Life in prison for Ottawa man guilty of beating his wife to death

The man accused of brutally murdering the mother of his children in Ottawa in the spring of 2022 has been found guilty of first-degree murder. The verdict came late Friday after a trial that lasted six weeks.

After months of abuse, threats, manipulation and control from her partner, Marie Mimi Gabriel, 24, couldn’t take it anymore.

She asked Jean-Bruno Bern Fenelon, then aged 40, to leave the Ottawa home where she had moved with their two young children with the help of social services. She had been in a relationship with this man 16 years her senior since she was 17.

However, Mr. Fenelon didn’t want to hear anything and wanted to fight with her, according to a text message she sent to the other man she was seeing.

Marie Gabriel also called her best friend, Norlande Tassy, ​​who was the last person to hear her voice.

Get the hell out of my house! she heard her scream. Then, nothing more.

It was the morning of March 26, 2022. Two days later, police found the young woman’s body in the basement in a pool of dried blood.

It was personalsays the Crown

Late Friday night, in a dark and almost deserted courthouse, a jury of nine women and three men found Mr. Fenelon guilty of first-degree murder. His trial in Ottawa Superior Court lasted six weeks.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

The jury thus sided with the Crown, which maintains that the 40-year-old man, in a fit of jealousy, struck the young mother twice in the head using a dumbbell. of 30 pounds. They were almost instantly fatal.

Prior to this, Mr. Fenelon had punched, dragged and chased her into the basement, as evidenced by the bloody prints his bare feet left on the concrete.

The fatal blows were delivered with a great forceworthy of a car accident or a fall from several stories, said Dallas Mackthe Crown lawyer, during the closing arguments. According to him, it is a clear indicator of the hatred that Mr. Fenelon had for Marie Gabriel. It was personaladded Me Mack.

Evidence recovered by police

Mr. Fenelon got rid of his clothes and boots stained with Marie Gabriel’s blood on Petrie Island in Ottawa. Investigators from the homicide division managed to find them after a few days of searching, thanks to geolocation data from the accused’s cell phone.

It was Mr. Fenelon who called 911 two days later to report that he had found Marie Gabriel’s body. The latter then claimed to have made this discovery while going to drop the children off at her house.

In convicting him, the jury did not accept the defense lawyer’s theory, Ari Goldkindwho argued that the Crown had failed to prove his client’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

During the trial, Mr. Goldkind affirmed that Mr. Fenelon had nothing to hide about the nature toxic of his relationship with Marie Gabriel. The accused also repeated to investigators that he had nothing to do with the crime and that he could never have killed the mother of his children.

Anger and guilt

Friday in the courtroom, members of the jury as well as many people in the audience cried when the statements of Marie Gabriel’s relatives were read.

Fatou Gabriel, the victim’s mother, said she felt guilty for not having done more to protect her daughter. It kills me every day […]it hurts me to the bone […]it keeps me up at nightshe wrote in her statement.

She says she asked her daughter to come home repeatedlybut that the latter had refused because she was afraid de M. Fenelon.

During the trial, Marie Gabriel’s older brother, David Gabriel, hoped to see remorse from Mr. Fenelon. But these last few weeks have only confirmed to me that you are a sadistic sociopathhe blurted.

You have earned your place behind bars, deprived of your liberty, and there is no better fate for someone who acted with such senseless brutalityadded Ibn Stonethe victim’s youngest brother.

It was the right thing to do

Outside the courthouse, just before midnight, the family was relieved at the guilty verdict.

It was the right thing to dodeclared Andy Stonethe father of Marie Gabriel. Twelve honest, honest, honest people: they were not fooled. [Les jurés] did not believe [aux] lies [de M. Fenelon].

The bereaved father has a message for women victims of violence:

If you are with a man and he is verbally or physically aggressive, run away. Don’t tell yourself that you will forgive him and that he won’t do it again, because he will do it again. Run away.

And parents, listen to your children… Because you don’t want to find yourself in my position. I’m here talking to you while my daughter is dead.

With information from Kristy Nease of CBC News