Bain convicted in Quebec election night shooting

STAGEHAND KILLED IN 2012 NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING ON ELECTION NIGHT

The man accused of shooting and killing stagehand Denis Blanchette the night of the 2012 Quebec provincial election, has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

The 12-member jury in Richard Bain’s trial reached the verdict after 11 days of deliberations. Bain was also found guilty of three counts of attempted murder.

Bain’s lawyer, Alan Guttman, said he would ask for the minimum sentence of life, with parole eligibility after 10 years. “He’ll be 66 in September. If he were found guilty of firstdegree murder, it would have meant a death sentence.”

Now Bain could be given parole after 10 years, and he has already served four years, Guttman said, adding that his client is OK.

Bain had been charged with first-degree murder for killing Blanchette and three charges of attempted murder for the chaos he caused at Montreal’s Metropolis nightclub while then-Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois gave her election night victory speech.

Armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a nine-millimetre pistol, Bain fired a single shot — killing Blanchette and severely injuring another stagehand, David Courage — before his gun jammed. He then doused the back stairs to the venue with fuel and threw a flare to start a fire. He was chased down by police and arrested.

Video of Bain’s arrest showed him dressed in a ski mask and a blue bathrobe, shouting “The English are waking up!”

Blanchette, 48, died at the scene. One of Bain’s attempted murder charges stemmed from the injuries Courage suffered, while another was for the attempted murder of 12 other stagehands who were there that night, waiting in the back of the venue for the victory party to end.

The third attempted murder charge alleged that Bain pointed his gun at police officer Sgt. Stéphane Champagne, who had rushed to the back of the Metropolis after being told in his earpiece that a gunshot had been fired.

The jury did not need to return a verdict on two arson-related charges Bain faced.

In his final instructions to the jury, Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer boiled the case down to being primarily about what state of mind Bain was in the night of Sept. 4, 2012.

The jury had four verdicts to consider for the first-degree murder charge: not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder, guilty of manslaughter, guilty of second-degree murder or guilty of first-degree murder.

The defence had argued that Bain should be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. The Crown had argued Bain was aware of his actions, that political issues fuelled his anger and that he intended to kill.

Defence lawyer Guttman’s argument focused on the notion that Bain was suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder at the time, most likely bipolar disorder, and that he was in a psychotic and delusional state on the night of the killing.

The jury heard testimony about how Bain had become obsessed with religion and believed he was carrying out a mission from God.

Two forensic psychiatrists who evaluated Bain in preparation for the trial disagreed, however, on whether or not he should be found criminally responsible for his actions.

Psychiatrist Marie-Frédérique Allard, called to testify by the defence, said that she believed Bain was suffering from a mental disorder brought on from having abused anti-depressants for months.

Allard also testified that Bain had had a similar manic episode in 2009 when he became obsessed with preparing for the H1N1 pandemic.

Psychiatrist Joel Watts, called by the Crown, found that Bain’s action did not stem from a mental disorder, but were the result of a deep anger and resentment Bain felt over the Parti Québécois winning the election.

Bain had been turned away at a voting station earlier that day because he had failed to register a change of address.

Bain testified during the trial that despite remembering most of everything he did that day, he had no recollection of firing the shot that killed Blanchette and injured Courage, or of setting the fire.

In his closing arguments, Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos had encouraged the jury to not only consider the testimony from the expert witnesses, but to also consider and deliberate Bain’s credibility among themselves.