Is this the man who shot Hélène Leduc?

By P.A. Sévigny, October 17th, 2012

It's been two years since Hélène Leduc did as she was told on the day when she was shot in the back of the neck and left for dead in the botched robbery that ruined her life. Trapped in a world that's forever reduced to whatever she can see and hear from a bed located in one of the city's long-term health facilities that she now calls 'home', Leduc recently told Avis De Recherche reporter Jessica Leblanc how she still recalls how the shooter told her to “…turn around, get on your knees and we won't hurt you” before her world exploded when he put a bullet into the back of her neck.
“I hope I get the chance to see them,” said Leduc after which she said “…I would tell them 'I wish you only one thing: that you find yourself exactly like I am now…nothing more, nothing less.”
Based upon Leduc's memory and images gleaned from the store's CCTV (Closed Circuit Tele Vision), one of the would-be robbers was wearing an orange jacket, dark jeans, a grey 'hoodie' with lettering on the chest along with dark gloves and black-and-white running shoes. As seen on the CCTV tapes, the other thief was wearing glasses and a black-and-white camouflage jacket with light colored jeans and white running shoes when he was running away from the store in a panic after Leduc was shot.
Aside from inferring that the police know a lot more about what happened in the Baie D'Urfé strip mall than what they were willing to tell assorted members of the city's media, SPVM Commander Dominique Verret did tell The Suburban that it was one thing to know what happened during the robbery but it's quite another thing to prove it in court. As of last week, Verret also told the media that it was now worth $20,000 for anybody who had the information the police required to arrest and convict the man (or men) who attempted to kill Hélène Leduc when they shot her in the back of the SAQ outlet in the Morgan Street strip mall located in Baie D'Urfé.
According to Verret, there's another piece of tape on the Avis De Recherche site (as found on Youtube) which may provide the information the police are willing to pay for. Dressed in dark jeans and a grey 'hoodie', another young man of undetermined ethnicity is now considered to be a key witness after he was seen in the store only a few minutes before the thieves made their entrance. After making sure there was nobody in the store except for Leduc, he was filmed making a quick call on his cell phone before walking out and leaving the coast clear for the two would-be robbers who followed him into the store.
Police believe he was the man who was seen driving the dark-red late model Dodge Caravan (year 2001-2004) in which the thieves made their escape. While Verret doesn't believe the suspects are part of any kind of organized criminal organization, he did say they [the suspects] were deeply involved in both prostitution and assorted drug activities after which he said it would be just a matter of time before the police had enough evidence to bring their case to court. According to Verret, the SPVM's composite picture clearly indicates that the SPVM already know who did it and it's only a matter of time before the phones begin to ring as the suspect's erstwhile friends begin to get in line in order to make their bid for the $20,000 reward.
“We raised the award to $20 000,” said Verret, “…but this isn't an auction. The money won't be around forever and people shouldn't wait to see if we're going to offer them any more money for the same information. If they want the money, they have to call us and they have to call us now.”
Should anyone have any kind of information about the case, Verret hopes they will contact the Montreal police Info Crime line at 514-393-1133. Information can be provided anonymously.