A Quebec Superior Court judge will deliver a verdict next month on whether a young Montreal man who fatally stabbed his parents and grandmother was incapable of understanding his actions due to a severe mental illness.
January Verdict for Tragic Rosemont Killings
Justice Annie Émond is set to decide in January 2024 on the fate of Arthur Galarneau, 22. The court must determine if he was not criminally responsible (NCR) for the killings of his mother, father, and grandmother inside their Rosemont duplex on March 17, 2023.
The victims were identified as his parents, Mylène Gingras, 53, and Richard Galarneau, 53, and his grandmother, Francine Gingras-Boucher, 75. All three were stabbed to death at the family home on Bélanger Street.
Evidence of Severe Mental Illness Presented
During hearings at the Montreal courthouse, the court heard that Galarneau had been suffering from schizophrenia for at least three years prior to the attacks. Both the defence and prosecution have asked the judge for an NCR verdict, citing overwhelming psychiatric evidence.
Prosecutor Jade Coderre referenced a clinical evaluation from January 2023—just months before the homicides—which indicated Galarneau's symptoms were worsening, potentially exacerbated by cannabis use. A chilling example of his delusions occurred three days before the killings, when he told his mother at a bakery that he believed there were geolocation devices in his underwear.
Expert witness Psychiatrist Gilles Chamberland testified that Galarneau experienced an "unconstructed delirium" and a "magma inside his head" where logic was absent. Coderre argued this meant Galarneau "was not able to realize or understand that what he was doing was wrong."
Brutality of the Crime and Legal Implications
The violence of the act was starkly detailed in court. A pathologist's report found that Mylène Gingras suffered 137 stab wounds. She managed to call 911, reporting her son was trying to kill her before the line went dead. The first police officers on scene witnessed Galarneau through a window, still attacking his mother.
The prosecution has requested that if Galarneau is found NCR, he should also be designated a "high-risk accused" under the Criminal Code. This designation, reserved for cases involving substantial likelihood of future violence or acts of a brutal nature indicating risk of grave harm, would create significant obstacles to any future release from a psychiatric institution.
Justice Émond will hear arguments on this potential designation only if she first rules Galarneau was not criminally responsible. The court also heard that Galarneau's condition has shown no improvement during his detention at the Philippe-Pinel Institute, despite being medicated.
The final decision, expected in January, will conclude a tragic case that has highlighted the intersection of severe mental illness and the Canadian justice system.
