Former Quebec judge Jacques Delisle pleads guilty to manslaughter
CTV
Former Quebec judge Jacques Delisle has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife.
Former Quebec judge Jacques Delisle pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in the death of his wife in 2009.
Delisle, who is believed to be the first Canadian judge to ever stand trial for murder, was convicted in 2012 of fatally shooting his wife, Marie Nicole Rainville.
The verdict was largely based on the testimony of a pathologist who said that the bullet's trajectory through the victim's brain made it difficult to support a theory of suicide.
Delisle was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
The 88-year-old former Quebec Court of Appeal judge spent nine years behind bars before then-federal justice minister David Lametti ordered a new trial in 2021 after reviewing evidence and concluding a miscarriage of justice had likely occurred.
Delisle's lawyers successfully argued in April 2022 that a retrial would be impossible because of errors in the previous pathology report and unreasonable delays.
However, the Court of Appeal reversed the decision to grant a stay and paved the way for a new trial.
