The jury did not believe the self-defense theory of a Terrebonne man and found him guilty of the murder of his friend of the last fifteen years over a love triangle story.
Simon Décarie remained impassive, with his arms crossed, when a juror uttered the word “guilty of second degree murder” for having killed Maxime Villeneuve. The jury deliberated a little more than two days before rendering this verdict at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
The 29-year-old construction contractor, however, faced the most serious charge in the Criminal Code, premeditated murder. But the twelve citizens who deliberated on his fate instead found him guilty of second-degree murder.
The accused Simon Décarie.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE COURT
As the deliberations are secret, it will not be possible to know why.
Décarie still automatically receives life in prison. A judge will determine the number of years he must serve before he can apply for parole. The period can vary between 10 and 25 years.
He asked for forgiveness
On October 6, 2021, victim Maxime Villeneuve sent a text message to Décarie to ask for forgiveness for his new relationship. The 27-year-old man had just started dating his ex-girlfriend, Maïté Hébert.
Décarie, who was having dinner at home with his friends when he received this message, got up from the table and said: “I have something to do, I am leaving and I will come back. » He went to Maxime Villeneuve, in Blainville.
Photo of the scene on 61st Avenue, in Blainville, where Maxime Villeneuve, 27, was killed on October 6, 2021.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE COURT
We will never know the content of the words exchanged between Décarie and his victim that evening. But the jury clearly did not believe the version offered by the accused during his trial.
He claimed he shot and stabbed his friend in self-defense. During his testimony, Décarie affirmed under oath that Maxime Villeneuve pointed a rifle in his direction After opening the door of his home.
After managing to disarm him, he shot the person who was coming towards him with a knife, the accused said.
Remember that Maxime Villeneuve was shot and stabbed several times, including to the heart.
Confessions
After the murder, Décarie confessed what he had just done to a childhood friend and to his ex-girlfriend. “You have a murder on your back,” he wrote to Maïté Hébert in a text message.
A firearm found by the police in the trunk of the suspect’s Mazda3, which was seized on rue des Pommiers, in Blainville.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE COURT
Décarie was obviously ready to do anything to make the traces of his crime disappear: he offered $500 to a friend to hide the firearm, which he had left in the trunk of his car abandoned on the side of a street in Blainville.
His plan failed since it was the police who finally found the weapon as well as a bloody knife in a cedar hedge.
The accused was also helped by his brother Bryan Décarie to hide from the police. He was finally arrested 28 hours after the sordid murder of his best friend.
