BRIDGE MURDERS TIMELINE
July 3, 1979
Gilles Pimparé and Normand Guérin, two men who were on a violent crime spree that began on June 26 and included a series of armed robberies and sexual assaults, confront Chantal Dupont, 15, and Maurice Marcil, 14, after 11 p.m. as the teens were returning home to Longueuil from an outdoor concert held near the LaRonde amusement park. Pimparé, then 25, and Guérin, then 26, had been hiding near a pedestrian path leading toward the Jacques Cartier Bridge and were armed with a knife and a starter’s pistol when they surprised the victims. Dupont was raped by both men before they strangled her and Marcil. Both victims were tossed off the bridge into the St. Lawrence River and, after the bodies were discovered seven days later, a pathologist determined both had drowned. After he was arrested, Guérin told the police that Marcil begged to be strangled to death instead of being tossed in the river alive. He also said Dupont begged for her life, but was told she would be killed because she witnessed Marcil’s death.
Nov. 3, 1979
A jury finds both men guilty of firstdegree murder and they are sen- tenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years. The presiding judge in the case, Justice Jean-Guy Boilard, told the killers “you have been better treated than the victims.” Both men filed appeals of the jury’s verdict, based in part that their statements to police were illegally introduced as evidence, and a new trial was eventually ordered.
Oct. 14, 1984
Pimparé and Guérin are found guilty, a second time, of the murders and three days later are sentenced to the life sentences they are currently serving. André Vincent, the prosecutor in the second case (and currently a Quebec Superior Court judge) said at the time that it was “the most cruel, the most cold-blooded case you can encounter.”
Oct.17,2001
Pimparé is put before the Parole Board of Canada (then known as the National Parole Board) for the first time after becoming eligible for day parole. During this hearing, Pimparé told the board he was high on LSD when he and Guérin carried out the murders and that he was never able to recall much of what happened that night. A psychologist who evaluated Pimparé in March 2001 found that indifference and a lack of empathy were significant parts of how he functioned psychologically. The parole board was also not impressed to learn that a search of a computer Pimparé used for a job he had while incarcerated turned up several pornographic films and more than 1,500 photos including one of a young girl posing nude with the Jacques Cartier Bridge in the background.
Feb. 4, 2005
Guérin is scheduled to have his first parole hearing at the Drummondville Institution, but he backs out at the last minute. He might have been unable to face the parents of Dupont who showed up for the hearing. Guérin remains incarcerated to this day.
Oct.23,2012
The Parole Board of Canada turns down Pimparé’s request for parole again for the fifth time. The board was not impressed with how, just eight months earlier, guards at the penitentiary where Pimparé was held found pornographic magazines in his cell. Some of the magazines contained photographs of women made to look very young. Pimparé tried to claim he had permission to possess the pornographic material and that his parole officer was aware. His case-management team, the people who prepare an inmate for a release, told the board the magazines were yet another example of how Pimparé tried to rationalize and explain his inappropriate behaviour while behind bars.