JUSTICE. Three years after being sentenced to life in prison, murderer Marina Bonard will be entitled to a new trial in November 2025 in connection with the murder of her father in 2019.
Marina Bonard had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of her father Jean Bonard, who died at age 76.
In October 2024, the Quebec Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for the 41-year-old Drummondville woman.
The Court indicates that new evidence lifts the veil on an unknown factual situation when Ms. Bonard admitted her guilt.
In 2022, according to the court, the accused could probably not admit guilt in an informed manner.
Marina Bonard was eligible for parole after 10 years.
-In the fall of 2021, Ms. Bonard underwent a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she was criminally responsible or not. “We tried for a long time to understand her situation,” explained Ms. Bonard’s lawyer, Catherine-Valérie Levasseur, at the time.
According to the information shared at the Drummondville courthouse at that time, the psychiatrist from the Philippe-Pinel Institute concluded “that there is no indication to apply article 16 of the Criminal Code and that there is no evidence of psychosis in the accused.”
Ms. Bonard suffers from the autism spectrum and has intellectual potential within normal limits.
The trial, scheduled for four weeks, should be held next November at the Drummondville courthouse before judge and jury.
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