Trials to follow in 2025

Quebec courthouses will be the scene of thousands of trials this year. Several femicide cases will be judged by jury. But one trial risks shaking up the province: that of the bus driver accused of driving into a daycare in Laval.

Frank Zampino

More than seven years after their arrest, Frank Zampino and his co-defendants will finally be tried. The trial of the former president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal and right-hand man of ex-mayor Gérald Tremblay is scheduled for mid-January. He is notably accused of conspiracy and corruption in connection with a system of sharing contracts in exchange for political contributions to the City. Mr. Zampino and all the accused benefited from a halt to the legal process in 2019. The Court of Appeal ordered a new trial in 2023.

Luck Wonder

Fallen artist Luck Mervil will return before a judge next February at the Rimouski courthouse. The singer-songwriter is accused of sexually assaulting a woman 25 years ago, when he was a popular star. “An error on the person”, swore Luck Mervil, in an interview with The Press in 2023. His trial is expected to last a week. The singer was sentenced to six months in house arrest in 2018 for sexually exploiting a 17-year-old girl.

Jacques Adonai Charpentier and Mélissa Estimé

Odna Daudier was found dead in her car in May 2022, in the Rivière-des-Prairies area. Her long-time ex-partner, Jacques Adonai Charpentier, and another woman, Mélissa Estimé, are accused of murdering the 31-year-old woman. Their jury trial is scheduled to begin in March at the Montreal courthouse. The victim feared Jacques Adonai Charpentier, according to relatives. For several weeks, the jury will examine the very specific circumstances surrounding this alleged femicide.

Pierre Ny St-Amand

Certainly THE trial of the year. Two years after the tragic death of two toddlers in a Laval daycare, Pierre Ny St-Amand will be judged by his peers in April at the Laval courthouse. He faces charges of first degree murder and attempted murder of other children. The Crown will have to prove that the bus driver intentionally drove into the daycare, and that he was of sound mind at the time.

Real Courtemanche

Another flagship trial of the spring: that of Réal Courtemanche, accused of having murdered Marie-Chantale Desjardins, a 10-year-old girl, in July 1994. This murder remained a mystery until the arrest, in 2023, of this 62-year-old man with a serious criminal past. The body of Marie-Chantale Desjardins was found in a wooded area near Place Rosemère. Scientific proof should be at the heart of this jury trial, scheduled for next May at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.

Antoine Coby

A jury will have to look into another alleged feminicide next September at the Montreal courthouse: that of Virginiemene Toussaint, a 42-year-old woman. Her ex-spouse, Antoine Coby, is accused of killing her in September 2022, when he was not allowed to approach her under a court order imposed in a court case. domestic violence.

Arthur Galarneau

The Rosemont neighborhood in Montreal was the scene of carnage in March 2023. Three members of a family were killed: Mylène Gingras, 53, Richard Galarneau, 53, and Francine Gingras-Boucher, 75. The triple murder trial of Arthur Galarneau, son and grandson of the victims, is scheduled before a jury in May at the Montreal courthouse. His mental state at the time of the facts risks being at the heart of the trial.