A Quebec lady is respiration a sigh of aid after murder expenses have been lastly laid in reference to the killing of her teenage daughter, Guylaine Potvin, 22 years in the past.
Marc-Andrew Gagnon, 47, of Granby, Que., was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault in the cold case, sooner or later after Quebec provincial police arrested him in the cold case.
Potvin, a 19-year-old junior faculty pupil, was discovered useless in her house in Jonquiere, Que., north of Quebec City, on April 28, 2000.
Court information present he was additionally charged with the tried murder and sexual assault of one other lady who was violently assaulted and left for useless in Quebec City the identical 12 months. That sufferer’s id is protected by a publication ban.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) arrested Grenon in Granby on Wednesday. He will stay in police custody till his case returns to court docket subsequent month.
Potvin’s household additionally appeared by videoconference in the course of the court docket look Thursday morning. They instructed Noovo Info they have been shocked to listen to police had made an arrest 22 years after the killing of their daughter.
“We always hoped that this day would come,” mentioned Jeannine Caouette, Potvin’s mom, regardless of the problem she described of re-opening outdated wounds.
“[The Crown] would like to highlight the resilience of the victim,” mentioned prosecutor Pierre-Alexandre Bernard.
“And as well the family of the victim, Guylaine Potvin. They have lived with the numerous daily consequences for more than 20 years.”
Bernard mentioned there’s a massive quantity of paperwork that each the prosecution and defence should leaf by because the case unfolds.
Grenon’s arrest is the results of an investigation carried out by Quebec’s cold case police squad – the division’s first since its workers and price range have been expanded in 2018.
Provincial police introduced that 12 months they might enhance the squad from 5 officers to just about 30 in order to sort out lots of of murders and suspected murders courting again to the Sixties, however as of this summer season, that they had but to resolve a single one.
“It was an answer that we had been waiting on for a long time,” mentioned Bruno Cormier, one of many authentic officers assigned to the case, who’s now retired. He says police questioned lots of of individuals and took DNA samples from many.
With information from CTV Montreal’s Caroline Van Vlaardingen, Noovo Info, and The Canadian Press.