Quebec Court of Appeals Denies Double Killer’s Request for New Trial

On October 19, 2019, a jury found Ugo Fredette guilty of the first degree murder of his estranged spouse and a 71-year-old man.

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A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals rejected his offer on Friday.

On October 19, 2019, a jury found Fredette guilty of the first-degree murder of Véronique Barbe, his estranged wife, and Yvon Lacasse, a 71-year-old man. Fredette killed Lacasse at a rest stop in Lachute after he killed Barbe. He stole Lacasse’s car because he had fled Barbe’s home with a six-year-old boy and descriptions of his vehicle had been broadcast and published by the media after the Sûreté du Québec issued an Amber Alert.

He was captured the next day in Ontario.

Fredette’s attorney, Sylvain Comtois, argued before the Court of Appeals in September that Judge Myriam Lachance was wrong in her directives to the jury at the end of the trial. The judge told jurors that they had to consider other charges against Fredette, in addition to the two murder charges, but that they did not have to be unanimous in their judgment of those infractions, only on the premeditated murder verdict.

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Comptois argued that jurors must be unanimous on all counts to reach a verdict. The Court of Appeals decision, signed by Judge Patrick Healy, rejected the motion.

In the decision, Healy wrote that the jury “did not have to be unanimous on all the facts and every piece of evidence. To arrive at their verdict, certain jurors may base their verdict on certain facts or evidence, while others may use other facts or evidence. This principle has been established for a long time. “

Judge Lachance sentenced Fredette to prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, despite the prosecution seeking a minimum of 50 years, with consecutive sentences of 25 years for each murder. He had to wait for a decision before the Court of Appeal in the case of Alexandre Bissonnette, responsible for the murder of six people in a mosque in Quebec City, who was appealing his 40-year sentence without parole. In November 2020, the Court of Appeals reversed that decision, saying it was unconstitutional and reduced Bissonnette’s sentence to 25 years.

That decision is on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. A decision is expected next year. Meanwhile, the prosecution in Fredette’s case continues to ask for a 50-year sentence and is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision to decide whether or not to continue with her lawsuit.