A man from Quebec has been convicted of second-degree murder in the death of a 10-year-old girl in a suburb of northern Montreal over three decades ago, finally bringing closure to the family of the young victim. Réal Courtemanche, aged 62 and already incarcerated for other offenses, confessed on Friday to the irrefutable evidence pointing to his involvement in the murder of Marie-Chantale Desjardins. The girl went missing on July 16, 1994, after leaving a friend’s residence in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, and was discovered deceased four days later in the woods near a shopping center in Rosemère, a neighboring community.
The case of Desjardins remained unsolved until Courtemanche was apprehended in prison in 2023 due to advancements in DNA analysis. During a court session in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, the victim’s mother, Sylvie Desjardins, emotionally addressed Courtemanche, expressing her profound sorrow and conveying the impact of his actions that took her daughter away from the family. Following the court proceedings, she shared with reporters outside the courtroom that the resolution of the case marked the end of a 31-year journey, allowing Marie-Chantale to finally find peace.
The Quebec provincial police arrested Courtemanche at La Macaza Institution in Quebec’s Laurentians region in December 2023. Both the prosecution and defense recommended the maximum penalty for second-degree murder—imprisonment for life with no chance of parole for 25 years. Typically, in cases of second-degree murder, the period served before parole eligibility can vary from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 25 years. Quebec Superior Court Justice Hélène Di Salvo is considering the recommendation and is set to deliver a verdict on November 10.
Courtemanche, with numerous convictions dating back to 1981, was designated a dangerous offender in 2015 and received an indeterminate sentence following his conviction for kidnapping and assaulting a woman with a knife. Quebec court Judge Jacques Trudel, in his ruling in May 2015, highlighted Courtemanche’s consistent criminal behavior over the years, including multiple violent incidents, breaches of court orders, and breaking and entering offenses. Despite his extensive criminal record, Courtemanche’s involvement in Desjardins’s murder remained undisclosed until his recent conviction.
