Glen Crossley, the man who came to notoriety for having killed Olympic hero Victor Davis more than two decades ago, has been granted a conditional release in a case where he is charged with killing a grandfather in September.
Quebec Court Judge Pierre Labelle agreed to release Crossley on Wednesday after he was informed the Crown no longer objects to the accused’s release while he remains charged with manslaughter in the death of Albert Arsenault, a 70-year-old grandfather of two who was killed in a bar in LaSalle on September 17. The hearing was held at the Montreal courthouse.
Crossley, 46, is required to follow a curfew and be at his home in Kirkland at night. He is also required to deposit $10,000 before he can be released. He is not allowed to communicate with any of the witnesses who saw what happened inside the bar on Newman Blvd. before Arsenault struck his head after having fallen down a set of stairs. The victim died in hospital hours later.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Jacques Dagenais had said that the Crown objected to Crossley’s release and requested that Wednesday be set as a day for a bail hearing.
“After some discussions with the Crown (on Wednesday) we didn’t have to proceed with a bail hearing. The Crown set the conditions and he is able to follow them,” said defence lawyer Gilbert Frigon.
Crossley is also not allowed to consume alcohol or medication unless it is prescribed to him while he is released. He is also required to stay away from bars and similar establishments unless he is present to order a meal. Prosecutor Alexandre Arel also told Crossley that he is not allowed to go “where drugs are known to be sold.”
Frigon said Crossley is currently not working because he was recently hospitalized twice. According to Crossley’s Facebook page, he has worked in recent months as a DJ and hosted karaoke events at bars. In August, he posted a message stating that he had a booth at a festival held on Monkland Ave. in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. In another posting, filed a little more than a week before Arsenault was killed, Crossley expressed his admiration for Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec and wrote: “Much love for (Max Pacioretty) but wish (Plekanec) was our captain.”
In 1989, Crossley struck Victor Davis, a gold medal winning swimmer on the Canadian Olympic team in 1984, while he was behind the wheel of a friend’s Honda Civic in Ste-Anne de Bellevue. He left the scene of the accident and Davis died of brain damage two days later. Crossley served a 10-month prison term for the hit-and-run accident.
Frigon told reporters that Crossley’s previous conviction should not have played a role in whether he should have been released while charged with manslaughter.
“You have to understand the past crime was (27) years ago. So it’s very old and he did his time back then. And you have to remember that it was leaving the scene (of an accident) causing death. It wasn’t anything like a manslaughter (charge),” Frigon said.
The case returns to court on March 30. Frigon said he will use the time between now and then to examine the evidence and determine whether he wants a preliminary inquiry for his client or that it proceed straight to a trial.
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