Patrick Dussault again guilty of 2nd-degree murder
A Gatineau handyman has again been found guilty of second-degree murder — after the Supreme Court ordered a new trial — in the 2013 death of a woman whose home he was renovating.
Police said 64-year-old Diane Lahaie was killed with a sharp object before her central Gatineau home in was set on fire.
A jury found Patrick Dussault guilty of second-degree murder in 2016.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial because Dusseault's right to consult his lawyer was violated as police questioned him.
Dusseault spoke to his lawyer on the phone, the court said, but his lawyer didn't think his client understood everything they talked about and was on his way to talk to him in person.
Police didn't allow the lawyer to talk to Dusseault and told him the lawyer wasn't there. His client ended up telling police something incriminating.
Dussault was sentenced to life in prison Thursday without a chance of parole for 14 years. He has been incarcerated since 2013.
