Cédric Larocque was found guilty late Thursday evening of second-degree murder for the violent death of Manuel Paradis, which occurred in a rooming house in Sainte-Foy in November 2022.
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Larocque’s trial began with his father, Dominic, as co-accused, before a request for separate trials was accepted by the judge.
The duo was accused of the premeditated murder of Manuel Paradis, who was beaten and stabbed to death in a violent altercation in his apartment. According to the Crown’s theory, the duo showed up at the victim’s house in the hours following an altercation that occurred between the father and Paradis.
The attack would thus have been motivated by revenge and would have been planned according to the public prosecutor.
However, the jury made a different reading of the events, finding Larocque guilty of second degree murder.
Photo taken from Facebook
Short deliberation
This verdict therefore means that the 12 jurors who participated in the deliberation believe that Larocque had not planned to kill Manuel Paradis, but that he was aware that the attack inflicted could result in his death.
Taken from Manuel Paradis’ Facebook
Their verdict came shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday evening, after a few hours of deliberation.
The defense, for its part, argued for a verdict of manslaughter, considering that Larocque, although he wanted to “go and send a message to the victim”, had no intention of killing him.
Me Mathieu Giroux had raised the fact that nothing in the prosecution’s evidence made it possible to conclude whether Dominic or Cédric Larocque had delivered the fatal blow, speaking of “a fight that had gone wrong”.
Violent attack
Surveillance cameras from the building showed the duo, accompanied by a third minor, heading towards the victim’s apartment, hooded. Cédric Larocque also concealed along his body what was, according to the prosecution, a baseball bat.
When the father identified himself as the building manager, Manuel Paradis opened the door to his attackers.
Images of the crime scene presented as evidence made it possible to assess the violence of the attack. The small, messy apartment was stained with blood in several places and knives and a baseball bat smashed in two were also visible.
Provided by the Court
Life imprisonment
Guilty of second-degree murder, Cédric Larocque was automatically sentenced to life imprisonment, as provided for in the Criminal Code. It will now remain to be decided on the period of ineligibility for an application for conditional release, set at a minimum of 10 years.
This period would have automatically been 25 years if he had been convicted of premeditated murder.
Judge François Huot will hear the parties and decide this question next week.
As for the father, Dominic Larocque, his case will return to Superior Court in September for his trial to be scheduled.
