Notorious Quebec Killer Abruptly Suspends Parole Hearing
A man whose brutal crimes shocked Quebec nearly three decades ago brought his parole hearing to an unexpected halt on Tuesday, acknowledging he stood no chance of being granted release at this time.
Marcel Blanchette, 78, is currently serving a life sentence for the sexual assault and murder of 22-year-old Isabelle Bolduc in Sherbrooke back in 1996. During the hearing before the Parole Board of Canada, Blanchette and his lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, requested a break in the proceedings. When the hearing resumed, they asked for a suspension until July, which was granted by the board.
"You Can't Grant Me Anything"
"I think that after what the parole board heard this morning, you can't grant me anything," Blanchette conceded during the hearing. He explained that while he has a release plan in his head, it requires more structure. "I want simple things, to breathe pure air and listen to the birds," he told the board.
Bordelais stated that the suspension would allow Blanchette to present a more structured release plan. However, his parole officer informed the board she could not provide a favorable recommendation for release, noting that Blanchette had already been rejected by several halfway houses where he hoped to reside if granted day parole.
Crimes That Shook a Province
The details of Blanchette's crimes remain horrifying decades later. In late June 1996, Bolduc was kidnapped from a street in Sherbrooke and taken to an apartment where Blanchette and Jean-Paul Bainbridge sexually assaulted her repeatedly while another convicted criminal, Guy Labonté, looked on. After what a judge later described as "18 hours of verbal, physical and psychological terrorism," she was forced into a car.
Bainbridge drove while Blanchette wrapped his arm around Bolduc's neck and strangled her. Both men then struck her head with a metal pipe before Bainbridge dragged her body into a wooded area, where it was discovered a week later.
Just days after Bolduc's murder, Blanchette kidnapped another woman named Manon St-Louis in Sherbrooke and sexually assaulted her three times before being arrested in Montreal. He was armed with a gun during this crime and fired a shot into a tree to threaten St-Louis.
Victim Impact Statements
During the parole hearing, both St-Louis and Josée Bolduc, Isabelle's aunt, delivered powerful victim-impact statements via video conference.
"Why do I have to invest time and energy and lose days off from work without pay simply to ensure my safety to meet with the parole board?" St-Louis asked. "I am asking that this person not be able to find himself with a perimeter of a thousand kilometres from me."
Josée Bolduc spoke on behalf of her brother Marcel, the victim's father, who has advocated for his daughter since her body was found. "When he was released on parole in 1996, without having served his complete sentence, he did not respect his release conditions and he reoffended for the seventh time, this time to commit his barbaric crimes on Isabelle," Bolduc said. "Two days after Isabelle's body was found, he restarted again and reoffended for the eighth time."
Parole Board's Stern Warning
Board member Sandra Brouillette delivered a sobering message to Blanchette during the hearing. "This isn't just for today. It is important that you have trust between you and your case-management team, for the coming future," she said. "You have a life sentence, Mr. Blanchette. There is no end to that. Collaboration with Correctional Service Canada and the Parole Board of Canada goes on until your last breath."
Blanchette's violent crime spree was particularly shocking because both he and Bainbridge were out on parole at the time they committed these atrocities. During Tuesday's hearing, Blanchette presented a different version of events than what appears in court records, claiming he was "the only one who did not penetrate" Bolduc, though he later clarified he did sexually assault her.
When asked why they didn't let Bolduc go, Blanchette was vague, saying, "Some of us wanted to let her go. The only reason why we killed her was so she could not denounce us. The primary thing was that she could not talk."
Bainbridge is also serving a life sentence and was denied parole last year. Labonté pleaded guilty to forcible confinement in 1997 and received a seven-year prison term.
The case continues to resonate across Quebec as a stark reminder of violent crime and its lasting impact on victims' families. Blanchette will have another opportunity to present his case for parole when the hearing resumes in July.
