The former president of a construction company admitted on Monday that he killed Laval resident Domenico Iacono three years ago because he felt the homicide victim was shaking him down for money in a failed attempt to flip real estate.
According to a joint statement of facts presented to Superior Court Justice Lyne Décarie at the Montreal courthouse, André Michel Boyer, 59, also tried to dispose of Iacono’s body because he believed he had ties to the Montreal Mafia, based on apparently baseless allegations a mutual acquaintance made weeks before the victim was stabbed 32 times.
Boyer, who had been on Quebec’s Ten Most Wanted list, was initially charged with first-degree murder and with causing an indignity to Iacono’s body. Décarie accepted Boyer’s guilty plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter.
The statement of facts is based mostly on Boyer’s version of events, but it was supported by statements from other witnesses, including one who said Iacono was pressuring Boyer to pay $100,000 that Boyer had no legal obligation to pay after he failed to generate investors to buy a parcel of land in Laval.
On June 3, 2015, Boyer was introduced to owners of the Laval property. They were purportedly planning to renovate the building on it, but a week later, Boyer was informed the owners were interested in selling the property instead. He admitted to police that he signed an offer to buy the property on Aug. 20, 2015.
Boyer told the police that when he wanted to back out of the offer weeks later, Iacono, a partner in the offer, claimed he was owed $100,000. The mutual acquaintance quoted Iacono as having told Boyer: “Look, I’m not going to be taken as a fool. We brought you to the table. You still have to pay a sales commission.”
Domenico Iacono, 56, had been convicted of fraud in the past before he got involved with André Michel Boyer in a real-estate scheme.
According to Boyer’s version of events, on Oct. 26, 2015, Iacono insisted on meeting him at Boyer’s St-Léonard home and having a conversation inside the building where Boyer was renovating his duplex’s basement, using tools that included a knife and a screwdriver.
Boyer said he presented Iacono with documents that he hoped would extend his offer to buy the property, but Iacono insisted he be paid.
Boyer quoted Iacono, who had been convicted of fraud in the past, as having said: “You seem to be a nice guy. I’ll give you a break. You can pay the $100,000 on a monthly basis.” He also said Iacono flew into a rage and tossed the documents he presented to him in the air. Boyer said he asked Iacono to leave his home and tried to run away when Iacono’s anger grew. Boyer said he slipped on one of the pieces of paper Iacono tossed in the air and was lying on the floor when he saw Iacono come at him with a screwdriver. and grabbed a knife
Boyer claims he can only recall having stabbed Iacono once or twice.
“He states that he can remember nothing else. When he ‘woke up’ he noticed Iacono bleeding on the floor, the knife in his back, and (Boyer) was on top of him,” the lawyers wrote in the statement of facts.
Boyer admitted he wrapped Iacono’s body in a canvas, placed it in the trunk of the victim’s Mercedes and parked it several blocks away from his home. Iacono was reported as missing the following day and his Mercedes was located on Oct. 29, 2015, on Désy St.
Boyer’s wife told the police that he travelled to the U.S., Costa Rica and Japan before he returned to Canada and surrendered to police in January 2016.
Boyer’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July.