The jury found Steve Lévesque guilty of second-degree murder of Maxime Dugas-Lepage. He handed down his verdict unanimously on Friday night at the Rimouski courthouse after deliberating for several hours.
The facts took place in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts in January 2020. Jury number 9 stood to pronounce the guilty verdict.
As the verdict was heard, the victim’s family members burst into tears, looking comforted.
Meanwhile, the accused maintained a calm and neutral demeanor while looking at the jury members.
The judge, François Huot, announced that he had sentenced the defendant to life sentence.
The sentencing recommendations will be held on June 22 at the Rimouski courthouse. After hearing the positions of the criminal and penal prosecution attorney and Steve Lévesque’s attorney, the judge must choose when, between 10 and 25 years in prison, Steve Lévesque will be eligible for parole. .
The jury chose not to make a recommendation to the judge about the defendant’s period of eligibility for parole.
Steve Lévesque has been incarcerated since he was arrested in Rimouski on January 25, 2020.
At the end of his short speech, the judge wanted to salute the seriousness of the jurors. They listened carefully and took notes throughout the hearing, which lasted five weeks.
Judge Huot sincerely thanked them, it added justice has been done.
Upon exiting the courtroom, the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney, Jérôme Simard, confirmed that the jury had pronounced the verdict he expected.
He added that he was not surprised at the short amount of time the jury took to discuss.
” We considered our evidence to be good, that it showed guilt without any doubt. So are we surprised? I’ll tell you no. “
Mr. Simard also said he was happy for the victim’s family. There will still be steps to try to find the victim’s body. For the moment, it puts a little balm on their hearts, the fact that we have a guilty verdict. Justice has been donehe continued.
He wanted to thank the police of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) who participated in the investigation. They did an impressive investigation considering that they did not have the victim’s body, but in their very professional investigation, they were able to find enough evidence to file the cases and for a guilty verdict that will take place today.believes Jérôme Simard.
Steve Lévesque’s lawyer, Pierre L’Écuyer, would not comment on the outcome of the trial.
Source: Radio-Canada
