Police block a road after they arrested a man in connection with a sword attack, in Quebec City, on Nov. 1, 2020.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
The man charged in connection with the Halloween night sword attack in Quebec City appeared briefly before a judge Thursday and will see his case return to court in two weeks.
Carl Girouard, 24, appeared virtually in a Quebec City courtroom from the detention centre where he’s been held since the weekend attacks that left two dead and five injured. Mr. Girouard, from the off-island Montreal suburb of Ste-Thérèse, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
His case was put off until Nov. 20 and prior to then, the Crown will disclose evidence to Mr. Girouard’s lawyer, Benoît Labrecque. Prosecutor François Godin said about 80 per cent of the evidence should be disclosed by the next court date.
Quebec court Judge René de la Sablonnière granted Mr. Godin’s request to lift the publication ban on the identities of four of the five victims who survived the attack. The ban on the fifth victim remains. The people killed were François Duchesne, 56, a museum employee, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, a hairdresser.
Mr. Girouard, sporting a moustache and long brown hair, seemed to be listening intently during the brief hearing, using a headset. He replied in a clear voice when questioned by the judge if he understood what was going on.
A man dressed in a medieval costume and wielding a Japanese-style sword went on a rampage late Saturday night before being chased down on foot and arrested by police a few hours later.
Quebec City police chief Robert Pigeon told a news conference on Sunday the attacker allegedly swung a katana-like sword at randomly chosen victims “with the clear intention of taking as many victims as possible.” Chief Pigeon said the suspect had no known criminal record but said that during an unspecified “medical context,” about five years ago, the suspect had allegedly shared plans to commit a similar crime.
Mr. Godin told reporters outside the courtroom the presumption is the Mr. Girouard is of sound mind, but said the defence will be able to raise the issue of the suspect’s mental health later in the proceedings.
“In the Criminal Code there is a presumption that people are deemed to be sane,” Mr. Godin told reporters. “If ever Mr. Girouard intends to assert a defence to this effect, he will be able to do so at the appropriate time.”
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. In 2011, the Criminal Code was amended to allow the court to impose consecutive periods of parole ineligibility when there are multiple murder convictions.
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