Lachine man admits to killing girlfriend’s son
Argument during bout of heavy drinking led to attack with homemade spear
A 44-year-old Lachine resident put a halt to his upcoming jury trial at the Montreal courthouse by admitting he stabbed his girlfriend and killed her son with a spear ter a day of heavy drinking nearly three years ago.
Philippe Gloutney appeared before Quebec Superior Court Justice François Dadour on Tuesday as notices were about to be sent out to potential jurors for a trial expected to begin in a few weeks. Although he was initially charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lee-Christopher Larocque, and the attempted murder of Christine Brooks, Larocque’s mother, Gloutney was able to plead guilty to the reduced charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.
This was after lawyers on both sides of the case agreed Gloutney was heavily intoxicated on Nov. 6, 2015, when he attacked the victims with a spear he had made. A sample of his blood seized three hours after police arrived revealed his blood-alcohol level was 136 mg per 100 mL of blood. A toxicologist estimated Gloutney ’s level was 225 mg, more than twice the legal impaired-driving limit, when he killed Larocque. The toxicologist based this on Gloutney ’s estimates of how much he had consumed in roughly seven hours.
When the police arrived at the Sherbrooke St. apartment where all three were living at the time, they found Larocque, 38, lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his mother’s room with the spear used to kill him still stuck in his left hand.
Brooks, who had called 911, was found near the entrance to the hallway sitting in a pool of her own blood. When she made the call, Brooks said: “He’s killing us.” When the operator asked who she was referring to, Brooks replied: “Philippe Gloutney.”
Police officers found Gloutney asleep on a couch. He later told police he blacked out at some point after consuming about 18 drinks before and during a birthday party held for Brooks.
“Gloutney can recall a dispute about his cat with (Larocque) when he was back from the party. He remembers (Larocque) making a movement he perceived as threatening. He (had) a blackout about the rest of the event, remembering waking up when the police (were) on the scene,” prosecutor Jasmine Guillaume said while reading from a six-page statement of facts that she and defence lawyer Sharon Sandiford agreed on before Tuesday’s hearing.
As Guillaume continue to read from the document, it was apparent Gloutney and Larocque’s problems with each other involved more than a cat. Gloutney and Brooks had been in a conjugal relationship before, but were merely living together at the time. Gloutney hoped they could resume the relationship, but Larocque’s presence in the apartment appeared to complicate things.
“After losing his apartment, (Larocque) came to live with his mother and (Gloutney) in July 2015. (Larocque) was known to have a (problem with alcohol). His family would encourage him to go to therapy, although he didn’t want to engage in the process. (Gloutney) didn’t want (Larocque) to live with them. He wanted him to go to therapy and stop drinking,” Guillaume said as she read on. “The relationship between (Gloutney) and (Larocque) was tense.”
Guillaume said she and Sandiford were not able to reach an agreement on a possible sentence for Gloutney. He is scheduled to have a sentencing hearing on Sept. 14.
After the hearing was over, Sandiford told reporters that both sides in the case had consulted expert witnesses who agreed Gloutney was very drunk when he attacked both victims with a spear and a pair of scissors.