A 51-year-old man is now facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of Marylène Lévesque, who was killed in a hotel in Sainte-Foy in January.
Eustachio Gallese appeared Monday morning at the Quebec courthouse where the Crown prosecutor obtained a stay of proceedings related to the original charge of second-degree murder in order to lay the new upgraded charge.
The rest of the proceedings have been set for next Thursday for the disclosure of the evidence.
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Lévesque’s death occurred while Gallese was on day parole. He was convicted in the murder of his wife in 2004 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He had also been previously convicted on acts of violence against another spouse.
The death of the 22-year-old young woman, a sex worker, caused an uproar, after it became known that Gallese was allowed to meet women for sexual purposes only. The Parole Board of Canada, however, qualified this strategy as inappropriate.
Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to Lévesque’s death.
— With files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise