The Crown pleads that Ugo Fredette "could not get out of the relationship"

(Saint-Jérôme) At the trial of Ugo Fredette, the Crown prosecutor began his argument on Friday morning arguing that the accused killed Véronique Barbe, because he could not accept their separation, because it did not correspond to "His needs" and "his little person".

Updated October 11, 2019 at 11:16 am Posted on October 11, 2019 at 7:38 am

Stéphanie Marin
The Canadian Press

"He could not get out of the relationship," said Crown Attorney M^e Steve Baribeau, to the members of the jury who listened attentively to the courthouse of Saint-Jérôme.

"He did not let go."

Ugo Fredette is also charged with the first-degree murder of Yvon Lacasse, a 71-year-old man. According to the prosecution theory, Fredette fled after the murder of Véronique Barbe on board her employer's truck. Since he was too easily identifiable on the roads of Quebec, he killed the septuagenarian to steal his car and continue his run more discreetly, argued M^e Baribeau.

The prosecutor has also attacked the accused's version of the facts and his credibility.

"Do you believe Ugo Fredette who says he does not remember anything as soon as Veronique Barbe grabbed a knife? Do you give credibility to that? "

The accused testified that on September 14, 2017, during a stormy quarrel, Véronique Barbe tried to push him down a staircase and grabbed a knife. The accused says he blocked the blow, but cut it off. Afterwards, he says he does not remember anything, until he has a "flash" of memory where he sees his ex-spouse on the kitchen floor, bathing in his blood.

"It will be up to you to decide whether you trust what Ugo Fredette told you, that he did not intend to kill her," said the lawyer to the jury members.

Fredette gave him 17 stab wounds, he said more than once.

And then, suggested to them M^e Baribeau, "if she seized a knife, can not you assume that it was because she feared for her safety because she was a victim of criminal harassment? "

The trial began in late September and the defense declared its case closed Monday morning.

The defense lawyer, M^e Louis-Alexandre Martin, for his part pleaded Thursday morning.

He did not ask the jury to whitewash the accused, but rather to find him guilty of manslaughter – not murder. He argued that Fredette had never intended to kill anyone on September 14, 2017.