The haunting question
Why couldn't the lifeguard save her own life?
By Jack Todd
The Gazette, April 15, 2006
Through a grim coincidence, the Supreme Court of Canada refused Thursday to hear the appeal of convicted killer Tommy Kane, the erstwhile football star sentenced to 18 years in prison for the manslaughter of his wife, Tammy Shaikh, stabbed to death with a kitchen knife.
The same day, sentencing arguments were heard in Montreal for convicted killer Martin Morin-Cousineau, found guilty earlier in the week in the murder of Kelly-Anne Drummond. In the Drummond case, she was the athlete but even her strength and athleticism were not enough to save her from being stabbed in the back of the neck with a steak knife.
There are other parallels: both men proclaiming their innocence and offering excuses so convoluted that they would be ludicrous in another setting. Families shattered, women slaughtered, men unrepentant: That the story line has aged a few millennia makes it no less painful.
The superb reporting of colleague Sue Montgomery has already told all you need to know about Drummond's death and Morin-Cousineau's trial. To extend sympathy to the Drummond family is a hollow gesture - there are acts so heinous that they mock human kindness and reduce our best impulses to the theatre of the inadequate.
The massacre of 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnique in December 1989 first brought home this truth. No words were adequate to describe the horror, no sympathy sufficient, no outrage equal to the magnitude of the crime. Millions of words have been expended on the murders committed by Marc Lepine in that awful winter and no writer has edged close to the black heart of the matter.
And yet even Lepine was in one sense less evil than Kane and Morin-Cousineau. Lepine slaughtered strangers: his weapon spewed death to people he had never met and never would. Kane and Morin-Cousineau killed their partners.
Therein lies what Hannah Arendt, writing on the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann, called the banality of evil. That crime, the murder of a spouse, partner or loved one, is so appallingly common that it is banal, suburban, commonplace.
Perhaps you saw the statistics in the Gazette story written by Katherine Wilton this week: In 2005, 14 out of 22 women who were murdered in Quebec were killed by a boyfriend, an ex-boyfriend or a member of their family. In 2004, 23 out of 30 women who were killed were attacked by a man they knew. When Drummond was murdered in October 2004, she was one of four women to die at the hands of men in Quebec in an eight-day stretch.
There is no point giving equal time to the noisy men's lobby which insists that poor, put-upon males are victims as well; in 85 per cent of all domestic violence cases, the victim is the woman.
If the same brutal tally involved politicians, say, or lawyers or journalists, the outcry would reverberate through the land. Yet for reasons buried in some atavistic failure to recognize women as fully paid-up members of the human race, we tolerate the abuse, rape, harassment and murder of females as one of those regrettable but unavoidable aspects of life.
Police attitudes have improved since 1989, judges are far more aware of the need to protect women from violent or threatening men but the toll does not ease. The fight for gun control did lead to a limited and unsatisfactory form of gun control and the bureaucratic apparatus of the gun registry.
But men go right on stabbing women to death even in this province, where the massacre created unparalleled awareness of the need to protect women from violent men.
The troubling question at the heart of the Drummond murder is why such a strong, athletic, apparently confident young woman would remain in a relationship in which she had been threatened, why the life-saving champion could not save herself: Morin-Cousineau threatened to hurt Drummond's friends if she watched the 2003 Grey Cup game with them. Before she flew to Italy shortly before her murder, Drummond confided to a friend that Morin-Cousineau had threatened to murder her if she made the trip.
Again and again her parents, suspecting something wrong, tried to intervene; again and again, Drummond held them at arm's length.
"I don't know what we could have done to avoid this," Haddad-Drummond said this week. "There are things I did see, but I had never experienced conjugal violence myself. If I knew then what I know now, I think Kelly-Anne would be alive. But what could I do? I couldn't kidnap her."
Yet it may have to come to that. Is there not some point at which parents ought to be able to kidnap their own child, just as they would if she was being held by a cult?
It's a drastic step, but so is murder. Perhaps the solution lies in direct action to free women from such situations.
It may have to come to such an interventionist approach because somehow, we are still not conditioning young women in our society to refuse to subordinate themselves to cruel, vindictive, abusive or threatening males. There is too often a lack of self-esteem in play which makes it impossible for some women to insist that such behaviour is unacceptable and to walk out at the first hint of violence.
Tammy Shaikh, the mother of Kane's four children, was killed while trying to help her husband by persuading him to enter a drug-rehab facility. Drummond was murdered while trying to preserve a relationship that was not worth having.
Forget making sense of their deaths: it can't be done. To prevent such atrocities in the future - well, perhaps it can't be done, either.
But for Tammy Shaikh and Kelly-Anne Drummond and thousands of other victims of domestic violence perpetrated by men against women, we have to try.
jtodd@thegazette.canwest.com
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXX
Kelly-Anne and Kimberly Drummond: Only eleven months apart in age and as close as any sisters ever could be.
Mothers on opposite sides of tragedy: Sentence hearing. 'My son is not an assassin'
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 13, 2006
They are two mothers in excruciating emotional pain, trying to come to terms with the violent end of their children's romance.
But when it comes to how Martin Morin-Cousineau should be punished for killing Kelly-Anne Drummond, the two women could not be farther apart.
"I believe a life in hell in the gallows of prison for the rest of his life would be the ultimate punishment. He can live each day in hell, being reminded of Kelly-Anne and the beautiful life he destroyed," Doreen Haddad-Drummond told Superior Court as she read from her victim impact statement during sentencing arguments yesterday.
Micheline Morin-Cousineau, breaking her silence for the first time since her son's second-degree murder trial began March 20, told the court she believes the death was an accident.
On Monday, a jury found Martin Morin-Cousineau, 32, guilty of stabbing Kelly-Anne Drummond, 24, in the back of the neck on Oct. 3, 2004. He faces a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.
"We were always there for him, no matter what," Micheline Morin-Cousineau told the court, tears filling her son's eyes as he sat shackled in the prisoner's box. It was the first emotion he'd shown since his trial began.
"My son is not an assassin. My son is not a murderer."
After finding they couldn't have children, she and her husband, Jean Cousineau, adopted Martin and his brother Michel from an orphanage near Riviere des Prairies when the boys were just 15 months and 21/2 years old, respectively.
Yesterday, she wondered aloud why her son, who had started life in a prison of sorts, would now spend the better part of his adulthood in another jail.
The couple sent their boys to private schools. Growing up in Pierrefonds, they learned to speak English while playing on the street and on hockey teams.
At age 12, Martin went to France on an exchange program - a trip "that changed his life," his parents say. Later, he would spend a summer travelling and working odd jobs in Europe.
He attended John Abbott College, then started a degree in business administration at either Concordia or McGill University - his mother wasn't sure which. Finally in 2003, he landed his "dream job" as a travel agent.
Drummond's death resulted from an argument she and Morin-Cousineau had over $30 owed to their landlord. The couple had just moved into a Pierrefonds apartment that August.
Morin-Cousineau maintained the steak knife he was using to eat dinner flew into the air when he threw up his hands in frustration. The next thing he heard was a thump, then glass shattering.
When he ran to the kitchen, Kelly-Anne was lying face-up in a pool of blood on the floor. A brain scan later revealed a 9.5-centimetre blade embedded in her neck. She died Oct. 5.
There were sniffles and sobs in the courtroom yesterday in what was arguably the most emotional day of the trial. Kim Drummond took the stand and spoke publicly about the death of her sister, born 11 months to the day before her.
"The day I walked into the hospital room and found my sister hopeless and lying in the bed ... my parents screaming for her to wake up - this is a constant image that will never leave my mind."
The Drummonds' only surviving child said she worries about her parents.
"It scares me to accept the fact my parents will get older and sadder at times, and it's only me now that has to help them.
"I honestly don't feel I can provide as much strength and courage as everyone says I have."
Crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo, asking for no parole for at least 13 years, listed conjugal violence cases in which women were shot, stabbed or strangled. Superior Court has been setting parole eligibility at about 12 years in such cases, she said.
Di Salvo noted the jury that found Morin-Cousineau guilty recommended no parole for 15 years - something the judge is not bound to accept.
Defence lawyer Nellie Benoit, asking for the minimum eligibility of 10 years, said Drummond died during an impulsive act.
"There was one knife, not 15, not five, but one," she said. "She wasn't tortured for hours. It was instantaneous. ... He called 911, he didn't disappear to Mexico or cut her into 15 pieces, or hide the body or the knife.
"It's sad, but it could have been worse."
When Di Salvo questioned Benoit's take on violence, Justice Claude Champagne interjected: "At the end of the day, Madame Drummond is dead."
The judge is to render his sentence Thursday.
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
Press Clippings--Part XXXIX
A history of violence: courthouse can be useful resource for women: Criminal records are public; Do the research if you have fears about your partner, slain athlete's mother urges
By Katherine Wilton
The Gazette, April 12, 2006
After Martin Morin-Cousineau threatened to hurt Kelly-Anne Drummond's friends if she watched the 2003 Grey Cup game with them, her mother suggested she go to her local police station to find out whether he had a criminal record. After a brief visit to a station on the West Island, Drummond told her parents Morin-Cousineau had parking violations.
Privacy laws prevented the Montreal police from telling Drummond her boyfriend had been charged and acquitted of uttering death threats earlier that year, and that he was prevented from possessing weapons.
On Monday, a jury convicted Morin-Cousineau of stabbing Drummond to death in October 2004.
Drummond could have learned about Morin-Cousineau's previous run-ins with the law if she had made a trip to the Montreal courthouse, where anyone can access criminal or civil records."The court records are public," said Anne Proulx, director of the courthouse clerk's office in Montreal
Drummond's mother, Doreen Haddad-Drummond, said yesterday women who fear their partners might be violent should go to the court-house to see if they have criminal records.
In fact, Giovanni Diamente, who works at the information desk at the main courthouse in Old Montreal, said he is often asked by women whether it is possible to verify whether their partners have criminal records.
"That is 'the question' that we get here," Diamente said. "I get at least two requests a day."
Anyone seeking information on someone's criminal background is sent across the hall to the criminal court clerk's office, where staff members look up the information on a court computer and provide rudimentary explanations of what is in the file.
Other crimes, such as assault and drunk driving, may be handled by local municipal courts, which are also open to the public.
Martin Dufresne, who heads a group called Montreal Men Against Sexism, urged victims of conjugal violence to seek help immediately if they are threatened, because it is often their partners who end up killing them.
