The man who killed two people and wounded five others with sabers in Quebec City on Halloween night 2020 was found guilty of murder and attempted murder on Friday by Canadian justice.
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Carl Girouard, armed with a "katana-type" Japanese sword and dressed in a medieval disguise, had sown terror a year and a half ago by attacking people in the streets of the city on the evening of October 31. capital of the Canadian province of Quebec.
Two Frenchmen were among the wounded.
The man, now 26, had pleaded not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
After five days of deliberation, the 11 members of the jury unanimously found him guilty.
His sentence is not yet known and will be decided after June 10.
At a minimum, it will be life in prison with no possibility of release for 25 years.
“We are very happy for the members of the families of the victims who today will be able to turn the page and we hope to put a little balm on their wound”
, reacted the prosecutor François Godin when he left the courthouse after a month. of trial.
“Unfortunately it is too late for Suzanne Clermont and Mr.
(François)
Duchesne, it will not bring back our loved ones, but society will be protected
,” commented Suzanne Clermont’s sister-in-law, saying to herself
“really relieved”
.
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“I find it hard to rejoice in the misfortune of others, but I am very happy with this decision
,” reacted Lisa Mahmoud, a 26-year-old Frenchwoman who survived this attack.
This hairdresser who said she "
exchanged long looks"
with her assailant during the trial is still haunted by this attack, has so far failed to resume her professional activity, nor the full use of her injured hand.
For Carl Girouard's lawyer, this decision is a "great disappointment".
"The verdict is not aligned with the arguments we had submitted
," he told reporters, already announcing his intention to appeal.
Without a criminal record, Carl Girouard had sown terror in the streets of Old Quebec, looking for his victims in the streets of the city, little frequented due in particular to the pandemic of sars coronavirus which had limited the festivities of Halloween.
