Man who stabbed city woman at large a second time
For the second time in two months, a man who attacked a woman at random near the Villa-maria métro station in 2016 was at large on Wednesday.
Mathew Roberge, who is serving a sentence for aggravated assault for stabbing Smadar Brandes on Monkland Ave., near Earnscliffe Ave., failed to to report to a halfway house in St-henri on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Roberge was “unlawfully at large,” Correctional Services Canada spokesperson Patricia Jean confirmed in an email on Wednesday afternoon.
Citing privacy concerns, Jean could not say whether there was a warrant issued for Roberge's arrest, but Brandes contacted the Montreal Gazette Tuesday to flag his status and she said there was a warrant outstanding for Roberge.
She was contacted Tuesday night after he failed to report in.
“I was not the least bit surprised to get that call, but it is of course frustrating and it scares me,” Brandes said. “He's a danger to the public at large.”
Brandes was also notified in November when Roberge broke curfew.
When he stabbed Brandes, Roberge was serving a 19-month sentence for manslaughter and living with his father in the neighbourhood. It is unclear if he was on parole or a statutory release at the time.
Brandes said she felt obliged to report Roberge's status to the media, and said people should remain vigilant while he is free.
“This is a violent person. He killed someone. He almost killed me,” she said.
She added that she's concerned with the apparent lax attitude of the parole board, as the last time Roberge broke conditions, there were no serious consequences to his behaviour. He was returned to his halfway house in St-henri and there did not face new charges in light of his violation.
“For the parole board to place his life and rehabilitation above the safety of the public doesn't make sense,” she said. “I would take that seriously if I was a correctional officer and keep a closer eye on this guy. There is a complete lack of common sense here to keep giving him chances, but I think it's their job to ensure people are safe and they're not doing their job properly.”
Roberge, now 30, was left with a 42-month sentence after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and admitted he stabbed Brandes in the neck as she walked home from the Villa-maria métro station. He stabbed Brandes with such force the knife was left stuck in her neck.
In September, Brandes had asked Roberge not be released to a halfway house in Montreal as he reached his statutory release date from the penitentiary. The Parole Board of Canada decided to release him to a halfway house in St-henri.
Roberge was not previously granted parole and he automatically qualified for a release when he reached the two-thirds mark of his prison term. In such a situation, the Parole Board of Canada is limited to deciding if it should impose conditions on the offender's release.
In a decision made in September, the parole board noted that Roberge's family is based in Montreal and his relatives were the support network he needed to prepare to return to society. A parole board member ordered him to reside at a halfway house for the 14 months that remained on his sentence.