Two men who made headlines when they used a helicopter to escape from a detention centre near Quebec City four years ago saw their trial, on six charges related to three homicides, begin Thursday at the Gouin courthouse in northern Montreal.
A jury selected weeks ago returned to the courthouse for the first time to hear Justice Éliane Perreault’s preliminary instructions in the trial of Yves Denis, 38, and Denis Lefebvre, 57, who are charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. The homicides occurred between April 2009 and May 2010 in three different parts of Quebec. Both men are also charged with taking part in conspiracies that led up to each homicide.
The case is not related to how, on June 7, 2014, Denis, Lefebvre and a third man escaped from the Quebec City Detention Centre, but were arrested several days later.
The jury is currently composed of 16 people — six women and 10 man — but Perreault advised them that two jurors will be excluded before the Crown makes its opening statement on Thursday next week. The jury will proceed with 14 jurors, as opposed to the usual 12, because of the unusual length the trial is expected to last. For example, Perreault advised the jury that she plans to give them three weeks of vacation in July.
Denis Lefebvre, 57, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. Photo: Sûreté du Québec
“You will reach your decision (on verdicts) based uniquely on what you hear in this courtroom,” Perreault said after telling the jury they cannot research news stories about the accused on the internet or through other means.
She also informed the jury that the Gouin courthouse, located in front of the Montreal Detention Centre on Gouin Blvd., is isolated when it comes to seeking out a restaurant for a quick lunch. She said it is likely that, by next week, arrangements will be made to address the issue.
As part of a standard set of instructions, she reminded the jury that the burden is on the Crown to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused are guilty of the charges they face and that Denis and Lefebvre are presumed innocent.
“They do not have to prove anything,” Perreault said.
One count alleges Denis and Lefebvre were part of a conspiracy to assault someone in April 2009. One of the people alleged to be part of the same conspiracy was Denis’s half-brother, Benoît Denis. The apparent target of the assault was Kevin Walter, a man who was beaten to death on April 15, 2009, in Val d’Or. Denis and Lefebvre are charged with manslaughter by causing Walter’s death.
Benoît Denis was later murdered, on May 13, 2010, in St-Alphonse Rodriguez, a town near Joliette. Denis and Lefebvre are charged with the first-degree murder of Benoît Denis and with having conspired to kill him between April 1, 2010, and the day he was murdered.
The accused are also charged with the first-degree murder of Johnny Coutu, a 39-year-old man who died shortly after he was shot in Laval near a house where he was residing in the Chomedey district, in July 2009. Denis and Lefebvre are also accused of conspiring to kill Coutu along with Benoît Denis.