A murderer wants to accelerate his release

A murderer involved in a home invasion that claimed the lives of an elderly couple in 1994 in Val-Bélair hopes to regain his freedom sooner than expected by presenting a request for judicial review before a jury this week.

Shawn Denver-Lambert was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years in 2008. He would normally be eligible for parole on October 6, 2028, having been in custody since his arrest in 2003.

But the convicted person presented a “last chance” request to the Quebec courthouse. This judicial review procedure allows an inmate to appear before a jury to try to convince them to reduce his period of ineligibility and thus, perhaps become a free man again sooner. (See box)

“In the Canadian system, release is permitted. And so hope is what remains for the detainees,” underlined the applicant’s lawyer, Me Pierre Tabah, in his opening statement Monday morning.

Beaten to death

The crime for which Shawn Denver-Lambert has been languishing in prison for 21 years dates back to April 8, 1994. That evening, with his accomplice Pierre Lévesque, the criminal showed up at the home of an elderly couple in Val-Bélair in order to commit theft there.

Arriving on the scene and noting the presence of Maurille Lepage and his wife Béatrice Lavoie at the house, the two criminals nevertheless chose to force entry. The altercation that followed was fatal for the two victims, found tied up the day after the tragedy.

Ms. Lavoie, 75, died at the scene, while her 83-year-old partner died from his injuries 12 days later.

Denver-Lambert was found guilty of the first degree murder of the man, who was hit in the head with the butt of a 12-gauge rifle. Pierre Lévesque was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for his involvement in the death. of Mr. Lepage, as well as the premeditated murder of Béatrice Lavoie. The septuagenarian had been beaten to death using a cheerleader’s baton.

Arrested 9 years after the murders

Denver-Lambert has undergone two trials in connection with this case and Lévesque, three, due to decisions of the Court of Appeal. Each time, they were found guilty.

The duo was arrested in 2003, nine years after the double murder, when a former girlfriend of Denver-Lambert contacted authorities to provide information that incriminated the two men.

Selected in the morning, the 12 jurors who will have to decide the case were quickly put to work with the reading of a complete report of the applicant’s case by the correctional services. Seven witnesses will then appear, including the murderer himself.

“You are going to hear about his life, his family, his studies, his delinquency, his crimes,” said Me Tabah.

“I can affirm that I am no longer a violent person and that I no longer represent a danger to society,” wrote Shawn Denver-Lambert in his petition initially filed in 2018.

The public prosecutor, represented by Me Geneviève Lacroix, will, for its part, hear from a niece of the victims.

The applicant’s accomplice, Pierre Lévesque, has already benefited from the faint hope clause, a jury having subtracted five years from his period of ineligibility in 2021.

Judicial Review of Eligibility for Parole

• Abolished by the Conservative government on December 2, 2011, eligible only for crimes committed before that date
• The offender must have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
• He must have served a minimum of 15 years of detention
• The procedure takes place before a jury to whom the applicant presents his life story and his progress in detention since the crime.
• If the request is accepted, the jury decides the number of years that can be subtracted
• The final decision to release an offender rests with the parole board. The revision reduces the number of years before you can submit an application, but does not guarantee that it will be accepted by the commission.