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| Generic hitchiking photo |
Levesque enjoyed the day of 20 June 1957 at Plattsburgh Beach with her friends Jean Gates, 28, and Eliane Belleavance, 22, both fellow nurses at the Notre Dame Hospital.
At 7:30 p.m. the three young women attempted to thumb a lift back to Montreal and were accommodated by Montour, described as husky and almost-illiterate.
Montour, who had a small child back home, talked briefly to Gates in English, as the other pair could apparently not speak God's language. They agreed to his offer of a lift to Kahnawake, then called Caughnawaga.
The trio jumped in the back seat, as Montour drove while flanked by his stepfather in the front.
Montour pulled up to Kahnawake at 9 p.m. and dropped his stepfather off. He then drove further and informed the women that he expected to be paid for his service but not in cash. He grabbed Gates by the arm and the three scuffled against him.
Montour allegedly gestured at them with a finger to his head, which the nurses understood to mean that he had a gun. They managed to flee into the woods, terrified.
The three young nurses later returned to the road and apparently saw a car blocking the roadway in the distance. They assumed that it was Montour's.
Levesque announced that she was going to flee by swimming across the nearby river. The other two discouraged her but she jumped in and soon disappeared. Her body was found on 7 July near St. Sulpice Quebec.
On 8 July a jury held Montour criminally responsible for the death of Mireille Levesque, originally of Val d'Or.
Prosecutors charged him with three accusations of rape and one of murder. Montour's lawyer Phillip Cutler repeatedly pleaded with judge Henri Masson L'Oranger to dismiss the murder charge but he refused.
Belleavance testified as a witness for three hours on 17 July 1957, all in a way that did not reflect well on Montour.
Her testimony, however, did little to support any notion that Montour had raped or murdered anybody and she was unable to demonstrate that he had even pursued them after the initial encounter.
Eight days later the judge finally relented and agreed that there was no grounds for either a murder or manslaughter charge. The rape claim was also dismissed.
Montour, who had spent the entire trial behind bars, was freed and cleared of all charges.
It's unknown what became of the two nurses or Montour whose family name is common among Kahnawake Mohawks.
Newspapers ran no photos of any of the parties involved in the case.
It’s sad to hear when these things happen…people’s lives are affected by those who do harm to others….I hope the victims could finally put this behind them…but to the girl who drowned….this act would not have happened if not for her fear of running away scared…so Montour was at least indirectly responsible for her death…what a despicable person…
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