Last year, 14 out of 22 women who were murdered in Quebec were killed by a boyfriend, an ex-boyfriend or a member of their family. In 2004, 23 out of 30 women who were killed were attacked by a man they knew.
kwilton@thegazette.canwest.com
By Katherine Wilton
The Gazette, April 12, 2006
After Martin Morin-Cousineau threatened to hurt Kelly-Anne Drummond's friends if she watched the 2003 Grey Cup game with them, her mother suggested she go to her local police station to find out whether he had a criminal record. After a brief visit to a station on the West Island, Drummond told her parents Morin-Cousineau had parking violations.
Privacy laws prevented the Montreal police from telling Drummond her boyfriend had been charged and acquitted of uttering death threats earlier that year, and that he was prevented from possessing weapons.
On Monday, a jury convicted Morin-Cousineau of stabbing Drummond to death in October 2004.
Drummond could have learned about Morin-Cousineau's previous run-ins with the law if she had made a trip to the Montreal courthouse, where anyone can access criminal or civil records."The court records are public," said Anne Proulx, director of the courthouse clerk's office in Montreal
Drummond's mother, Doreen Haddad-Drummond, said yesterday women who fear their partners might be violent should go to the court-house to see if they have criminal records.
In fact, Giovanni Diamente, who works at the information desk at the main courthouse in Old Montreal, said he is often asked by women whether it is possible to verify whether their partners have criminal records.
"That is 'the question' that we get here," Diamente said. "I get at least two requests a day."
Anyone seeking information on someone's criminal background is sent across the hall to the criminal court clerk's office, where staff members look up the information on a court computer and provide rudimentary explanations of what is in the file.
Other crimes, such as assault and drunk driving, may be handled by local municipal courts, which are also open to the public.
Martin Dufresne, who heads a group called Montreal Men Against Sexism, urged victims of conjugal violence to seek help immediately if they are threatened, because it is often their partners who end up killing them.
Last year, 14 out of 22 women who were murdered in Quebec were killed by a boyfriend, an ex-boyfriend or a member of their family. In 2004, 23 out of 30 women who were killed were attacked by a man they knew.
kwilton@thegazette.canwest.com
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXVIII
Boyfriend guilty of murder
Family relieved that Morin-Cousineau will be behind bars
By Marc LaLonde
The Chronicle, April 12, 2006
After some white-knuckle moments over the course of the five-day deliberation period, the jury came back with a verdict in the murder of Kelly-Anne Drummond.Her former boyfriend, Martin Morin-Cousineau, will now spend at least the next decade of his life in prison after being convicted of the second-degree murder of his girlfriend in their Pierrefonds apartment in October 2004.
The verdict brings to an end nearly 18 months of worry, stress and heartache for Doreen Haddad Drummond and John Drummond — and now might leave them even emptier considering what Martin Morin-Cousineau took away from them that fateful night.
“We have nothing to show for (all the heartache) except other than a monster will be off the streets of Montreal and he won’t be able to hurt any other women,” said John Drummond, emotionally.
When the jury came back to the courtroom in the Palais de Justice, it was clear they didn’t buy Morin-Cousineau’s story about an accident in the kitchen and a thrown steak knife causing her death — Morin-Cousineau even admitted on the stand that the relationship probably wasn’t going to last — recommending Judge Claude Champagne sentence Morin-Cousineau, now 32, to a minimum of 15 years in prison for a second-degree murder that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 25.
“I don’t think they bought it at all. I don’t think anyone bought it,” said John Drummond. “I thought it was impossible, right from the get-go, that (Kelly-Anne’s death) was an accident. After watching the arm movement he claims to have made in the police interrogation video, anyone could’ve seen that it was impossible for things to have happened the way (Morin-Cousineau) claimed they happened.
Morin-Cousineau, who was adopted by Pierrefonds residents Jean and Micheline Cousineau at three years old, displayed little emotion as the verdict was read. His parents also declined to comment to media following the decision.
Doreen Haddad Drummond said she was most relieved by the notion that Morin-Cousineau will be behind bars — away from women — for a while.
“I feel better than I did before the verdict, but you know, no one wins in these things. The important thing is that society is protected from this guy. That’s what’s important here. The jurors sent a message to society that we’re going to take conjugal violence very seriously,” she said.
Prosecutor Hélène Di Salvo said Drummond’s death should serve as a warning to other women in abusive relationships.
“There are women who are threatened, beaten and harassed and think they can deal with it themselves. But get help when you see the yellow light; don’t wait for the red light,” she said.
Morin-Cousineau also had a history of threatening behaviour toward women; he had previously been the subject of a restraining order brought against him by another woman.
John Drummond said the Drummonds never really took a liking to Morin-Cousineau, saying there was something unsettling about him.
“It wasn’t at the very beginning that we thought something was wrong, but eventually. They met in August 2003, and things started to change in late fall. My partner and I went down to Mexico for a vacation and we met with Doreen before we left. I said, ‘I don’t like Marty, I don’t want him in my house or staying at my house.’ Doreen and I both had reservations about him,” he said, continuing on to a story about the Grey Cup 2003 — where the Edmonton Eskimos pounded the Montreal Alouettes — and the couple couldn’t agree on where to watch the game, so they were in different places. He called the house repeatedly that night, looking for Kelly-Anne, and getting more and more threatening each time,” Drummond said.
“He explained to me later that he had been under pressure from his family or some nonsense, but you could see he was lying. His whole adult life has been one big lie. He’s a false person.”
Drummond said despite that, at least the Morin-Cousineau family will still be able to see their son and talk to him, contrary to what the Drummonds have been through.
“All we can do is go to Rideau Memorial Gardens in Dollard des Ormeaux and that’s all we can do. That’s no solace at all.”
Friends and supporters were always on hand at the courthouse all through the deliberation process and took much of the burden off the Drummond family, John Drummond said, but he said special thanks have to go to West Island Community Resource Centre head Ann Davidson and Association des Familles de Personnes Disparus ou Assassinés (AFPAD) chief Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Palais de Justice. John, Doreen and Kim Drummond (Kelly-Anne’s younger sister) will all give victim-impact statements.
Family relieved that Morin-Cousineau will be behind bars
By Marc LaLonde
The Chronicle, April 12, 2006
After some white-knuckle moments over the course of the five-day deliberation period, the jury came back with a verdict in the murder of Kelly-Anne Drummond.Her former boyfriend, Martin Morin-Cousineau, will now spend at least the next decade of his life in prison after being convicted of the second-degree murder of his girlfriend in their Pierrefonds apartment in October 2004.
The verdict brings to an end nearly 18 months of worry, stress and heartache for Doreen Haddad Drummond and John Drummond — and now might leave them even emptier considering what Martin Morin-Cousineau took away from them that fateful night.
“We have nothing to show for (all the heartache) except other than a monster will be off the streets of Montreal and he won’t be able to hurt any other women,” said John Drummond, emotionally.
When the jury came back to the courtroom in the Palais de Justice, it was clear they didn’t buy Morin-Cousineau’s story about an accident in the kitchen and a thrown steak knife causing her death — Morin-Cousineau even admitted on the stand that the relationship probably wasn’t going to last — recommending Judge Claude Champagne sentence Morin-Cousineau, now 32, to a minimum of 15 years in prison for a second-degree murder that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 25.
“I don’t think they bought it at all. I don’t think anyone bought it,” said John Drummond. “I thought it was impossible, right from the get-go, that (Kelly-Anne’s death) was an accident. After watching the arm movement he claims to have made in the police interrogation video, anyone could’ve seen that it was impossible for things to have happened the way (Morin-Cousineau) claimed they happened.
Morin-Cousineau, who was adopted by Pierrefonds residents Jean and Micheline Cousineau at three years old, displayed little emotion as the verdict was read. His parents also declined to comment to media following the decision.
Doreen Haddad Drummond said she was most relieved by the notion that Morin-Cousineau will be behind bars — away from women — for a while.
“I feel better than I did before the verdict, but you know, no one wins in these things. The important thing is that society is protected from this guy. That’s what’s important here. The jurors sent a message to society that we’re going to take conjugal violence very seriously,” she said.
Prosecutor Hélène Di Salvo said Drummond’s death should serve as a warning to other women in abusive relationships.
“There are women who are threatened, beaten and harassed and think they can deal with it themselves. But get help when you see the yellow light; don’t wait for the red light,” she said.
Morin-Cousineau also had a history of threatening behaviour toward women; he had previously been the subject of a restraining order brought against him by another woman.
John Drummond said the Drummonds never really took a liking to Morin-Cousineau, saying there was something unsettling about him.
“It wasn’t at the very beginning that we thought something was wrong, but eventually. They met in August 2003, and things started to change in late fall. My partner and I went down to Mexico for a vacation and we met with Doreen before we left. I said, ‘I don’t like Marty, I don’t want him in my house or staying at my house.’ Doreen and I both had reservations about him,” he said, continuing on to a story about the Grey Cup 2003 — where the Edmonton Eskimos pounded the Montreal Alouettes — and the couple couldn’t agree on where to watch the game, so they were in different places. He called the house repeatedly that night, looking for Kelly-Anne, and getting more and more threatening each time,” Drummond said.
“He explained to me later that he had been under pressure from his family or some nonsense, but you could see he was lying. His whole adult life has been one big lie. He’s a false person.”
Drummond said despite that, at least the Morin-Cousineau family will still be able to see their son and talk to him, contrary to what the Drummonds have been through.
“All we can do is go to Rideau Memorial Gardens in Dollard des Ormeaux and that’s all we can do. That’s no solace at all.”
Friends and supporters were always on hand at the courthouse all through the deliberation process and took much of the burden off the Drummond family, John Drummond said, but he said special thanks have to go to West Island Community Resource Centre head Ann Davidson and Association des Familles de Personnes Disparus ou Assassinés (AFPAD) chief Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Palais de Justice. John, Doreen and Kim Drummond (Kelly-Anne’s younger sister) will all give victim-impact statements.
A beautiful article about Kelly-Anne
Her dream was 'to stay young forever': Something was wrong, but parents felt hopeless in face of abuse. 'I couldn't reach her,' victim's mother says
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 11, 2006
The photograph shows a smiling young woman, a guide book and map of Italy clutched under her left arm, a camera around her neck, and behind her, the imposing statue of Neptune watching over the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
She's beaming, as any 24-year-old would on her first trip to Europe. Her right hand is raised, in position to toss a coin over her broad swimmer's shoulders into the famous water behind her.
Just a few weeks later, after her violent death at the hands of her boyfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond's parents would discover her wish carefully recorded in her travel diary: "To stay young forever."
- - -
At 10:58 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2004, John Drummond's phone rang in his Pierrefonds house. Picking up, he heard the distraught voice of Micheline Morin-Cousineau, the mother of Kelly-Anne's boyfriend, Marty.
