MONTREAL — A 62-year-old Quebec man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of a 10-year-old girl in a Montreal suburb more than 31 years ago.
Réal Courtemanche, already in prison for other crimes, today admitted that the evidence in the case proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he murdered Marie-Chantale Desjardins.
The 10-year-old disappeared on July 16, 1994, after she left a friend’s house at the end of the day in Ste-Thérèse, Que., northwest of Montreal.
Four days later, her body was found in the woods behind a shopping centre in the neighbouring community of Rosemère.
Her killing went unsolved until Courtemanche’s arrest in prison in 2023 thanks to DNA analysis.
The Crown and defence suggested that Courtemanche be given the maximum sentence for second-degree murder — life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 25 years.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Hélène Di Salvo took the recommendation under advisement and will issue a ruling in November.
Courtemanche, who has racked up several dozen convictions since 1981, was declared a dangerous offender in 2015 and given an indeterminate sentence — which has no set end date — after his conviction for kidnapping a woman and assaulting her with a knife.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
