Quebec provincial police have cracked a cold case nearly three decades after the disappearance and killing of a young girl in a Montreal suburb.
Réal Courtemanche, a 61-year-old inmate with 89 criminal convictions, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in connection with the 1994 death of Marie-Chantale Desjardins.
The suspect was arrested at La Macaza Institution, the prison where he was already detained, in Quebec’s Laurentians region. Courtemanche is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of Marie-Chantale, who was just 10 years old when she went missing in Ste-Thérèse.
The victim was last seen alive on July 16, 1994 after leaving a friend’s house at the end of the day in the community northwest of Montreal.
The cold case file reports that Marie-Chantale first left home around 9:30 a.m. on her bicycle and she was seen in the afternoon at a local snack bar that she often frequented.
Marie-Chantale was in the third grade at a Blainville elementary school at the time of her death, according to police. She had just moved with her mother and half-brother to Ste-Thérèse a few weeks earlier to live with her mother’s partner.
Marie-Chantale’s mother reported her daughter’s disappearance to local police. Four days later, Marie-Chantale’s body was found in a wooded area behind a shopping centre in the neighbouring community of Rosemère.
Nearly 30 years later, authorities say Courtemanche’s arrest in Marie-Chantale’s killing was made possible due to innovative methods in forensic biology by Quebec’s crime lab.
Crown prosecutor Alexandre Dubois told reporters that while there was a breakthrough in the case, investigators “never stopped working” to solve Marie-Chantale’s murder. Last month, authorities met with Courtemanche in prison.
“A breakthrough in the scientific evidence permitted the Crown to file one count of first-degree murder against him,” Dubois said, adding he could not provide more details since the findings will be presented at trial.
Courtemanche appeared before a judge Tuesday afternoon in St-Jérôme, Que., northwest of Montreal. Donning a large, wooden crucifix around his neck, Courtemanche shook his head when the charge was read. He pleaded not guilty.
Marie-Chantale’s family members were in the courtroom for the brief appearance. Among them was Sylvie Desjardins, the victim’s mother.
The prosecutor described it as a “difficult step” for Marie-Chantale’s loved ones, but said it’s an important day in providing answers to the family
“These are people who are proof of a deep resilience,” Dubois said.
Courtemanche has been convicted of 89 criminal offences since 1981. In 2015, he was declared a dangerous offender and given an indeterminate sentence — which has no set end date — after his conviction for kidnapping a woman and assaulting her with a knife.
The accused’s next appearance in court is set for Jan. 17, 2024. Courtemanche’s legal aid lawyer said his client requested to stay at the same prison for safety reasons, given the nature of the charge.
— with files from Global’s Gloria Henriquez and The Canadian Press
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