MONTREAL – The accused killer who allegedly ruined the Parti Quebecois election-night celebration surfaced again Wednesday – speaking out from his jailhouse just as the new government was being sworn in.
Montreal radio stations reported receiving a call from Richard Henry Bain, from his detention centre’s infirmary, to air his political views.
He told CJAD that he believed Montreal should separate from Quebec and become its own province. The radio station said that phone call lasted 38 minutes, but it chose to only run a brief snippet of the interview on the air to avoid giving him a political platform.
It said he refused to answer questions about the Sept. 4 shooting outside the PQ rally that wounded one man and killed Denis Blanchette, a 48-year-old lighting technician.
In a clip that aired, Bain is heard sharing his vision that Montreal should separate from the rest of Quebec because, in his opinion, that might help ensure greater harmony between anglophones, allophones and francophones.
The radio station reported that he said it was a message from God.
“My vision is that the island of Montreal separates to become its own province,” he said.
The station also reported that Bain’s legal-aid attorney, Elfriede Duclervil, said her client was seen by a psychiatrist recently and that the doctor indicated that he was “not doing very well.”
The station said Bain placed the call from the east-end jail without his lawyer’s knowledge.
CJAD reported that Duclervil said there is some question as to whether Bain will be fit to stand trial.
“We need more information – certainly the psychiatrist is going to want more information, more meetings with Mr. Bain,” said Duclervil, who was reportedly surprised that her client got access to a telephone.
The radio station said Bain initially refused to identify himself, but was eventually persuaded to do so.
“My name is Richard Henry Bain,” he said, before being asked where he was calling from.
“The detention centre in Riviere-des-Prairies.”
The journalist who spoke with Bain said he put the phone down several times during the call to fetch documents from his cell, so he could give her more precise information. He reportedly told her that he gets five hours of free time daily to move freely outside his cell.
The station said it called Bain’s lawyer to confirm that it was indeed him on the phone. The Canadian Press also left messages with the lawyer, seeking to verify the authenticity of the phone call, but she did not immediately reply.
The clip aired at 4 p.m., around the same time the new PQ government was swearing in its cabinet. The radio station said it ran the clip late in the day because it wanted to make sure it was really Bain on the other end of the line.
The businessman faces a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting that took place only metres from where PQ premier-elect Pauline Marois was giving her victory speech.
Marois was sworn in today as the 30th premier of Quebec – and is the very first woman to hold the job in that province.
Bain also faces 15 other charges – including three counts of attempted murder and arson in the attack outside the Montreal nightclub.
His next court appearance is set for Oct. 11.
Prosecutors said Bain, 62, legally owns nearly two dozen guns and had five weapons with him when he attempted to enter the theatre on election night.
Wearing a mask and a bathrobe, Bain shouted that the, “English are waking up,” as officers escorted him to a police cruiser after his arrest.
Bain operated a fishing lodge near the Mont-Tremblant vacation area north of Montreal.
Those who know him say he was obsessed with expanding his business and he feared that he could lose out financially if the Liberal government lost power.
A close friend said Bain believed he would secure crucial permits to build his business from Liberal contacts.
The PQ narrowly defeated the Liberals to win a minority government.
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