She was crying, saying Kelly-Anne was in the hospital, but Drummond couldn't get any details."She just said, 'Marty hit Kelly-Anne'," he recalls. "She said, 'Je m'excuse, je m'excuse.'
"Panicked, Drummond called his ex-wife, Doreen Haddad-Drummond, who, sound asleep, didn't respond at first, thinking the ringing was part of a dream. Dazed, she picked up. John said, "Kelly-Anne's been hit."
She called their friends, Jay and Val Ayerst, then she and her partner, Jules Seguin, ran outside to await their arrival. They flagged down a passing police cruiser, and once the Ayersts arrived, Jay Ayerst and Seguin spoke with the officers."
They came back to us in the car and there was dead silence," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "They said, 'They're escorting us downtown.' I knew at this point this was something terribly horrible."
- - -
John Drummond headed to the Lakeshore General Hospital - the closest place to start looking for his daughter. But the receptionist insisted Kelly-Anne wasn't there and after a bit of digging, informed Drummond she had been transferred to the Montreal General Hospital."
I almost died on the spot because there are two trauma units in Montreal and one is at the General," he recalls.
Heading east on Highway 20, his mind racing, he got caught in a construction maze, and ended up lost. But when he finally reached the General, the first thing he asked the doctor was, "Is my daughter alive?"
"Yes," came the answer. "But she's been attacked and has a knife in her head. We had to shave her head and she's breathing on an apparatus in emergency."
- - -
A year earlier, Kelly-Anne , a fresh communications graduate of Concordia University and, always a sports buff, was working as a lifeguard in an apartment building on Gouin Blvd. in Pierrefonds when she struck up a conversation with one of the tenants.
She invited her mom to meet Martin Morin-Cousineau and the three had coffee and Key lime pie at Rockaberry's on Sources Blvd."
He seemed cute, they seemed cute together," Haddad-Drummond recalls."
He was very nice."
But with time, Kelly-Anne's parents started feeling uneasy about their daughter's new beau: He'd sleep in till late in the afternoon and he didn't seem to have steady work, despite claims of having a business degree from McGill University.
He had no interest in her friends or her sports, preferring TV and beer instead.
But most worrisome was when Kelly-Anne asked to borrow her father's car to go to the police station and ask about Morin-Cousineau's past. Her dad offered to accompany her, but, as always, she said she could handle it on her own.
All the police told her, according to John Drummond, was that Morin-Cousineau had parking violations, although his record shows there was a restraining order against him for having made death threats in 2002 against another woman.
A few months later, during the Grey Cup game, Morin-Cousineau called Drummond's house "at least 25 times between 8 and 10 p.m., looking for Kelly-Anne," Drummond recalls.
But when her parents raised their concerns with her, Kelly-Anne brushed them off."She said, 'Don't worry, Mom'," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "She'd say, 'He's travelled to Europe, he's done this, he's done that,' he's so friggin' perfect."
hy would you think any different?"
- - -
A year later, the couple decided to move in together and signed a lease for a place on Pierrefonds Blvd.
Haddad-Drummond remembers her daughter being excited about fixing up her very first apartment. The two went shopping at the Bay for a set of Lagostina pots and pans. Both sets of parents pitched in, helping with the painting.
But the nagging doubts continued in her parents' minds. One night, Kelly-Anne asked her dad if she could spend the night at his place.
The next morning, he decided to confront his daughter.
"OK, what's going on with you and Marty?" Drummond asked her.
He recalls her saying that everything was fine, it was just that she wasn't used to their bed or the noise from the street. Drummond didn't believe her, since the bed had been one she'd slept on at her mom's place.
When pushed, Kelly-Anne blew up at her dad, saying she didn't want to talk about it.
- - -
Five weeks after moving in with Marty, Kelly-Anne couldn't find any of her photos on her computer and called her mom's partner to come over and help her.
He and Haddad-Drummond arrived at the apartment, only to find it in the chaotic mess it was the day they'd moved in. Seguin inspected the computer and concluded the files had been deliberately deleted by someone and were irretrievable."
Marty was still in bed and it was about 5 o'clock, close to suppertime," Haddad-Drummond remembers."
We had the sensation we were overstaying our welcome and that Kelly-Anne wanted us to leave."
Then Morin-Cousineau walked past them, without saying hello, into the bathroom and closed the door behind him."
We left and I felt very low," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "There was something desperately wrong and I couldn't pin it down.
"I couldn't reach her."
It got to the point where Kelly-Anne never invited her parents over, and when they dropped by unannounced, she'd open the door just a crack."
This is what breaks my heart," Haddad-Drummond says. "Here she is with this brand new apartment, a new set of pots and pans, all new appliances, ceiling fans and lights, and she looked so happy and excited," she said. "I know she would've loved to have had us over - she was a real Martha Stewart."
But we were never invited."
- - -
On Sept. 15, 2004, Kelly-Anne flew to Italy alone for a life-guarding competition. There, she confided in teammate Philippe Major that things weren't going that well with Morin-Cousineau, and that he'd threatened to kill her if she took the trip. Morin-Cousineau had booked her ticket for her during his most recent job as a travel agent, but threatened to cancel it several times.
In one of the MSN Messenger exchanges during the trip, Morin-Cousineau told his girlfriend he liked the fact when he got home from work, she wasn't in the apartment waiting to fight with him.
"I said she could stay there as far as I'm concerned," Morin-Cousineau admitted during his trial.
After 12 days of sightseeing and competing, Kelly-Anne's father picked her up at the airport in Dorval, but as the two entered her apartment, Morin-Cousineau didn't even get off the couch to greet her.
Drummond kissed and hugged his daughter goodbye and at the same time, whispered in her ear: "Do you want to go?"
When she said no, Drummond said: "If you feel you have to go, call me and I'll be here as soon as I can."
Drummond recalls his daughter's answer, which haunts him to this day. "No, Dad, I'll be fine."
- - -
Five days later, Kelly-Anne had dinner at her dad's place, regaling him with stories about her trip and presenting him with a bottle of Italian wine and a green tie with blue flecks that she had brought home with her.
She called Haddad-Drummond from her father's place and told her she'd bought her underwear and portraits she'd brought from Italy for her coming 50th birthday on Oct. 17.'
"How's Marty?" Haddad-Drummond remembers asking her daughter.
"You know, Mom," she recalls Kelly-Anne saying. "I have to be more respectful of him."
Haddad-Drummond remembers wanting to say, "Like hell. You were brought up to respect people, you don't need to learn that at 24." But she bit her tongue.
"That's the last time I spoke to her."
- - -
The following day, Oct. 3, the couple's landlord came to the door in the afternoon to say the couple still owed $30 on that month's rent, then left. Drummond asked Morin-Cousineau why he hadn't paid it. Her nagging, he told court, started to get on his nerves, and he yelled from the couch in the living room, where he sat watching television and eating, "F---! Enough!"
On the recorded 911 call made at 8:08 p.m., Morin-Cousineau's panicked voice is heard saying: "We got in a little bit of a fight. I went ... I got mad ... I got mad. I went to throw ... she got scared, she sort of slipped, fell into the stove."
Minutes later, paramedics found her lying face-up on the kitchen floor in a massive pool of blood. There was a 9.5-centimetre steak knife blade lodged inside her neck, the snapped-off handle on the counter.
- - -
Outside Kelly-Anne's room at the hospital, Haddad-Drummond remembered, she held the shoulders of a young female police officer - who didn't look any older than Kelly-Anne - shaking her and saying: "Listen to your mother."
The other officer guarding the room had tears in her eyes, and when Haddad-Drummond asked why, she replied: "My sister is going through the same thing" as Kelly-Anne.
In fact, Haddad-Drummond's two daughters, Kim and Kelly-Anne, had always listened to her, and rarely gave their parents a hint of trouble. She'd sew them matching outfits in different colours, the two attended Brownies and Guides, were altar girls at the local Anglican church and were heavily into sports, especially swimming and rugby. In 2003, Kelly-Anne won the Canadian Surf Ski Championship.
How, she couldn't help wonder, had it come to this? That her baby was on a stretcher, her life taken from her by someone she apparently worshipped?
What the family learned from doctors was next to impossible to accept. The knife blade had severed Kelly-Anne's spinal cord, turning her immediately into a quadrapalegic and making it impossible for her to breath without a machine."
I remember lying beside her the night of the 4th," Haddad-Drummond said, sitting out the excruciatingly long wait for a verdict."
Her body felt so warm and comfortable and normal and her colour was good but, of course, she was hooked up to all kinds of machines."
As the hours passed, the machines showed Kelly-Anne's heart rate increasing.
"I didn't want my poor baby to explode, to have a heart attack."
- - -
At 3:30 in the afternoon on Oct. 5, Kelly-Anne's parents decided to remove the machines. John couldn't bring himself to be in the room.
Of course, the Drummond family is tormented by what ifs and if onlys. They scan her coveted diary of her trip to Italy for hidden clues, examine her face in the photos, to no avail.
"I don't know what we could have done to avoid this," Haddad-Drummond said, letting out a deep sigh.
"There are things I did see, but I had never experienced conjugal violence myself."
If I knew then what I know now, I think Kelly-Anne would be alive. But what could I do? I couldn't kidnap her."
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 11, 2006
The photograph shows a smiling young woman, a guide book and map of Italy clutched under her left arm, a camera around her neck, and behind her, the imposing statue of Neptune watching over the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
She's beaming, as any 24-year-old would on her first trip to Europe. Her right hand is raised, in position to toss a coin over her broad swimmer's shoulders into the famous water behind her.
Just a few weeks later, after her violent death at the hands of her boyfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond's parents would discover her wish carefully recorded in her travel diary: "To stay young forever."
- - -
At 10:58 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2004, John Drummond's phone rang in his Pierrefonds house. Picking up, he heard the distraught voice of Micheline Morin-Cousineau, the mother of Kelly-Anne's boyfriend, Marty.
She was crying, saying Kelly-Anne was in the hospital, but Drummond couldn't get any details."She just said, 'Marty hit Kelly-Anne'," he recalls. "She said, 'Je m'excuse, je m'excuse.'
"Panicked, Drummond called his ex-wife, Doreen Haddad-Drummond, who, sound asleep, didn't respond at first, thinking the ringing was part of a dream. Dazed, she picked up. John said, "Kelly-Anne's been hit."
She called their friends, Jay and Val Ayerst, then she and her partner, Jules Seguin, ran outside to await their arrival. They flagged down a passing police cruiser, and once the Ayersts arrived, Jay Ayerst and Seguin spoke with the officers."
They came back to us in the car and there was dead silence," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "They said, 'They're escorting us downtown.' I knew at this point this was something terribly horrible."
- - -
John Drummond headed to the Lakeshore General Hospital - the closest place to start looking for his daughter. But the receptionist insisted Kelly-Anne wasn't there and after a bit of digging, informed Drummond she had been transferred to the Montreal General Hospital."
I almost died on the spot because there are two trauma units in Montreal and one is at the General," he recalls.
Heading east on Highway 20, his mind racing, he got caught in a construction maze, and ended up lost. But when he finally reached the General, the first thing he asked the doctor was, "Is my daughter alive?"
"Yes," came the answer. "But she's been attacked and has a knife in her head. We had to shave her head and she's breathing on an apparatus in emergency."
- - -
A year earlier, Kelly-Anne , a fresh communications graduate of Concordia University and, always a sports buff, was working as a lifeguard in an apartment building on Gouin Blvd. in Pierrefonds when she struck up a conversation with one of the tenants.
She invited her mom to meet Martin Morin-Cousineau and the three had coffee and Key lime pie at Rockaberry's on Sources Blvd."
He seemed cute, they seemed cute together," Haddad-Drummond recalls."
He was very nice."
But with time, Kelly-Anne's parents started feeling uneasy about their daughter's new beau: He'd sleep in till late in the afternoon and he didn't seem to have steady work, despite claims of having a business degree from McGill University.
He had no interest in her friends or her sports, preferring TV and beer instead.
But most worrisome was when Kelly-Anne asked to borrow her father's car to go to the police station and ask about Morin-Cousineau's past. Her dad offered to accompany her, but, as always, she said she could handle it on her own.
All the police told her, according to John Drummond, was that Morin-Cousineau had parking violations, although his record shows there was a restraining order against him for having made death threats in 2002 against another woman.
A few months later, during the Grey Cup game, Morin-Cousineau called Drummond's house "at least 25 times between 8 and 10 p.m., looking for Kelly-Anne," Drummond recalls.
But when her parents raised their concerns with her, Kelly-Anne brushed them off."She said, 'Don't worry, Mom'," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "She'd say, 'He's travelled to Europe, he's done this, he's done that,' he's so friggin' perfect."
hy would you think any different?"
- - -
A year later, the couple decided to move in together and signed a lease for a place on Pierrefonds Blvd.
Haddad-Drummond remembers her daughter being excited about fixing up her very first apartment. The two went shopping at the Bay for a set of Lagostina pots and pans. Both sets of parents pitched in, helping with the painting.
But the nagging doubts continued in her parents' minds. One night, Kelly-Anne asked her dad if she could spend the night at his place.
The next morning, he decided to confront his daughter.
"OK, what's going on with you and Marty?" Drummond asked her.
He recalls her saying that everything was fine, it was just that she wasn't used to their bed or the noise from the street. Drummond didn't believe her, since the bed had been one she'd slept on at her mom's place.
When pushed, Kelly-Anne blew up at her dad, saying she didn't want to talk about it.
- - -
Five weeks after moving in with Marty, Kelly-Anne couldn't find any of her photos on her computer and called her mom's partner to come over and help her.
He and Haddad-Drummond arrived at the apartment, only to find it in the chaotic mess it was the day they'd moved in. Seguin inspected the computer and concluded the files had been deliberately deleted by someone and were irretrievable."
Marty was still in bed and it was about 5 o'clock, close to suppertime," Haddad-Drummond remembers."
We had the sensation we were overstaying our welcome and that Kelly-Anne wanted us to leave."
Then Morin-Cousineau walked past them, without saying hello, into the bathroom and closed the door behind him."
We left and I felt very low," Haddad-Drummond recalls. "There was something desperately wrong and I couldn't pin it down.
"I couldn't reach her."
It got to the point where Kelly-Anne never invited her parents over, and when they dropped by unannounced, she'd open the door just a crack."
This is what breaks my heart," Haddad-Drummond says. "Here she is with this brand new apartment, a new set of pots and pans, all new appliances, ceiling fans and lights, and she looked so happy and excited," she said. "I know she would've loved to have had us over - she was a real Martha Stewart."
But we were never invited."
- - -
On Sept. 15, 2004, Kelly-Anne flew to Italy alone for a life-guarding competition. There, she confided in teammate Philippe Major that things weren't going that well with Morin-Cousineau, and that he'd threatened to kill her if she took the trip. Morin-Cousineau had booked her ticket for her during his most recent job as a travel agent, but threatened to cancel it several times.
In one of the MSN Messenger exchanges during the trip, Morin-Cousineau told his girlfriend he liked the fact when he got home from work, she wasn't in the apartment waiting to fight with him.
"I said she could stay there as far as I'm concerned," Morin-Cousineau admitted during his trial.
After 12 days of sightseeing and competing, Kelly-Anne's father picked her up at the airport in Dorval, but as the two entered her apartment, Morin-Cousineau didn't even get off the couch to greet her.
Drummond kissed and hugged his daughter goodbye and at the same time, whispered in her ear: "Do you want to go?"
When she said no, Drummond said: "If you feel you have to go, call me and I'll be here as soon as I can."
Drummond recalls his daughter's answer, which haunts him to this day. "No, Dad, I'll be fine."
- - -
Five days later, Kelly-Anne had dinner at her dad's place, regaling him with stories about her trip and presenting him with a bottle of Italian wine and a green tie with blue flecks that she had brought home with her.
She called Haddad-Drummond from her father's place and told her she'd bought her underwear and portraits she'd brought from Italy for her coming 50th birthday on Oct. 17.'
"How's Marty?" Haddad-Drummond remembers asking her daughter.
"You know, Mom," she recalls Kelly-Anne saying. "I have to be more respectful of him."
Haddad-Drummond remembers wanting to say, "Like hell. You were brought up to respect people, you don't need to learn that at 24." But she bit her tongue.
"That's the last time I spoke to her."
- - -
The following day, Oct. 3, the couple's landlord came to the door in the afternoon to say the couple still owed $30 on that month's rent, then left. Drummond asked Morin-Cousineau why he hadn't paid it. Her nagging, he told court, started to get on his nerves, and he yelled from the couch in the living room, where he sat watching television and eating, "F---! Enough!"
On the recorded 911 call made at 8:08 p.m., Morin-Cousineau's panicked voice is heard saying: "We got in a little bit of a fight. I went ... I got mad ... I got mad. I went to throw ... she got scared, she sort of slipped, fell into the stove."
Minutes later, paramedics found her lying face-up on the kitchen floor in a massive pool of blood. There was a 9.5-centimetre steak knife blade lodged inside her neck, the snapped-off handle on the counter.
- - -
Outside Kelly-Anne's room at the hospital, Haddad-Drummond remembered, she held the shoulders of a young female police officer - who didn't look any older than Kelly-Anne - shaking her and saying: "Listen to your mother."
The other officer guarding the room had tears in her eyes, and when Haddad-Drummond asked why, she replied: "My sister is going through the same thing" as Kelly-Anne.
In fact, Haddad-Drummond's two daughters, Kim and Kelly-Anne, had always listened to her, and rarely gave their parents a hint of trouble. She'd sew them matching outfits in different colours, the two attended Brownies and Guides, were altar girls at the local Anglican church and were heavily into sports, especially swimming and rugby. In 2003, Kelly-Anne won the Canadian Surf Ski Championship.
How, she couldn't help wonder, had it come to this? That her baby was on a stretcher, her life taken from her by someone she apparently worshipped?
What the family learned from doctors was next to impossible to accept. The knife blade had severed Kelly-Anne's spinal cord, turning her immediately into a quadrapalegic and making it impossible for her to breath without a machine."
I remember lying beside her the night of the 4th," Haddad-Drummond said, sitting out the excruciatingly long wait for a verdict."
Her body felt so warm and comfortable and normal and her colour was good but, of course, she was hooked up to all kinds of machines."
As the hours passed, the machines showed Kelly-Anne's heart rate increasing.
"I didn't want my poor baby to explode, to have a heart attack."
- - -
At 3:30 in the afternoon on Oct. 5, Kelly-Anne's parents decided to remove the machines. John couldn't bring himself to be in the room.
Of course, the Drummond family is tormented by what ifs and if onlys. They scan her coveted diary of her trip to Italy for hidden clues, examine her face in the photos, to no avail.
"I don't know what we could have done to avoid this," Haddad-Drummond said, letting out a deep sigh.
"There are things I did see, but I had never experienced conjugal violence myself."
If I knew then what I know now, I think Kelly-Anne would be alive. But what could I do? I couldn't kidnap her."
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
Press Clippings--Part XXXVI
Elite athlete's boyfriend found guilty: Stabbed Kelly-Anne Drummond; 'Get help when you see the yellow light'
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 11, 2006
For the past three weeks in the Montreal courthouse, a silent but deeply emotional feud between two families, once joined by their children's romance, was being fought to the finish. One side desperately wanted the jury to reach a guilty verdict; the other was praying for an acquittal.
Yesterday, after four nail-biting days of deliberation, the seven-man, five-woman jury found Martin Morin-Cousineau guilty of stabbing Kelly-Anne Drummond to death.
On one side of the room, Micheline Morin-Cousineau clutched a wad of tissues, her eyes filling with tears, her body trembling. There was no one to console her, not even her husband, Jean Cousineau, who, as he has throughout the trial, showed no emotion. Their 32-year-old son sat, shackled, within view in the prisoner's box, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. His defence was that the death was an accident.
Directly across the aisle from the Morin-Cousineaus, John Drummond crossed himself, and Doreen Haddad-Drummond wiped tears from her eyes. With them sat their new partners; their marriage ended seven years ago. Their surviving daughter, Kim, born 11 months to the day after her big sister, also sat with them.
Behind the family, row after row of supporters, from battered women groups to long-lost relatives, heaved sighs of relief.
Haddad-Drummond, obviously relieved that the waiting was over, said she was happy no other women will be hurt by Morin-Cousineau, who has a history of violence against women.
"It's a victory because we can't afford to lose any more young women in Quebec," she said.
The Morin-Cousineaus politely declined an interview, saying the entire ordeal has been terribly difficult for them.
"Torn apart, all of us," Micheline Morin-Cousineau said while awaiting a verdict, shaking her head, her eyes filling with tears.
The Pierrefonds couple had adopted Martin at age 3, along with his brother, Michel, just 13 months between them. According to the Drummonds, the Morin-Cousineaus were crazy about their son's girlfriend, Kelly-Anne. She worked with children, was outgoing and an elite athlete and, like Micheline, had a keen interest in crafts.
