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Alexandre Turcot was in Quebec in July 2021 to celebrate with friends.
Originally from Montreal, the 44-year-old confided during his trial that he was happy to celebrate the fact that he had not been incarcerated “for seven or eight months”, a first in his adult life. The man already had 92 convictions at the time.
This evening was ultimately his last at liberty for a long time, since he chose to attack the young woman he came across by chance in the toilets of the London Jack restaurant-pub.
Strangled
Grabbing her arm to force her into a cabin, Turcot then strangled her until she lost consciousness. He left the scene quickly, abandoning his victim there.
The latter was found by her partner and a friend in the toilet. She was taken to hospital, where a doctor diagnosed her with a temporary neurological deficit resulting from strangulation-related pulmonary edema. The 29-year-old’s body was also covered in bruises.
Identified by surveillance cameras at the location, Turcot was arrested a month later.
At trial, he pleaded that it was the young woman who had agreed to go into the cabin to have sex and that it was “her trip” to be strangled. A version that Judge Frank D’Amours “rejected out of hand”, describing the accused as simply “not credible”.
“Women are not objects that attackers can take according to their impulses and fantasies,” insisted the magistrate.
Guilty across the board
Alexandre Turcot was found guilty of the four counts brought against him, that is to say for serious assault, assault causing harm, false imprisonment and for strangling his victim with the aim of committing a criminal offense, i.e. a sexual assault.
The judge agreed with the Crown’s arguments regarding this last charge, finding that the man’s intention was indeed to sexually assault his victim before she lost consciousness.
“The accused also mentions: “There’s no point in arguing, it’ll just take longer.” This sentence testifies to his intentions, his goal and his knowledge of the absence of consent of the complainant,” underlined Judge D’Amours, adding a relevant reminder of the importance of consent.
“It’s not a notion […] that we appropriate by reducing the other to silence.”
Request dangerous offender declaration
Already sentenced in the past to three penitentiary sentences, including one of seven years for robbery, Turcot saw the Crown prosecutor request an evaluation with the aim of having him declared a dangerous offender.
“Our case is the very expression of a brutal and random attack,” explained Mr.e Louis-Philippe Desjardins, emphasizing the extent of the accused’s criminal record.
Judge D’Amours ordered the evaluation and the motion will be debated at the same time as the observations on the sentence that should be imposed on the attacker in the coming months.