Jury finds two guilty of manslaughter in shooting

A jury in its third day of deliberation at the Gouin courthouse has found two men guilty of manslaughter in the death of a Montreal North resident who was shot inside his apartment building nearly three years ago.

The nine men and three women began hearing evidence in January. They were unanimous in a decision that indicates they believe Ducakis François, 26, and Willy St. Jean, 33, did not go to Valery Belange’s residence with the intent to kill him.

On Aug. 29, 2017, Belange was shot once in the entrance to his apartment building, on Lausanne Ave., while he appeared to struggle with both men.

Before the single shot was fired, a witness who was out walking his dog that night saw a man hiding behind a car outside the apartment building. A fingerprint found on the car matched one found in an FBI database. It placed François, an American, at the crime scene. It appeared that he was lying in wait to attack Belange.

François testified in his own defence and denied that he hid before Belange was shot. He told the jury that he went there to talk to Belange because an escort he knew had complained that Belange was getting “too personal” with her. He said he went there to ask Belange to stop and that he asked St. Jean, his friend, to accompany him because he had never met Belange before.

He also testified that he wasn’t the person who shot Belange.

St. Jean was placed at the crime scene by DNA found on a baseball cap that fell off while he fought with Belange.

The escort sent several text messages to François before Belange was shot, but the Montreal police were not able to recover the content of those messages.

The jury in the case began hearing evidence in January. Lawyers on both sides were set to make their closing arguments at the Montreal courthouse by mid-march but everything changed when the Court of Quebec announced most proceedings at provincial courthouses would be halted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In a normal jury trial the 12 jurors sit shoulder to shoulder in two rows, which meant respecting social-distancing rules would have been impossible. Last week, the trial was transferred to the Gouin courthouse, next to the Montreal Detention Centre on Gouin Blvd. The courthouse is relatively small but it has two very spacious courtrooms designed to handle so-called megatrials, when many members of an organized crime group are arrested together.

The transfer allowed jurors to sit among 10 desks normally used by lawyers. The closing arguments began at the start of last week and Superior Court Justice Daniel Royer delivered his final instructions to the jury on Friday. It is believed to be the first jury trial in Canada to have resumed since March.

Both men initially were charged with first-degree murder. But, in March, Justice Daniel Royer reduced the charge to second-degree murder after he determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to indicate Belange’s death was planned and premeditated. And when prosecutor Matthew Ferguson completed his closing arguments, he asked the jury to find François guilty of manslaughter.

“We respect the jury’s decision and underline their hard work, determination and courage in finishing the case following the COVID pandemic and the disruption it caused,” said Ferguson, who prosecuted the case with Pierre- Olivier Bolduc. “With respect to Willy St. Jean, who was identified at trial as the shooter, it wasn’t the verdict we were looking for based on the evidence presented. But it was also not an easy case.”

Sentencing arguments in the case are scheduled to begin in July.