Man admits to killing 79-year-old wife in Terrebonne retirement home

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Several people related to an 81-year-old man who admitted to killing his 79-year-old wife, while she was suffering from Alzheimer’s in a CHSLD last year, told a judge on Wednesday that he was acting out of compassion when he put an end to her life.

“A pandemic is the worst thing that can happen to a person suffering from Alzheimer’s,” defence lawyer Elfride Duclervil said at the Laval courthouse, reading from a letter prepared by a relative of Gilles Brassard and his deceased wife, Thérèse Brassard-Lévesque.

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The letter repeated the same themes brought up by other relatives who prepared letters or read their statements in person before Superior Court Justice Hélène Di Salvo after Brassard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday. The recurring theme was that Brassard killed his wife while in distress over the lack of resources available at the CHSLD in Terrebonne because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brassard testified following his guilty plea and said he tried to care for his wife at home but was eventually convinced she would be better off at a CHSLD. He said Alzheimer’s caused her to be aggressive and that helping her to shower became “hell,” as she would kick him.

“I wanted to send her to a better world,” Brassard told Di Salvo. “We lived a good life.”

He also said he “missed my shot” in his failed attempt to take his own life immediately after he strangled Brassard-Lévesque.

Pascal Brassard, one of the couple’s two sons, had to pause for a moment while he read his statement before the court.

“This is a harder than I thought it would be,” the son said. “He was never violent with my mother or to (his sons).”

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The son described the emotions his father experienced at seeing staff at the CHSLD tie his longtime wife to a chair when she would become too agitated. He also said that when his mother was much younger, she told him she never wanted to end up in a retirement home.

“He wanted to liberate my mother and leave with her,” the son said. “I don’t know what is to come in the years that will follow, but I know I won’t regret having supported him.

“My father doesn’t deserve this (life) sentence, but we accept it.”

The couple’s other son, Martin, wrote in a letter that the conditions his mother lived in during the COVID-19 pandemic “were miserable.”

Following Brassard’s guilty plea to second-degree murder, prosecutor Geneviève Aumond described what happened on Sept. 30, 2023. She said that Brassard entered the CHSLD that afternoon and tried to strangle her four times before he put an end to her life on the fifth try. Aumond said Brassard-Lévesque resisted her husband’s attempts to kill her.

Before he made the third attempt, the prosecutor said, Brassard told his wife: “Close your little eyes and sleep.”

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The prosecutor also said Brassard tried to take his own life at the retirement home by swallowing large amounts of medication. He was taken to a hospital and eventually recovered. He was out on bail when he entered his plea on Wednesday.

When he was arrested last year, Brassard was charged with first-degree murder, but he recently agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder.

Earlier in the hearing, Brassard initially hesitated when Di Salvo informed him that he would have to serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars before he will become eligible for parole on the automatic life sentence that comes with a conviction for second-degree murder.

The judge asked Brassard if he was aware of the minimum amount of time he will be required to serve.

“Not really,” Brassard said sounding confused. “Is there not a possibility that it could be less than 10 years? Under no circumstance can it be less than 10 years?”

“No, that is what is called for by law,” the judge said.

“That is a super shock,” Brassard said. “I’m not an assassin. I’m not a bad guy.”

Duclervil asked for a recess to explain again what her client should expect as a sentence. When the hearing resumed, Brassard confirmed to the court that he understood what is at stake.

Lawyers on both sides recommended that Brassard be required to serve 10 years and six months before he is eligible for parole.

Di Salvo said she will deliver her decision next week.

pcherry@postmedia.com

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