The Drummonds, on the other hand, had reservations about their daughter's choice of boyfriend, but were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, even when the two moved in together in August 2004. It's a decision they've second-guessed ever since.
On Oct. 3, 2004, an angry Morin-Cousineau stuck a steak knife in the back of his girlfriend's neck, severing her brain stem. She died two days later when life support was removed.By all accounts, Kelly-Anne was articulate and intelligent and was surrounded by supportive friends and family. She had insisted she could work things out with her new beau on her own.
"Kelly-Anne Drummond was not a weak woman," crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo said. She said she hoped the case would encourage other women in abusive relationships to seek help."
There are women who are threatened, beaten and harassed and think they can deal with it themselves," she said. "But get help when you see the yellow light. Don't wait for the red light."
Sentencing arguments are scheduled for Thursday. The Drummonds will give victim-impact statements.
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 11, 2006
For the past three weeks in the Montreal courthouse, a silent but deeply emotional feud between two families, once joined by their children's romance, was being fought to the finish. One side desperately wanted the jury to reach a guilty verdict; the other was praying for an acquittal.
Yesterday, after four nail-biting days of deliberation, the seven-man, five-woman jury found Martin Morin-Cousineau guilty of stabbing Kelly-Anne Drummond to death.
On one side of the room, Micheline Morin-Cousineau clutched a wad of tissues, her eyes filling with tears, her body trembling. There was no one to console her, not even her husband, Jean Cousineau, who, as he has throughout the trial, showed no emotion. Their 32-year-old son sat, shackled, within view in the prisoner's box, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. His defence was that the death was an accident.
Directly across the aisle from the Morin-Cousineaus, John Drummond crossed himself, and Doreen Haddad-Drummond wiped tears from her eyes. With them sat their new partners; their marriage ended seven years ago. Their surviving daughter, Kim, born 11 months to the day after her big sister, also sat with them.
Behind the family, row after row of supporters, from battered women groups to long-lost relatives, heaved sighs of relief.
Haddad-Drummond, obviously relieved that the waiting was over, said she was happy no other women will be hurt by Morin-Cousineau, who has a history of violence against women.
"It's a victory because we can't afford to lose any more young women in Quebec," she said.
The Morin-Cousineaus politely declined an interview, saying the entire ordeal has been terribly difficult for them.
"Torn apart, all of us," Micheline Morin-Cousineau said while awaiting a verdict, shaking her head, her eyes filling with tears.
The Pierrefonds couple had adopted Martin at age 3, along with his brother, Michel, just 13 months between them. According to the Drummonds, the Morin-Cousineaus were crazy about their son's girlfriend, Kelly-Anne. She worked with children, was outgoing and an elite athlete and, like Micheline, had a keen interest in crafts.
The Drummonds, on the other hand, had reservations about their daughter's choice of boyfriend, but were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, even when the two moved in together in August 2004. It's a decision they've second-guessed ever since.
On Oct. 3, 2004, an angry Morin-Cousineau stuck a steak knife in the back of his girlfriend's neck, severing her brain stem. She died two days later when life support was removed.By all accounts, Kelly-Anne was articulate and intelligent and was surrounded by supportive friends and family. She had insisted she could work things out with her new beau on her own.
"Kelly-Anne Drummond was not a weak woman," crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo said. She said she hoped the case would encourage other women in abusive relationships to seek help."
There are women who are threatened, beaten and harassed and think they can deal with it themselves," she said. "But get help when you see the yellow light. Don't wait for the red light."
Sentencing arguments are scheduled for Thursday. The Drummonds will give victim-impact statements.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXV
Jury rules stabbing death was no accident
Apr 10 2006 04:15 PM EDT
CBC News
Martin Morin-Cousineau has been convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond.
Martin Morin-Cousineau was sentenced to life in prison.She died of a knife wound to the back of the head 18 months ago in the couple's apartment in Pierrefonds.
Jurors delivered their guilty verdict after nearly four days of deliberations.
Morin-Cousineau shook his head as he heard the verdict.
Members of Drummond's family gasped and some cried quietly after the announcement. Drummond, 24, had told relatives and friends in the weeks before her murder that she feared for her safety. She said she wanted to leave Morin-Cousineau but didn't know how.
He testified they had been fighting the night of her stabbing, and told jurors the knife entered the back of her head by accident.
Martin-Cousineau claimed he was in the living room eating a pork chop when he threw his hands up in the air and the steak knife he was holding flew out.
The knife travelled through the apartment to the kitchen where Drummond was standing, and entered the back of her head, he told jurors.
Martin-Cousineau testified Drummond slipped on a soft drink can, and fell into the stove, which forced the blade 9.5 centimetres into her skull.
Drummond's parents say she's smiling down from heaven as a result of the verdict.
Martin-Cousineau will be sentenced to life in prison. The judge will decide how long he'll have to serve before being allowed to seek parole.
Apr 10 2006 04:15 PM EDT
CBC News
Martin Morin-Cousineau has been convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond.
Martin Morin-Cousineau was sentenced to life in prison.She died of a knife wound to the back of the head 18 months ago in the couple's apartment in Pierrefonds.
Jurors delivered their guilty verdict after nearly four days of deliberations.
Morin-Cousineau shook his head as he heard the verdict.
Members of Drummond's family gasped and some cried quietly after the announcement. Drummond, 24, had told relatives and friends in the weeks before her murder that she feared for her safety. She said she wanted to leave Morin-Cousineau but didn't know how.
He testified they had been fighting the night of her stabbing, and told jurors the knife entered the back of her head by accident.
Martin-Cousineau claimed he was in the living room eating a pork chop when he threw his hands up in the air and the steak knife he was holding flew out.
The knife travelled through the apartment to the kitchen where Drummond was standing, and entered the back of her head, he told jurors.
Martin-Cousineau testified Drummond slipped on a soft drink can, and fell into the stove, which forced the blade 9.5 centimetres into her skull.
Drummond's parents say she's smiling down from heaven as a result of the verdict.
Martin-Cousineau will be sentenced to life in prison. The judge will decide how long he'll have to serve before being allowed to seek parole.
Justice for Kelly-Anne
Martin Morin-Cousineau has been found guilty of murder in the second degree. There aren't any words to describe how such a day feels. Though nothing can bring my dear friend back, it is a huge relief that her murderer was convicted of this terrible crime.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXIV
Jury still deliberating in murder trial
The Gazette, April 09, 2006
The jury in Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial finished deliberating yesterday without reaching a verdict, causing increased anxiety in the victim's family.
The seven men and five women have been sequestered since Thursday at 2:45 p.m., trying to decide whether to acquit or convict the 31-year-old in the death of Kelly-Anne Drummond.
The defence argued Drummond was hit accidentally by a steak knife, which flew out of Morin-Cousineau's hands on Oct. 3, 2004. Lawyer Sacha Blais said Drummond then slipped on a 7up bottle, and fell against the stove door, which then shoved the 9.5-centimetre blade deep into Drummond's skull.
She was declared dead two days later.
Crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo argued Morin-Cousineau deliberately stabbed Drummond, 24, because she wanted to end their relationship.
Deliberations continue today.
The Gazette, April 09, 2006
The jury in Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial finished deliberating yesterday without reaching a verdict, causing increased anxiety in the victim's family.
The seven men and five women have been sequestered since Thursday at 2:45 p.m., trying to decide whether to acquit or convict the 31-year-old in the death of Kelly-Anne Drummond.
The defence argued Drummond was hit accidentally by a steak knife, which flew out of Morin-Cousineau's hands on Oct. 3, 2004. Lawyer Sacha Blais said Drummond then slipped on a 7up bottle, and fell against the stove door, which then shoved the 9.5-centimetre blade deep into Drummond's skull.
She was declared dead two days later.
Crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo argued Morin-Cousineau deliberately stabbed Drummond, 24, because she wanted to end their relationship.
Deliberations continue today.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXIII
Morin-Cousineau murder trial stalls
Jury fails to reach verdict on 1st day of deliberations in murder trial
The Gazette, April 08, 2006
The jurors in Martin Morin-Cousineau's trial for second-degree murder retired to their hotel rooms last night without reaching a verdict.
They are to reconvene at 9 a.m. today to deliberate on what happened Oct. 3, 2004, when Morin-Cousineau, 32, had an argument with his live-in girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond, 24.
During the three-week trial, the court heard that while Morin-Cousineau was eating dinner in the living room, he threw his hands up in frustration, causing his utensils to fly into the air.
Drummond, who had been standing in the kitchen, was found lying in a pool of blood, a 9.5-centimetre knife blade in the back of her neck. The defence contends she died accidentally; the Crown argues the accused killed her deliberately because she wanted to leave him.
At one point yesterday, the jury, judge and lawyers in the case were recalled to Courtroom 3.11 at the Montreal courthouse. But the jurors just wanted to know if they could have a 4.5-metre measuring tape, an extension cord and a better system for listening to the 911 call Morin-Cousineau made on Oct. 3, 2004.
They also wanted to review videos of an experiment in which knives were thrown at a pig's carcass, and to see the video of Morin-Cousineau's statement to police, in which he indicated the movement of his hands when he shouted "Enough!" at Drummond.
Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne allowed them the extension cord.
Jury fails to reach verdict on 1st day of deliberations in murder trial
The Gazette, April 08, 2006
The jurors in Martin Morin-Cousineau's trial for second-degree murder retired to their hotel rooms last night without reaching a verdict.
They are to reconvene at 9 a.m. today to deliberate on what happened Oct. 3, 2004, when Morin-Cousineau, 32, had an argument with his live-in girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond, 24.
During the three-week trial, the court heard that while Morin-Cousineau was eating dinner in the living room, he threw his hands up in frustration, causing his utensils to fly into the air.
Drummond, who had been standing in the kitchen, was found lying in a pool of blood, a 9.5-centimetre knife blade in the back of her neck. The defence contends she died accidentally; the Crown argues the accused killed her deliberately because she wanted to leave him.
At one point yesterday, the jury, judge and lawyers in the case were recalled to Courtroom 3.11 at the Montreal courthouse. But the jurors just wanted to know if they could have a 4.5-metre measuring tape, an extension cord and a better system for listening to the 911 call Morin-Cousineau made on Oct. 3, 2004.
They also wanted to review videos of an experiment in which knives were thrown at a pig's carcass, and to see the video of Morin-Cousineau's statement to police, in which he indicated the movement of his hands when he shouted "Enough!" at Drummond.
Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne allowed them the extension cord.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXXII
"Murder case in jury's hands: Must decide whether there was intent to kill"
The Gazette, April 7, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau's fate is now in the hands of 12 people.
Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne gave his instructions to the seven-man, five-woman jury yesterday before they were sequestered to decide whether Morin-Cousineau is guilty of second-degree murder.
Morin-Cousineau, who turned 32 yesterday, claims his live-in girlfriend Kelly-Anne Drummond died accidentally in 2004.
If the Crown has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt he intended to kill her, the judge told the jurors, they must acquit the former travel agent.
The Crown contends Morin-Cousineau stabbed Drummond, 24, on purpose because he didn't want her to leave him.
The couple had been arguing in their Pierrefonds apartment on Oct. 3, 2004, over $30 owed to the landlord. Morin-Cousineau, who was eating dinner in the living room, got tired of Drummond's "nagging" and threw his hands in the air, the three-week trial was told.
A fork fell out of his right hand and the steak knife in his left hand flew into the air. The defence theorizes the knife hit Drummond in the back of the neck, causing her to slip on a 7up bottle and fall against the oven door. The fall then pushed the 9.5-centimetre blade into Drummond's spinal cord, cutting off her breathing.
She died two days later.
The Gazette, April 7, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau's fate is now in the hands of 12 people.
Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne gave his instructions to the seven-man, five-woman jury yesterday before they were sequestered to decide whether Morin-Cousineau is guilty of second-degree murder.
Morin-Cousineau, who turned 32 yesterday, claims his live-in girlfriend Kelly-Anne Drummond died accidentally in 2004.
If the Crown has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt he intended to kill her, the judge told the jurors, they must acquit the former travel agent.
The Crown contends Morin-Cousineau stabbed Drummond, 24, on purpose because he didn't want her to leave him.
The couple had been arguing in their Pierrefonds apartment on Oct. 3, 2004, over $30 owed to the landlord. Morin-Cousineau, who was eating dinner in the living room, got tired of Drummond's "nagging" and threw his hands in the air, the three-week trial was told.
A fork fell out of his right hand and the steak knife in his left hand flew into the air. The defence theorizes the knife hit Drummond in the back of the neck, causing her to slip on a 7up bottle and fall against the oven door. The fall then pushed the 9.5-centimetre blade into Drummond's spinal cord, cutting off her breathing.
She died two days later.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Ringing in the New Year
I can't resist sharing this adorable image with you all. This is a picture one of Kelly-Anne's friends sent me. It was taken on New Year's Eve in 2002. It perfectly captures her beauty, her confidence, her fun-loving nature, and her boundless energy. Kell was always ready for an adventure, and I think you can see that in her eyes.
When Kelly-Anne was murdered Montreal lost a truly wonderful person; she was by no means perfect, but her presence is sorely missed by everyone who knew her. Kell was one of those rare gems in life who truly contributed to society, and who mean't so much to so many...
Kelly-Anne at Concordia
One of Kelly-Anne’s friends (and classmates) from Concordia wrote me today, and she provided me with an adorable picture of Kelly-Anne in her element in the Concordia sound studios.
Here is what Jenny had to say about Kelly-Anne: “She touched everyone who knew her. Her ambition, her drive and her smile made the people around her want more from themselves. I wish I had known her better... This photo is of Kelly-Anne working on a sound project in the Concordia sound studios, I was working across the hall in another studio. We all used to spend many looong nights in those studios. But Kelly-Anne was always all smiles.”
Press Clippings--Part XXXI
"Accidents happen, lawyer in murder case tells jury: But prosecutor casts doubt on defendant's testimony"
By: Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 6, 2006
Chances are slim that a steak knife tossed by Martin Morin-Cousineau from another room penetrated Kelly-Anne Drummond's neck, causing her to slip on a bottle and hit her head against a stove door, thrusting the knife farther into her skull, defence lawyer Sacha Blais argued yesterday.
But accidents do happen, Blais told the jury during closing arguments at Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial in Quebec Superior Court.
"Accidents are the exception," he said. "They aren't the norm or the average."
And if Drummond, Morin-Cousineau's live-in girlfriend, died by accident because of the 2004 incident, the jury must acquit his client, Blais said.
But prosecutor Helene Di Salvo called Morin-Cousineau's testimony a "festival of 'I don't remember,' 'I have no idea,' 'I assume' and 'I presume.' "
The accused's statements to police and his testimony were full of contradictions, Di Salvo said, and he didn't have the attitude of someone who had just killed his girlfriend by accident.
Morin-Cousineau deliberately killed Drummond, 24, because she wanted to leave the relationship, Di Salvo said.
The trial has heard how the couple were arguing on Oct. 3, 2004, over $30 owed to their landlord. Morin-Cousineau, who turns 32 today, was eating pork chops and noodles in the living room; Drummond was in the kitchen.
At one point, Morin-Cousineau threw up his hands and shouted "Enough!" His fork was beside him on the couch, but it was never clear where the knife ended up. Then he heard a thump and glass breaking in the kitchen.
He found Drummond lying in a pool of blood, a knife handle under her head. A brain scan later found a 9.5-centimetre blade lodged in the back of her neck.
Morin-Cousineau called 911 and in a panicked voice asked for help.
"He wasn't trying to hide anything," Blais said. "He said they'd had a fight."
But Di Salvo noted Morin-Cousineau also washed his hands, paced the apartment and took the time to put on pants and socks instead of attending to his girlfriend's injury.
Drummond died two days later.
Justice Claude Champagne is to instruct the jury today.
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
By: Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 6, 2006
Chances are slim that a steak knife tossed by Martin Morin-Cousineau from another room penetrated Kelly-Anne Drummond's neck, causing her to slip on a bottle and hit her head against a stove door, thrusting the knife farther into her skull, defence lawyer Sacha Blais argued yesterday.
But accidents do happen, Blais told the jury during closing arguments at Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial in Quebec Superior Court.
"Accidents are the exception," he said. "They aren't the norm or the average."
And if Drummond, Morin-Cousineau's live-in girlfriend, died by accident because of the 2004 incident, the jury must acquit his client, Blais said.
But prosecutor Helene Di Salvo called Morin-Cousineau's testimony a "festival of 'I don't remember,' 'I have no idea,' 'I assume' and 'I presume.' "
The accused's statements to police and his testimony were full of contradictions, Di Salvo said, and he didn't have the attitude of someone who had just killed his girlfriend by accident.
Morin-Cousineau deliberately killed Drummond, 24, because she wanted to leave the relationship, Di Salvo said.
The trial has heard how the couple were arguing on Oct. 3, 2004, over $30 owed to their landlord. Morin-Cousineau, who turns 32 today, was eating pork chops and noodles in the living room; Drummond was in the kitchen.
At one point, Morin-Cousineau threw up his hands and shouted "Enough!" His fork was beside him on the couch, but it was never clear where the knife ended up. Then he heard a thump and glass breaking in the kitchen.
He found Drummond lying in a pool of blood, a knife handle under her head. A brain scan later found a 9.5-centimetre blade lodged in the back of her neck.
Morin-Cousineau called 911 and in a panicked voice asked for help.
"He wasn't trying to hide anything," Blais said. "He said they'd had a fight."
But Di Salvo noted Morin-Cousineau also washed his hands, paced the apartment and took the time to put on pants and socks instead of attending to his girlfriend's injury.
Drummond died two days later.
Justice Claude Champagne is to instruct the jury today.
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
Press Clippings--Part XXX
Quebec: Knife-throwing tests contradict Testimony
Nanaimo Daily News
April 5, 2006
It took several throws before a steak knife with a blade similar to the one found in Kelly-Anne Drummond's head penetrated and remained in flesh, Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial heard Monday.
Benoit Anctil, a mechanical engineer who works for a company that designs protective gear, conducted an experiment for the defence using steak knives and a pig's flesh, which most resembles that of humans.
He asked five people to throw knives, weighing 32 grams each, at a section of suspended pig, he said. Out of 22 throws, five hit the target and only one penetrated the skin 13 millimetres.
The knife blade found in the nape of Drummond's neck was 95 millimetres long and was only discovered after a brain scan.
Nanaimo Daily News
April 5, 2006
It took several throws before a steak knife with a blade similar to the one found in Kelly-Anne Drummond's head penetrated and remained in flesh, Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial heard Monday.
Benoit Anctil, a mechanical engineer who works for a company that designs protective gear, conducted an experiment for the defence using steak knives and a pig's flesh, which most resembles that of humans.
He asked five people to throw knives, weighing 32 grams each, at a section of suspended pig, he said. Out of 22 throws, five hit the target and only one penetrated the skin 13 millimetres.
The knife blade found in the nape of Drummond's neck was 95 millimetres long and was only discovered after a brain scan.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXIX
PROCÈS POUR MEURTRE
La Couronne met en pièces la théorie du couteau volant
Christiane Desjardins
La Presse, 04 avril 2006
Au procès de Martin Morin-Cousineau, la procureure de la Couronne Hélène Di Salvo s'est employée hier à mettre en pièces l'audacieuse théorie de la défense, voulant qu'un couteau volant se soit malencontreusement fiché dans le cou de la conjointe de l'accusé, causant ultimement sa mort.
Kelly-Ann Drummond, 24 ans, est morte parce qu'une lame de couteau de 9,5 cm a complètement pénétré dans sa nuque. Elle se trouvait seule avec son conjoint (Morin-Cousineau) dans leur logement de Pierrefonds, quand le drame est survenu, le soir du 3 octobre 2004. Accusé du meurtre non prémédité de la jeune femme, Morin-Cousineau, 31 ans, admet qu'il s'est engueulé avec la victime le soir du drame, mais il soutient qu'il ne l'a jamais frappée. Il explique la situation en disant qu'il mangeait devant la télévision dans le salon quand, exaspéré par la querelle, il a lancé par dépit sa fourchette et son couteau dans les airs en disant: That's enough.
Sa conjointe se trouvait dans la cuisine à ce moment. Quelques secondes plus tard, il a entendu un bruit de chute et de verre brisé dans la cuisine. Il a trouvé sa conjointe dans une mare de sang, près de la cuisinière dont la vitre du four avait éclaté. Il a appelé le 9-1-1. On devait découvrir que la lame du couteau à steak qu'utilisait Morin-Cousineau, s'était fichée complètement dans la nuque de la victime. Le manche du couteau, lui, se trouvait sur le comptoir. La jeune femme est morte deux jours plus tard à l'hôpital.
