I spent yesterday afternoon in the chilled hallway of the Quebec Court, awaiting the verdict in one of the province’s most disturbing homicide cases. After months of proceedings, Justice François Huot delivered his ruling: Alexandre Duchesne will not face criminal conviction for the brutal stabbing deaths of his mother and neighbor in Brossard last winter.
Duchesne, 35, was found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder for the January deaths of Sylvie Huguet, 60, and neighbor Marcel Poirier, 62. The court determined that severe mental illness rendered him incapable of understanding the nature of his actions or knowing they were wrong – the legal threshold established in the Criminal Code.
“The evidence demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his acts,” Justice Huot stated in his ruling, which I reviewed in full immediately after the hearing.
This verdict places Duchesne under the jurisdiction of Quebec’s Administrative Tribunal for mental health cases rather than the prison system. Dr. Gilles Chamberland, a forensic psychiatrist who testified as an expert witness, explained that Duchesne will likely remain in a secure psychiatric facility “for an indeterminate period, potentially years or even decades, depending on treatment response.”
Court documents revealed the violent events of January 24th in disturbing detail. Duchesne had been living intermittently with his mother in her Brossard apartment for approximately eight months before the killings. On the day of the incident, he attacked his mother with a kitchen knife while experiencing what psychiatrists described as “an acute psychotic episode characterized by paranoid delusions.”
After killing his mother, Duchesne proceeded to a neighboring apartment where he fatally stabbed Poirier. Police responding to 911 calls found Duchesne still at the scene, disoriented and covered in blood.
What makes this case particularly tragic is the documented history of mental health intervention attempts. I spoke with Marie-Claude Landry of the Quebec Mental Health Rights Association after the verdict. “This case highlights the gaps in our mental health support systems,” she told me. “We continue seeing patterns where crises escalate despite previous contacts with the healthcare system.”
Court records showed Duchesne had been hospitalized three times in the five years preceding the killings, each time for psychotic episodes. He had been prescribed antipsychotic medication but had stopped taking it approximately four months before the incident.
Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society, explained to me the distinction between not criminally responsible verdicts and acquittals. “This isn’t freedom – it’s a different form of custody focused on treatment rather than punishment,” Latimer said. “The Review Board will assess his case regularly, and release would only occur if he no longer poses a significant threat to public safety.”
The case has raised difficult questions about our mental health system’s ability to provide continuity of care. According to data from the Mental Health Commission of Canada, approximately 1 in 3 people with serious mental illness will lose contact with treatment services at some point, often with devastating consequences.
The forensic assessment presented in court documented Duchesne’s history of schizophrenia dating back to his early twenties. Two independent psychiatric evaluations concluded he was experiencing command hallucinations – believing external forces were controlling his actions – at the time of the killings.
Families of both victims were present for the verdict. I observed their quiet dignity through proceedings that exposed the most painful details of their loved ones’ final moments. One family member, who requested anonymity, expressed frustration with the verdict but acknowledged the evidence of Duchesne’s profound mental illness.
“The system failed three people here,” they told me outside the courtroom. “My relative, Ms. Huguet, and yes, even Duchesne himself.”
André Gervais, Duchesne’s defense attorney, emphasized that his client will not simply “walk free” following this verdict. “He remains in secure custody, and his treatment team will need to demonstrate substantial improvement before any change in his confinement status,” Gervais explained after the hearing.
The Quebec Review Board will now determine Duchesne’s placement and treatment plan. Their options range from detention in a high-security psychiatric facility to eventual supervised community treatment, though the latter would only occur after years of demonstrated stability and risk reduction.
Statistics from the Department of Justice show that individuals found not criminally responsible spend an average of 7.5 years under Review Board jurisdiction, substantially longer than many would have served in prison for similar offenses.
This case brings attention to the intersection of mental health and criminal justice in Quebec at a time when the province faces ongoing challenges in mental health service delivery. A 2022 report by Quebec’s Ombudsman identified critical gaps in follow-up care for individuals with severe mental illness, particularly during transitions between hospital and community services.
As I packed my notes and left the courthouse, I couldn’t help reflecting on how this tragedy represents both individual suffering and systemic failure. Two lives were lost, families permanently altered, and a man with a treatable illness now faces indefinite institutionalization – a outcome that proper intervention might have prevented.
The Review Board will hold its initial hearing in Duchesne’s case within 45 days.
