It has been confirmed by at least one investigator that the latter deleted emails relevant to the investigation
we read in documents obtained by Radio-Canada.
Examinations prior to the civil lawsuit brought by the Bettez family against the provincial police force revealed that the former team leader of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Michel Perron, would not have archived or placed the emails concerning the murder of Cédrika Provencher in the investigation file.
Mr. Perron investigated both the disappearance and the murder of Cédrika Provencher. He was also a team leader in the child pornography case.
Jonathan Bettez was facing 10 counts of possessing, distributing and accessing child pornography.
The work of the police was criticized by the court, which called their actions abusive and invalidated their search warrants. Jonathan Bettez was acquitted of all such charges.
Considered one of the suspects at the time of the kidnapping of Cédrika Provencher, the Trifluvien believes that the police have ruined his life and his career. He is asking for $10 million. The contractor has never been charged with anything in connection with this case.
In my case the emails were just not archived
argued Michel Perron in an excerpt of stenographic notes from October 19, 2021.
Quite simply, emails, I don’t remember putting any email exchange inside the folder itself
he testified.
The emails, what’s happened since, did you delete them or…?
asked M.and Jessy Héroux, lawyer representing the Bettez family.
Clearly yes
replied Michel Perron.
Copies of emails may have been saved on the Sûreté du Québec server. But as is often the case, backup copies are overwritten after a while.
Cédrika Provencher was reported missing in July 2007. Her bones were found in December 2015. It is not known how long the backup copies are kept.
Mand Jessy Héroux requests that the judge authorize her to question the investigator Dominic Forget.
Objections
For their part, the prosecutors of the Sûreté du Québec want the judge to circumscribe the scope of the interrogation of the investigator Forget. Lawyers for the police and the Attorney General of Quebec want to ensure the confidentiality of certain elements.
In addition, they object to certain questions relating to other suspects or persons of interest in the Cédrika Provencher case. The prosecutors do not want it to be a question of the police steps taken with these people.
The Attorney General of Quebec will argue to the judge that the investigation is still ongoing, that the police techniques must not be revealed and that the disclosure of the wiretap collected during the investigation would go against the right to private life.
These objections are likely to give rise to a debate between the parties.
No trial before 2023
After two postponements requested by the lawyers of the two parties, the delays continue to accumulate in this complex file.
Among the steps that are delayed, Mand Jessy Héroux cites the submission of staffing and operations plans for the SQ of August 29 and 30, 2016, dates of the arrest of Jonathan Bettez and the searches at Emballages Bettez, the company he ran.
The plans were requested on October 19, 2021. The operations plan was received six months later. As for the staffing plan, Me Héroux is still waiting for it.
The two parties are awaiting the assignment of a judge to the case to coordinate the next steps.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca