By Canadian Press

Double murderer Ugo Fredette ordered to serve 25 years before chance of parole

Jan 8, 2021 | 8:05 AM

SAINT-JEROME, Que. — A judge has ordered a Quebec man found guilty of murdering two people in 2017 to serve 25 years in prison before he’s eligible for parole.

Superior Court Justice Myriam Lachance delivered her ruling today in court in St-Jerome, Que., about 60 kilometres north of Montreal.

A jury found Fredette, 45, guilty in October 2019 of first-degree murder in the deaths of his ex-spouse, Veronique Barbe, and Yvon Lacasse — a man he killed at a rest stop to steal his vehicle.

Fredette had fled Barbe’s home with a six-year-old boy who was found unharmed when he was arrested 24 hours later in Ontario.

He has appealed the verdict and is seeking a new trial.

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A first-degree murder conviction comes with an automatic life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years, but the Crown had asked to have that ineligibility doubled to 50 years.

Last November, the province’s highest court declared the section of the Criminal Code allowing consecutive life sentences unconstitutional following an appeal by Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette.

Fredette had also been contesting the constitutionality of multiple sentences.

Fredette killed Barbe at her home by stabbing her 17 times with a knife before fleeing with the child. He later killed Lacasse, 71, at a highway rest stop and stole his vehicle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2021.

The Canadian Press