Jacques Delisle: The Criminal Judge

Jacques Delisle was a reputable judge, one of Quebec’s finest throughout the decades leading up to a certain tragedy. Born in 1935, he served as a Quebec City supreme court judge from 1985 all the way up to 2009, with seven of those years, being served as a judge for the supreme court of Quebec and the rest being served as a judge for the court of appeal. He also served as the president for a civil code comity in 1983.

On the 12th of November in 2009, he suffered a life changing consequence. A call to police had taken place, the man placing the call, audibly distraught, explained to the dispatcher that he had found his wife dead on the couch with a pistol lying next to her head, on the floor.

The dispatcher had asked if there was any reason she would want to kill herself which the man had replied; “It’s a long story”. The woman was 71 year old, named Nicole Rainville, wife of Jacques Delisle who had suffered from a stroke earlier on, when she was 69. Her daughter noted how depressed the stroke had made her. The couple had been married since 1960, a whole year away from being married for 50 years.

Once authorities had arrived on the scene, there were more than a few questions unanswered, and naturally, their first target they would question, would be the husband, Jacques Delisle. But Delisle was retired from his career as a lawyer to take care of his wife, colleagues would recall. Remarks that his wife would make would be remembered by Delisle and his children. Helene, his daughter told the media that she would not doubt her mother took her own life.

The forensics team would point out a black mark on her hand, a mark from gun powder that she would allegedly have got from shielding herself from the gunshot. Many lawyers had also pointed out how the incident correlated more towards a murder, but there’s a fine line between self-defense and a prosecutor. There was also the fact that Delisle had been in an affair with his secretary, Johanne Plamondon, for more than a few years, giving initiative towards the murder.

The funny thing about this whole incident is Delisle had not known he was under investigation for more than half a year. Which is when he had asked the women who he was having an affair with to move in with him, which she would then refuse. He was arrested and charged shortly after. This caused public outrage and a ton of people wanting to be in the same courtroom as the case was being held at.

But who does a judge hire as a lawyer to represent his case? The answer was Jacques Larochelle, these two individuals weren’t strangers, but rather had numerous days in court up against each other. Larochelle claimed that he truly believed it was a suicide. It didn’t matter, Delisle decided to stay silent on his day in court rather than to testify. The court had found the 77 year old judge guilty of premeditated murder. He was sentenced to a life sentence without parole until 25 years, a hefty sentence for a Canadian court.

Delisle was housed at Sainte-Anne-Des-Plaines prison, close 45 minutes from Montreal. In the 2010’s, media companies wanted to get an interview with him, most notably The Fifth Estate, a show held on CBC. Delisle had agreed to the interview.

During the interview with Fifth Estate, he would decide how his wife would describe to him how she was tired of this ridden life, and how she would would appreciate it if Delisle had gotten her the .33 pistol they had kept, as a gift to Delisle. The gun had already then loaded, Delisle left the gun on the table by her side. He had pleaded with her to not go through with this. Delisle left the abode shortly after, questioning his decision to leave the pistol next to her.

This was Delisle’s story, and to back it up he had been recorded buying a salad for both Nicole and him, shortly after. When he returned from the convenience store, she was dead, attained by one bullet to the head which would resemble a suicide.

When the authorities had arrived on the scene, he had made one major mistake; telling the authorities that Nicole had gotten the pistol by herself, with hopes to exempt him from the crime. He claims he did not want the deceased person’s family to knowing she had committed suicide. The reason he had refrained from testifying in court is because his daughter had talked him out of it for certain reasons.

The scenario is clear as day, a reputable judge is charged and eventually convicted of murdering his wife. But although charged and convicted if this the reality of the situation, or is this only what the Canadian law system deems best? Is the gunpowder mark on her wrists from trying to take cover from the gunshot, or from her pulling the trigger?

On the 14th of June in 2012, Delisle was found guilty of murder with a rather harsh sentence; a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. There is an argument that points out that the black mark on Nicole’s hand might have been from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

So why are we talking about this man in 2024? Delisle’s lawyer Jacques Larochelle had brought up a whole new hearing concerning Delisle’s case with the aid of Toronto lawyer James Lockyer. Lockyer has had a history of acquitting falsely accused individuals.

The ballistics specialist in the Jacques Delisle case insists there has been no judicial error committed and the accusations towards the ex-judge has been true. But is ballistics specialist Guillaume Arnet true to the heart? Arnet has refused an interview with media.

Five new European specialist back up the theory that Delisle had shot his works but the current judge of this hearing, David Lametti, has been accused of picking sides in Delisle’s favor. The main argument for this trial is whether Delisle shot Rainville at an around of Rainville had shot herself with the pistol pointed upside-down.