CALGARY | The father-in-law of a young woman murdered in Alberta in 2002 let the wolf into the sheepfold when he hired Quebecer Stéphane Parent, now accused of the murder of the 21-year-old waitress, as manager of his bar athletic.
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Although John McGee told her that he should not have any intimate relationship with the other employees of Studio 82, Parent started dating Adrienne McColl around the turn of the year 2000. The 21-year-old blonde worked there as a waitress.
Listening to his heart rather than his head and his principles, the businessman nevertheless decided not to fire his new manager, he later explained to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant in an interview. recorded.
Since Mr. McGee died more than 10 years ago, part of this interview was presented this week to the jury of eight men and four women responsible for the fate of the 53-year-old Quebecer.
Murder on Valentine’s Day
Stéphane Parent is currently on trial at the Calgary courthouse for the unpremeditated murder of his girlfriend, which occurred on Valentine’s Day in 2002.
If his relationship with Adrienne McColl seems to have started on a good basis, the mood quickly turned sour, according to what Crown Attorney Mr.e Shane Parker, during his opening statement.
Parent and the young woman, 12 years her junior, quarreled frequently, especially at work, said several of the couple’s colleagues.
At one point, the lovebirds both quit their jobs at Studio 82, causing them serious financial problems.
They lost the beautiful condo they had bought and had to make up their minds to move to an old rented house.
Then, when the young woman gave birth to a stillborn baby in the fall of 2001, Parent “got the hell out of Montreal,” John McGee told Sergeant Daniel MacLean, adding that his daughter-in-law had returned by then. live with him.
Then, Parent would have returned to Alberta a few weeks later.
Ruin his life
” [Adrienne] still saw him. I know it. I said to her, “Honey, you’re 21. I can’t tell you what to do. I can just tell you that I don’t want him [Stéphane Parent] in my house. You do what you want, but this guy is ruining your life, ”McGee blurted out.
Four days after the death of his daughter-in-law, he even told Sergeant MacLean that Parent “had taken everything away” from the young woman, starting with her many friends.
“I was mad at the guy. I loved my daughter-in-law. He was ruining his life and I couldn’t stop him, ”he continued.
The jury is still out as to why Mr. McGee hated Parent so much. About half of her original statement has been redacted as a result of rulings by Justice Charlene S. Anderson.
“She kept coming back to him. There was always some trouble, ”summed up John McGee.
WHAT THE CROWN WANTS TO SHOW
Here is an overview of what we should hear in the coming weeks at the trial of Stéphane Parent, which our Investigation Office will follow from Calgary.
- Adrienne McColl and Stéphane Parent were in a relationship for about a year and a half or two. Their relationship was strewn with bickering, interspersed with moments of happiness.
- Relatives of the young woman described a climate of domestic violence, including an episode of strangulation that would have occurred at work.
- A few months before his death, Mme McColl returned to live with her stepfather, John McGee, but she continued to hang out with Parent.
- On February 13, 2002, the couple attended the courthouse in the morning. They were seen having a heated discussion.
- Meanwhile, Parent’s car – in which he lived – was towed away.
- Adrienne McColl was reportedly strangled on Valentine’s Day. She was also said to have received several blows to the head, to the point of fracturing her skull.
- Even before sunrise the next day, Parent allegedly jumped on a plane, with a cash ticket, to Ottawa, without luggage.
- He would have rented a hotel room at the Byward Market, paid for in cash.
- On February 17, 2002, John McGee returned from a golf trip to the United States. His car and his daughter-in-law had vanished.
- The Mercury Marquis was later found at the Calgary airport. Inside, a February 15 parking ticket and the victim’s favorite sandals.
- Not far from the vehicle, the police found jeans with Parent’s DNA inside the pockets, and Mr.me McColl on one leg.
- That same day, a ranch owner living 45 minutes south of Calgary discovered the young woman’s body swaddled in a sheet. She was barefoot.
- Underneath the corpse were blue garbage bags from which Parent’s print was said to have been taken.
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