Me Sacha Blais, avocat de l'accusé, suggère que le couteau lancé sans but et par dépit s'est fiché dans la nuque de la victime qui, en tombant à la renverse, l'a malheureusement enfoncé dans sa nuque.
Pour appuyer l'explication du couteau volant, la défense a demandé à un ingénieur en biomécanique, Benoît Anctil, de faire des tests pour démontrer qu'un couteau lancé à une certaine vitesse peut pénétrer dans la chair. Anctil s'est servi d'un dos de porc pour personnifier la cible, puisque, a-t-il expliqué, le porc est l'animal qui se rapproche le plus de l'humain en ce qui concerne les caractéristiques physiques. Selon ses expérimentations, un couteau doit voler à 8,2 mètres par seconde pour pénétrer la chair de 13 mm, et y rester fiché. À une vitesse plus basse, le couteau rebondit sur la cible.
En contre-interrogatoire, Me Di Salvo a fait admettre au témoin expert que lors des tests, bien des lancers du couteau se sont soldés par des échecs, parce que le couteau partait dans tous les sens au lieu de se diriger vers la cible. Le témoin ne pouvait pas dire combien d'essais il avait fallu pour tirer ses conclusions. Son rôle se limitait à délimiter une vitesse pour la course du couteau.
Le procès devant jury, présidé par le juge Claude Champagne, entre maintenant dans sa phase finale.
La Couronne met en pièces la théorie du couteau volant
Christiane Desjardins
La Presse, 04 avril 2006
Au procès de Martin Morin-Cousineau, la procureure de la Couronne Hélène Di Salvo s'est employée hier à mettre en pièces l'audacieuse théorie de la défense, voulant qu'un couteau volant se soit malencontreusement fiché dans le cou de la conjointe de l'accusé, causant ultimement sa mort.
Kelly-Ann Drummond, 24 ans, est morte parce qu'une lame de couteau de 9,5 cm a complètement pénétré dans sa nuque. Elle se trouvait seule avec son conjoint (Morin-Cousineau) dans leur logement de Pierrefonds, quand le drame est survenu, le soir du 3 octobre 2004. Accusé du meurtre non prémédité de la jeune femme, Morin-Cousineau, 31 ans, admet qu'il s'est engueulé avec la victime le soir du drame, mais il soutient qu'il ne l'a jamais frappée. Il explique la situation en disant qu'il mangeait devant la télévision dans le salon quand, exaspéré par la querelle, il a lancé par dépit sa fourchette et son couteau dans les airs en disant: That's enough.
Sa conjointe se trouvait dans la cuisine à ce moment. Quelques secondes plus tard, il a entendu un bruit de chute et de verre brisé dans la cuisine. Il a trouvé sa conjointe dans une mare de sang, près de la cuisinière dont la vitre du four avait éclaté. Il a appelé le 9-1-1. On devait découvrir que la lame du couteau à steak qu'utilisait Morin-Cousineau, s'était fichée complètement dans la nuque de la victime. Le manche du couteau, lui, se trouvait sur le comptoir. La jeune femme est morte deux jours plus tard à l'hôpital.
Me Sacha Blais, avocat de l'accusé, suggère que le couteau lancé sans but et par dépit s'est fiché dans la nuque de la victime qui, en tombant à la renverse, l'a malheureusement enfoncé dans sa nuque.
Pour appuyer l'explication du couteau volant, la défense a demandé à un ingénieur en biomécanique, Benoît Anctil, de faire des tests pour démontrer qu'un couteau lancé à une certaine vitesse peut pénétrer dans la chair. Anctil s'est servi d'un dos de porc pour personnifier la cible, puisque, a-t-il expliqué, le porc est l'animal qui se rapproche le plus de l'humain en ce qui concerne les caractéristiques physiques. Selon ses expérimentations, un couteau doit voler à 8,2 mètres par seconde pour pénétrer la chair de 13 mm, et y rester fiché. À une vitesse plus basse, le couteau rebondit sur la cible.
En contre-interrogatoire, Me Di Salvo a fait admettre au témoin expert que lors des tests, bien des lancers du couteau se sont soldés par des échecs, parce que le couteau partait dans tous les sens au lieu de se diriger vers la cible. Le témoin ne pouvait pas dire combien d'essais il avait fallu pour tirer ses conclusions. Son rôle se limitait à délimiter une vitesse pour la course du couteau.
Le procès devant jury, présidé par le juge Claude Champagne, entre maintenant dans sa phase finale.
Press Clippings--Part XXVIII
Knife-throwing tests contradict testimony: Insufficient force; It must have slipped, murder trial told
By: Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 4, 2006
It took several throws before a steak knife with a blade similar to the one found in Kelly-Anne Drummond's head penetrated and remained in flesh, Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial heard yesterday.
Benoit Anctil, a mechanical engineer who works for a company that designs protective gear, conducted an experiment for the defence using steak knives and a pig's flesh, which most resembles that of humans.
He asked five people to throw knives, weighing 32 grams each, at a section of suspended pig, he said. Out of 22 throws, five hit the target and only one penetrated the skin 13 millimetres.
The knife blade found in the nape of Drummond's neck was 95 millimetres long and was only discovered after a brain scan."
It would take a higher speed to achieve this kind of penetration,"Anctil said.The defence contends that on the night of Oct. 3, 2004, Morin-Cousineau threw up his arms in frustration during an argument with his girlfriend of 18 months while he was eating.
The 31-year-old testified he then heard a thump and glass shattering in the kitchen where, he said, Drummond was eating at the counter.
He found the 24-year-old lying face-up in a pool of blood. The knife handle, he testified, was on the floor near her head. Drummond died two days later when life-support was removed.
Anctil's subjects were to recreate Morin-Cousineau's movements that night. They threw up their arms, tossing the knife sideways with their left hand, while looking at the pork target.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Helene Di Salvo, Anctil said he didn't test for the angle of entry or what would happen if the knife rotated during its flight. He also didn't test whether the knife would fall out once it penetrated its target.
Defence lawyer Sasha Blais asked if Drummond's thick, curly hair could prevent the knife from falling. Anctil said it could, although he didn't test that because there is no hair on a pig.
Both the Crown and defence will give closing arguments tomorrow. Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne will give instructions to the jury Thursday, after which the five women and seven men will be sequestered to begin deliberations.
By: Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 4, 2006
It took several throws before a steak knife with a blade similar to the one found in Kelly-Anne Drummond's head penetrated and remained in flesh, Martin Morin-Cousineau's second-degree murder trial heard yesterday.
Benoit Anctil, a mechanical engineer who works for a company that designs protective gear, conducted an experiment for the defence using steak knives and a pig's flesh, which most resembles that of humans.
He asked five people to throw knives, weighing 32 grams each, at a section of suspended pig, he said. Out of 22 throws, five hit the target and only one penetrated the skin 13 millimetres.
The knife blade found in the nape of Drummond's neck was 95 millimetres long and was only discovered after a brain scan."
It would take a higher speed to achieve this kind of penetration,"Anctil said.The defence contends that on the night of Oct. 3, 2004, Morin-Cousineau threw up his arms in frustration during an argument with his girlfriend of 18 months while he was eating.
The 31-year-old testified he then heard a thump and glass shattering in the kitchen where, he said, Drummond was eating at the counter.
He found the 24-year-old lying face-up in a pool of blood. The knife handle, he testified, was on the floor near her head. Drummond died two days later when life-support was removed.
Anctil's subjects were to recreate Morin-Cousineau's movements that night. They threw up their arms, tossing the knife sideways with their left hand, while looking at the pork target.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Helene Di Salvo, Anctil said he didn't test for the angle of entry or what would happen if the knife rotated during its flight. He also didn't test whether the knife would fall out once it penetrated its target.
Defence lawyer Sasha Blais asked if Drummond's thick, curly hair could prevent the knife from falling. Anctil said it could, although he didn't test that because there is no hair on a pig.
Both the Crown and defence will give closing arguments tomorrow. Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne will give instructions to the jury Thursday, after which the five women and seven men will be sequestered to begin deliberations.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXVII
Op-Ed about Kelly-Anne's death
Fear still a factor
The Suburban
The last eight days of testimony into the second-degree murder trial of Martin Morin-Cousineau, accused of stabbing to death his live-in girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond, has revealed information all too commonly repeated in domestic violence cases. Women who have had their lives threatened by their partners are just too afraid to leave. Prior to her death, Kelly-Anne had tried to come up with an exit plan but according to the testimony of a friend, was too afraid to aggravate the situation and further anger her boyfriend. Just four days before Kelly-Anne was killed, her father offered to take her back to his house. She refused. And she paid for it with her life.
In spite of being threatened, and although Kelly-Anne was scared, she still did not leave immediately. But if she had, what protection could she have depended on? Her boyfriend had not physically beat her. Who would have protected her had Morin-Cousineau tracked her down?
Could Kelly-Anne’s death been avoided? Of course, if we had a system that better meets the needs of women who live in fear of the men who threaten them. Perhaps Kelly-Anne would be alive today if she had been able to walk away from Morin-Cousineau with the sound knowledge that she would have been protected from him being able to turn his threats into reality.
2006-03-29 08:51:31
Fear still a factor
The Suburban
The last eight days of testimony into the second-degree murder trial of Martin Morin-Cousineau, accused of stabbing to death his live-in girlfriend, Kelly-Anne Drummond, has revealed information all too commonly repeated in domestic violence cases. Women who have had their lives threatened by their partners are just too afraid to leave. Prior to her death, Kelly-Anne had tried to come up with an exit plan but according to the testimony of a friend, was too afraid to aggravate the situation and further anger her boyfriend. Just four days before Kelly-Anne was killed, her father offered to take her back to his house. She refused. And she paid for it with her life.
In spite of being threatened, and although Kelly-Anne was scared, she still did not leave immediately. But if she had, what protection could she have depended on? Her boyfriend had not physically beat her. Who would have protected her had Morin-Cousineau tracked her down?
Could Kelly-Anne’s death been avoided? Of course, if we had a system that better meets the needs of women who live in fear of the men who threaten them. Perhaps Kelly-Anne would be alive today if she had been able to walk away from Morin-Cousineau with the sound knowledge that she would have been protected from him being able to turn his threats into reality.
2006-03-29 08:51:31
Press Clippings--Part XXVI
Procès Morin-Cousineau
C'est un «accident», dit l'accusé
By Jérôme Dussault
Le Journal de Montreal, March 30, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau soutient que sa conjointe s'est elle-même enfoncée un couteau dans le crâne
Ustensiles à la main, Martin Morin-Cousineau mange devant le téléviseur du salon lorsque, dans un excès de colère, il se tourne vers sa conjointe dans la cuisine, échappant sa fourchette juste à côté de lui. Kelly-Anne Drummond s'effondre au même moment, un couteau enfoncé dans le crâne, un «accident» qu'il est toujours incapable d'expliquer.
