Carleton student’s killer guilty of murder
In the end, Jorden Larocque-Laplante’s story that he was so drunk he couldn’t remember killing Abdullah Al-Tutunji was too convenient and unworthy of belief.
Larocque-Laplante, 22, was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the drunken, racially-motivated knife attack outside a McDonald’s restaurant on Meadowlands Drive on Dec. 11, 2016. His head sank when the jury returned the guilty verdict and his family dabbed at tears.
Al-Tutunji, a 20-year-old Carleton University student, was stabbed at least 11 times in a savage attack by an angry racist bent on revenge after he was dismissed inside the restaurant as an annoying drunk.
Al-Tutunji had escaped the chaos of Iraq only to meet an awful, untimely death in the restaurant’s darkened parking lot after a night out with friends.
The killer’s lawyer called the killing horrible and senseless.
The victim’s family — still shattered — hopes the killer will one day understand their pain.
In a moving victim-impact statement, Tuleen Al-Tutunji said she could stand and talk about her big brother forever. He was reserved, intelligent and kind, the older brother who always looked out for her.
“He was always there protecting me from anything and anyone,” she told court.
His family still remembers him vividly and they’ll never forget his laugh, which could light up a room.
She then addressed the killer, saying he had deprived their world of her brother’s laughter.
“You deprived him of his life for no reason. You deprived him of his family and friends for no reason. You stole him away from his dreams, ambitions and future for no reason. You took him away from us,” she said.
“I pray that one day you understand the pain you have caused, to fully grasp what it feels like to have your son, daughter, sibling, best friend, and other half be taken away from you in a heartbeat, in such a way that is so vicious and senseless,” she said on behalf of the family.
The family has tried hard to cope and distract themselves the best they can, she said.
“It has not been any easier and we don’t know if it will ever be.”
Larocque-Laplante had taken the stand in his own defence at trial, telling the jury he couldn’t recall a single thing about killing Al-Tutunji.
The stabbing was captured on security video that was played in court.
While Larocque-Laplante maintained he blacked out, he acknowledged he was the man in the video with the army knife chasing Al-Tutunji and a friend in the parking lot.
He confessed on the stand and apologized to the victim’s family.
Crown attorneys Mark Moors and Robert Thomson dismantled the defence and established that the killer had been able to walk, talk, text, fight, kill and seek medical treatment afterwards while in his so-called blackout drunk stage.
Larocque-Laplante tried to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, saying he was too drunk to form intent to kill, but the Crown rejected the offer and took it to trial.
“Mr. Larocque-Laplante is devastated by the jury verdict and will consider an appeal,” defence lawyer Mark Ertel said.
Al-Tutunji’s family thanked the prosecutors and police after the verdict.