Murder verdict in 1998 shotgun killing
Montreal gang member found guilty third time after accomplice testifies
It was the night Montreal’s street gang violence came to Ottawa.
And on this night, Feb. 18, 1998, Robert Sarrazin, a Crack Down Posse gang member, set out clubbing in the ByWard Market. He ended up at a club on Rideau Street and, later, on the other side of midnight, he spotted rival gang member Apaid Noel, 21. He knew him from their hometown and he knew him as a member of enemy street gang Dope Squad.
They exchanged hostile words and Sarrazin said he was going to kill the rival. He walked away, then returned with a sawed-off shotgun to make good on his threat.
The killing was so matterof-fact that he told his accomplice to step aside before squeezing the trigger. The first round hit young Noel in the arm. He fell to the sidewalk on Rideau Street. He was screaming and bleeding fast.
Sarrazin then stepped forward and, at close range, fired another round into his target’s torso before fleeing when Noel’s brother Aschley lunged at the shooter, wrestled the shotgun from him, then started waving it the attackers.
After Jean and Sarrazin ran off, Aschley smashed the door of the nightclub with the gun, yelling for someone, anyone, to call 911.
Sarrazin later turned himself in to Ottawa police, telling homicide detectives he wasn’t even there. He then called the Citizen and said he didn’t do it, and wasn’t even there.
At 6:09 p.m. Friday, a jury found Sarrazin guilty of second-degree murder in the killing, just over 15 years ago to the day of Noel.’s death
Noel’s mother Monique wept as the verdict was read. She held a picture of her son in her hand, then stood up and hugged Crown prosecutor James Cavanagh. “Thank you,” she said. Noel’s brother Aschley thanked him, too.
“The last 15 years have been extremely hard for Apaid’s family, but we hope that they can find some comfort in seeing justice finally served by this jury’s verdict,” said Crown prosecutor Julien Lalande.
Friday’s guilty verdict marked the third time Sarrazin has been convicted of murder in the shooting. His previous convictions were overturned on appeal. This time, however, Sarrazin’s accomplice and fellow gang member Darlind Jean testified against him in a deal that had Jean plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
One key piece of evidence prosecutors weren’t allowed to present to the jury was that Noel, from his hospital bed, identified his shooter to detectives days before dying.
Noel succumbed to a sudden blood clot a month after he was gunned down by the convicted cocaine dealer.
Though Noel was also a Montreal street gang member, he was doing all the right things to turn his life around.
He was studying administration at an Ottawa college, and he travelled back to Montreal on weekends to run a barber shop out of his parents’ basement.
In the hours before he was shot, he spent the day with his brother Aschley promoting and selling tickets to an upcoming Ottawa hip-hop show.
Sarrazin, who has been in jail for the past 15 years, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
Justice Hugh McLean told the jurors the mandatory sentence is life and that they could make recommendations about Sarrazin’s parole eligibility. Jurors, individually, recommended that Sarrazin should be eligible for parole after 16 to 25 years. McLean will make his decision on Monday.