Voilà la version que l'accusé a offerte aux jurés hier.
Le type de 31 ans témoignait pour sa propre défense au procès qu'il subit pour le meurtre non prémédité de l'éducatrice en garderie, en octobre 2004, dans leur appartement de Pierrefonds.
D'un ton monocorde, sans aucune émotion, même en décrivant l'horreur de la scène, en voyant Kelly-Anne Drummond agoniser dans son sang, l'ancien agent de voyages a juré ne pas l'avoir poignardée.
«Nous n'avons jamais été dans la même pièce», a-t-il dit en guise d'explication, admettant toutefois le climat de tension qui régnait. Parce que leur propriétaire était venu lui réclamer les 30 $ manquants au paiement du loyer et qu'elle le talonnait sans cesse à ce sujet, dit-il.
«Je me souviens que l'adrénaline était à son point culminant.»
Au point où, tenant ses ustensiles, il s'est tourné brusquement en balançant les bras pour lui signifier qu'il en avait assez, selon son récit.
«J'ai entendu quelque chose tomber et une vitre qui éclate. J'étais toujours fâché et je lui ai demandé Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? Elle ne m'a pas répondu.»
Il voit sa fourchette sur le divan avant de la rejoindre dans la cuisine. Dans sa chute, toujours selon ses prétentions, elle a fracassé la vitre dans la porte de la cuisinière. Il aperçoit un manche de couteau à côté de la femme de 24 ans. La lame cassée de 9,4 cm est enfoncée dans son crâne mais il l'ignore à ce moment, affirme-t-il.
Martin Morin-Cousineau va débrancher Internet, il lave ses mains tachées de sang et appelle ensuite le 9-1-1. Il dit à la préposée que son amie de coeur est morte, espérant ainsi accélérer l'intervention des secours.
Au moment du drame, il faisait vie commune avec Kelly-Anne depuis seulement trois mois mais leur relation s'était gâtée rapidement, devenant «très intense». La rupture était envisagée, a-t-il admis.
L'argent était très souvent un sujet de discorde et il avait contracté une dette envers elle.
C'est un «accident», dit l'accusé
By Jérôme Dussault
Le Journal de Montreal, March 30, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau soutient que sa conjointe s'est elle-même enfoncée un couteau dans le crâne
Ustensiles à la main, Martin Morin-Cousineau mange devant le téléviseur du salon lorsque, dans un excès de colère, il se tourne vers sa conjointe dans la cuisine, échappant sa fourchette juste à côté de lui. Kelly-Anne Drummond s'effondre au même moment, un couteau enfoncé dans le crâne, un «accident» qu'il est toujours incapable d'expliquer.
Voilà la version que l'accusé a offerte aux jurés hier.
Le type de 31 ans témoignait pour sa propre défense au procès qu'il subit pour le meurtre non prémédité de l'éducatrice en garderie, en octobre 2004, dans leur appartement de Pierrefonds.
D'un ton monocorde, sans aucune émotion, même en décrivant l'horreur de la scène, en voyant Kelly-Anne Drummond agoniser dans son sang, l'ancien agent de voyages a juré ne pas l'avoir poignardée.
«Nous n'avons jamais été dans la même pièce», a-t-il dit en guise d'explication, admettant toutefois le climat de tension qui régnait. Parce que leur propriétaire était venu lui réclamer les 30 $ manquants au paiement du loyer et qu'elle le talonnait sans cesse à ce sujet, dit-il.
«Je me souviens que l'adrénaline était à son point culminant.»
Au point où, tenant ses ustensiles, il s'est tourné brusquement en balançant les bras pour lui signifier qu'il en avait assez, selon son récit.
«J'ai entendu quelque chose tomber et une vitre qui éclate. J'étais toujours fâché et je lui ai demandé Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? Elle ne m'a pas répondu.»
Il voit sa fourchette sur le divan avant de la rejoindre dans la cuisine. Dans sa chute, toujours selon ses prétentions, elle a fracassé la vitre dans la porte de la cuisinière. Il aperçoit un manche de couteau à côté de la femme de 24 ans. La lame cassée de 9,4 cm est enfoncée dans son crâne mais il l'ignore à ce moment, affirme-t-il.
Martin Morin-Cousineau va débrancher Internet, il lave ses mains tachées de sang et appelle ensuite le 9-1-1. Il dit à la préposée que son amie de coeur est morte, espérant ainsi accélérer l'intervention des secours.
Au moment du drame, il faisait vie commune avec Kelly-Anne depuis seulement trois mois mais leur relation s'était gâtée rapidement, devenant «très intense». La rupture était envisagée, a-t-il admis.
L'argent était très souvent un sujet de discorde et il avait contracté une dette envers elle.
Press Clippings--Part XXV
"You didn't help, accused told: Bleeding girlfriend lay on kitchen floor"
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 1, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau told the jury at his murder trial yesterday that his biggest concern on Oct. 3, 2004, was to help his girlfriend, who lay bleeding on the kitchen floor of their Pierrefonds apartment.
Yet, crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo pointed out, he neglected to give paramedics arriving at the apartment some key information.
"She's on the floor, she's bleeding, there's a huge hole in the back of her head, there's a broken knife and you didn't think to say to the paramedics, 'Listen, this could help you'? ... Did you ever tell them you found a broken knife on the floor under her head?" she asked the accused.
"I don't remember saying that," replied Morin-Cousineau, 31, who is charged with second-degree murder.
The Quebec Superior Court trial has already heard that Drummond, 24, had been "nagging" Morin-Cousineau about $30 owed to their landlord. As he sat eating on the couch, Morin-Cousineau shouted "Enough!" at Drummond, who was in the kitchen. At the same time, his hands flew up and his fork ended up beside him.
He then heard a thump, and glass breaking. He ran to the kitchen to find Drummond lying face-up in a pool of blood. When he moved her, he found a knife handle under her head, he said.
But a photo taken by paramedics at the scene showed the knife handle on the counter.
A brain scan of Drummond showed a 9.5-centimetre knife blade lodged in the back of her neck. She died on Oct. 5, after life support was removed.
Defence lawyer Sasha Blais called an expert witness yesterday to testify about tests done with steak knives similar to the one Morin-Cousineau was using Oct. 3.
Benoit Anctil, who works for an Ottawa company that designs bulletproof vests, helmets and other protective gear, said he had people use the same hand motion demonstrated by Morin-Cousineau when he shouted "Enough!" to throw a knife at a piece of a pig's back, located about five metres away.
He then measured how far the blade penetrated the meat. The animal's skin, he said, most closely resembles that of a human.
Anctil did not say what his tests revealed.
His testimony is to continue Monday.
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Press Clippings--Part XXIV
'She didn't stab her own self': Murder defendant cross-examined. Boyfriend of dead woman struggles to explain what happened on fatal night
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, March 30, 2006
During five hours of questioning by police, Martin Morin-Cousineau was unable to explain how a knife blade ended up in the back of Kelly-Anne Drummond's head, his murder trial heard yesterday.
"Marty, she didn't stab her own self in the back of the head," crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo read from a transcript of the police interrogation.
Then she read Morin-Cousineau's reply: "I know that, that she didn't stab herself. ... The knife must have flipped over or something. ... I don't freaking know, man."
Morin-Cousineau, 31, is accused of second-degree murder.
Drummond, 24, died Oct. 5, 2004, two days after she had been found lying on the kitchen floor of the Pierrefonds apartment she shared with the accused. A 9.5-centimetre blade was lodged in the base of her neck.
Morin-Cousineau said he was eating in the living room on Oct. 3 while Drummond ate her dinner standing at the kitchen counter.
They were arguing about $30 Morin-Cousineau owed the landlord. "She was questioning you about the $30. Why?" Di Salvo asked yesterday.
"You'll have to ask her that," the accused replied, as people in the packed courtroom gasped."
She can't answer," Di Salvo said.Morin-Cousineau said he grew tired of the "nagging" that night and shouted, "Enough!" throwing his hands in the air. His fork fell on the couch, but he doesn't know where his knife landed.
During his videotaped statement to police, Morin-Cousineau threw his arms to the side, palms facing in, 23 times in demonstrating what he did when he said "Enough." Yet in the courtroom, he made a gesture with his left hand - the hand that held the knife - where the hand flipped out and upward.
In his call to 911 that night, the defendant described what happened. "We got in a little bit of a fight," a breathless Morin-Cousineau said. "I went - I got mad. I got mad. I went to throw - she got scared. She sort of slipped, fell into the stove."
Asked by Di Salvo if he saw her trip, Morin-Cousineau replied: "No."
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, March 30, 2006
During five hours of questioning by police, Martin Morin-Cousineau was unable to explain how a knife blade ended up in the back of Kelly-Anne Drummond's head, his murder trial heard yesterday.
"Marty, she didn't stab her own self in the back of the head," crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo read from a transcript of the police interrogation.
Then she read Morin-Cousineau's reply: "I know that, that she didn't stab herself. ... The knife must have flipped over or something. ... I don't freaking know, man."
Morin-Cousineau, 31, is accused of second-degree murder.
Drummond, 24, died Oct. 5, 2004, two days after she had been found lying on the kitchen floor of the Pierrefonds apartment she shared with the accused. A 9.5-centimetre blade was lodged in the base of her neck.
Morin-Cousineau said he was eating in the living room on Oct. 3 while Drummond ate her dinner standing at the kitchen counter.
They were arguing about $30 Morin-Cousineau owed the landlord. "She was questioning you about the $30. Why?" Di Salvo asked yesterday.
"You'll have to ask her that," the accused replied, as people in the packed courtroom gasped."
She can't answer," Di Salvo said.Morin-Cousineau said he grew tired of the "nagging" that night and shouted, "Enough!" throwing his hands in the air. His fork fell on the couch, but he doesn't know where his knife landed.
During his videotaped statement to police, Morin-Cousineau threw his arms to the side, palms facing in, 23 times in demonstrating what he did when he said "Enough." Yet in the courtroom, he made a gesture with his left hand - the hand that held the knife - where the hand flipped out and upward.
In his call to 911 that night, the defendant described what happened. "We got in a little bit of a fight," a breathless Morin-Cousineau said. "I went - I got mad. I got mad. I went to throw - she got scared. She sort of slipped, fell into the stove."
Asked by Di Salvo if he saw her trip, Morin-Cousineau replied: "No."
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