The man accused of brutally murdering serial killer Robert Pickton in the Port-Cartier penitentiary appeared briefly via videoconference on Thursday at the Sept-Îles courthouse.
Martin Charest, 52, faces a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Pickton’s death in May 2024.
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According to the evidence in the file, Martin Charest allegedly broke a broom handle before shoving it into Robert Pickton’s face, an assault that occurred in the maximum security penitentiary on May 19, 2024. Hospitalized in Sept-Îles, then transferred to the Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus in Quebec City, Pickton finally succumbed to his injuries 12 days later, on May 31, at the age of 74.
No charges had been laid at the time, but Charest was recently named as a suspect following investigations by the Sûreté du Québec and the Correctional Service of Canada. His appearance took place at the Archambault Institution, a penitentiary located in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines in the Laurentians. He was barely visible behind bars.
Technical failure
The proceedings were interrupted by a technological failure when the videoconferencing system connecting the Sept-Îles courthouse stopped broadcasting. Charest’s lawyer, Sonia Bogdaniec, had to finish the proceedings on her cell phone in her car.
Judge Vicky Lapierre of the Court of Quebec ordered Charest’s continued detention, a formality since he is already behind bars, and the continuation of the proceedings has been set for September 2 to give Crown prosecutor Melissa Hogan time to complete the transmission of evidence to the defense.
Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder. However, he confessed to killing a total of 49 women whom he lured into his pigsty in Port Coquitlam, near Vancouver, British Columbia.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
