Suspect, 70, in 1996 killing ordered to stay at a halfway house
Being charged last year with manslaughter in the death of a woman whose disappearance wasn't even considered a homicide investigation for more than two decades has taken a toll on the 70-year-old suspect.
On June 2, Serge Audette, 70, was charged at the Montreal courthouse with manslaughter in the death of Patricia Ferguson, a 23-year-old woman who vanished without a trace in 1996. She resided in an apartment in Pointe-auxtrembles and, at the time, was the mother of an 11-month-old girl.
For reasons that are under a publication ban, Ferguson's death became a homicide investigation in 2022 and Audette was charged with manslaughter, even though her body has yet to be found. Audette is alleged to have killed Ferguson on June 6, 1996, the same day she disappeared.
He was granted bail in the manslaughter case in August.
While the Montreal police investigation was underway two years ago, Audette was out on parole. He is serving an indefinite sentence he received in 1999 after he was convicted of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman.
Declared a dangerous offender, he was first granted day parole in February 2016 and then full parole in August 2017.
According to a decision made by the Parole Board of Canada last week, his release into society was uneventful until July 2022 when Correctional Service Canada was informed of the homicide investigation.
His parole was suspended and he was returned behind bars.
Since then, Audette has bounced back and forth between a halfway house and a federal penitentiary for a variety of reasons, including after he was formally charged with manslaughter and for failing a urine test that revealed he had consumed THC.
“Obviously, the fact that you are awaiting a new trial and how, due to (an investigation) of the disappearance of a woman in 1996, you are subject to a certain media pressure which is not unrelated to your recent difficulties,” the parole board wrote in a decision to impose new conditions on Audette's parole
“Your case-management team (the people who prepare an offender for parole) also observes a certain exhaustion linked to the supervisory measures that are imposed on you and notes that you manifest a feeling of helplessness in the context of a legal process that is being updated.
“So, it is in this context that you relapsed into cannabis use. Moreover, certain concerns surrounding your travels were also observed during this period, which required specific interventions for you.
“Despite an observed improvement, your case-management team notes that this last difficult year for you has exacerbated your defence mechanisms that had previously faded over time, thus demonstrating more emotional fragility, which pushed you to invest in psychological follow-up that gives you space to speak.”
Included among the conditions imposed on him last week is the requirement that Audette reside at a halfway house for the next six months.
Audette's manslaughter case returns to court in April.